Avraham escaped the famine by temporarily moving to Egypt. According to the Ramban, Avraham should have trusted in God and stayed in the land in which he was told to live. But Ralbag writes that the story of the drought – and Avraham’s response – is an example of the proactive effort required in securing a proper livelihood.
This debate between the Ramban and the Ralbag raises a number of interesting questions, including whether their differing views relate to the unique circumstances faced by Avraham, or if they perhaps reflect broader perspectives on the proper balance between human effort and trust in God.
We read in Parashat Lekh-Lekha of the drought that struck Canaan shortly after Avraham relocated there in fulfillment of God’s command. Avraham escaped the famine by temporarily moving to Egypt, where his wife, Sara, was abducted by Pharaoh.
In among the more famous passages in his Torah commentary, the Ramban, somewhat surprisingly, asserts that Avraham “committed a great sin” by leaving Canaan to seek relief from the harsh drought conditions. According to the Ramban, after God had commanded Avraham to settle in Canaan, he should have trusted in the Almighty’s ability to sustain him regardless of the economic conditions, rather than leaving the land in which he was told to live.
The Ramban’s comments reflect a lone voice among the classic Medieval commentators, who generally seem to support Avraham’s decision to move to Egypt. In fact, Rashi, citing the Midrash Tanchuma, writes that God caused Avraham to leave Canaan (“masi’o la-tzeit mimena”) as a test to see if Avraham would question God’s promise of prosperity. It seems that Avraham was expected to leave Canaan and remain trustful that God’s promise of blessing would come to fruition at some point in the future.
What’s more, the Ralbag, in his commentary, writes that the story of the drought – and Avraham’s response – was recorded in the Torah specifically to provide us with an example of the proactive effort required in securing a proper livelihood:
A man should obtain food and similar necessities needed for bodily preservation with vigilance. God had already promised Avram success with respect to the acquisition of possessions. Nonetheless, Avram aroused himself because of the famine that existed in the land of Canaan to go to the land of Egypt, and did not desist from going there because God, may He be exalted, had (previously) commanded him to dwell in the land of Canaan.
For the commandments of God, may He be exalted, are to bestow good upon man, not that he would die because of them. And because of this Avram knew the will of God, may He be exalted, was that he should turn away from there (Canaan) for the pursuit of food.
Moreover, the intention of Avram's journey to the land of Canaan was in order that he should be more prepared to receive the Divine overflow that would cling to him, and this would not be conceivable in a state of famine and lack of food. And for this reason it was the greater good that he (Avram) should leave that place (Canaan) to the place where food would be found-until the famine should cease.
According to the Ralbag – in direct contradistinction to the Ramban’s view – Avraham’s conduct here exemplifies the “charitzut” (“vigilance”) demanded of us in caring for our physical and material needs. Even though God had promised Avraham prosperity, it was self-understood (according to the Ralbag) that Avraham would have to do his share – even packing his bags and temporarily settling in the hostile environs of Egypt. In fact, the Ralbag writes, God’s promise to bless Avraham was more of a reason for Avraham to leave Canaan, for it implicitly required Avraham to undertake the necessary measures to allow that blessing to materialize. (For a more thorough elaboration on the Ralbag’s comments, see Rav Dovid Horowitz’s article on the subject at http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/728606/Rabbi_David_Horwitz/Parashat_Lech-Lecha:_The_Value_of_Haritzut.)
This debate between the Ramban and the Ralbag raises a number of interesting questions, including whether their differing views relate to the unique circumstances faced by Avraham, who faced a deadly drought in a land in which he was commanded to live and where he was promised to prosper, or if they perhaps reflect broader perspectives on the proper balance between human effort and trust in God. What is clear, however, and quite revealing, is that the Ralbag identified the value of proactive effort and personal responsibility as one of the messages the Torah sought to convey in this section. For the Ralbag, taking personal responsibility for one’s general well-being constitutes a religious value, something which the Torah found it necessary to remind us. Avraham is the exemplar not only of kindness and firm religious conviction, but also of the seemingly more basic value of personal responsibility and diligence in caring for oneself and one’s family.