Lech Lecha: How Can a Philosopher Become a Kabbalist?

by Rav Netanel Yosifun, Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Orot Netanya, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Shavuot night, sometime around the expulsion from Spain ( ~ 1492):

In those days, the custom of Tikun Leil Shavuot had not yet become prevalent. This practice involves remaining awake the entire night of the Shavuot holiday [which commemorates Israel's acceptance of the Torah at Mt. Sinai] and reciting excerpts from every Biblical chapter, as well as other Jewish texts.

But behold, a small group of sages and pious individuals had begun to take shape, among them Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Arukh, and Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, composer of Lekha Dodi. On this Shavuot night, they decide to stay awake on the night of Shavuot, studying according to the order of the Tikkun. Suddenly, in the midst of this special Tikkun, a surprising and wondrous event occurs, the impact of which is felt to this very day.

And so recounted R. Shlomo Alkabetz:

"We were reading the verses… with fear and awe, with melody and cantillation… and then, as we began to learn the Mishna, our Creator granted us the privilege of hearing the Voice speaking from the mouth of the great pious man [R. Yosef Karo], a loud and clear voice...  We fell on our faces, and no spirit was left within [us]… And the voice said as follows:

'My beloved friends, peace upon you… Go to live in the Land of Israel! Do not worry about your possessions, for you will eat of the goodness of the Upper Land – and if you hearken to me, you will eat the goodness of that land, so therefore make haste and go up to the Land…'"

This is a very rare account of the Heavenly Maggid - R. Karo's Divine mentor who taught him the secrets of Torah and ethical living, in the period of the Exile. This description by R. Alkabetz is familiar to many because of its depiction of the virtues of Torah study on the night of Shavuot – but very few notice that already in this first revelation, Rabbis Karo and Alkabetz and their group are instructed to ascend to the Land of Israel! And indeed, they do go to the Land, where Rabbi Yosef Karo merits to complete his great works, such as the Beit Yosef, Kesef Mishneh, and Shulchan Arukh, and becomes the “master rabbi of the Land of Israel.”

If we delve a bit more into this point, we will discover that over the course of the generations of the Exile, when only a small portion of the nation of Israel was in the Land, still, many of the main Torah giants made Aliyah - or tried to do so - to Eretz Yisrael. And it was especially those who were leading giants in the study of Kabbalah who made Aliyah, and many of them merited to receive Divine revelations: Nachmanides, the holy Arizal, the Ramak, the holy Rashash, the holy Ohr HaChaim, the Baal Shem Tov, the Ramchal, the Vilna Gaon, Rabbe Nachman of Breslov, HaRav Kook, the Baal HaLeshem, and very many others.

This must be understood: Why is it that specifically the Divine revelations are linked with Eretz Yisrael?

The answer begins in our weekly portion of Lekh Lekha (B'reshit 12-17), where G-d commands our Patriarch Avraham: "Go… to the Land that I will show you" (12,1). The Torah tells us that Avraham was 75 years old at the time, but tells us nothing else of his life until then. But that which the Torah conceals from us is revealed by our Sages and the Rambam. The latter explains (in the beginning of the Laws of Avodah Zarah) that in those years people worshiped idols, and “there was no one who recognized or knew G-d, except for a few individuals such as Hanokh, Metushelah, Noah, Shem, and Ever. And the world continued along in this manner, until was born the pillar of the world: our father Avraham.”

The Rambam continues on to say that as a child, Avraham began to think and wonder, night and day, "how is it possible for the sphere [universe] to continue to revolve without anyone controlling it? Who is causing it to revolve? Surely it does not revolve itself! He had no teacher; he was mired in Ur Kasdim among the foolish idolaters… But he continued to explore and gain understanding, until he realized that there was one G-d who controlled the sphere and created everything…"

From this description we understand that Avraham Avinu did not receive his faith and belief in G-d as a tradition from his parents. He rather attained it totally on his own, after deep thought and investigation. In short, he was a "Divine Philosopher."

However, the Medrash tells us a different story – namely, that Avraham concluded with finality that there was a Creator only after He actually revealed Himself to him. The Medrash states: "What happened is likened to a wayfarer on his travels who once saw a brightly lit palace. He wondered: 'Can this palace possibly exist without an owner [or operator]?' The owner then revealed himself to him and said, 'I am the owner.' Similarly, Avraham wondered: 'Is it possible for the world to exist without a leader?' G-d then revealed Himself to him: "G-d said to Avram, go ye to the Land that I will show you…"

The Rambam said that Avraham discovered G-d after his own research, and the Medrash said that G-d revealed Himself to him. Are these two accounts contradictory? Was Avraham a Divine philosopher, or was he a Kabbalist-like prophet who merited Divine revelation?

The answer appears in the Medrash. Avraham in fact started off as a philosopher, asking and searching: "Who's in charge here?" He concluded that there is certainly a Creator, but he then discovered the complete truth of the matter when G-d revealed Himself and spoke to him.

And this discovery means immediate Aliyah to the Land of Israel. As we read in the Kuzari (2,14): "All the prophets prophesied only in or for the Land of Israel. For instance, Avraham received prophecy so that he would go to the Land [i.e., this was the first thing that G-d told him]."

Outside the Land, one can come to a knowledge of G-d with one's intellect or via research – but one who wants to truly experience Divine revelation has to make Aliyah to Eretz Yisrael!