This stage is characterized by a high degree of particularism. Avraham is required to totally remove himself from the society in which he was raised. According to Ramban and Or Hachaim, the wording and order of the first verse in Lech Lecha express the difficulty of Avraham’s separation from all that he knew and loved, the first of the ten challenges that he would face in the fulfillment of his destiny:

"ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך"
(בראשית יב:א)

“And God said to Avram: ‘Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you.’” (Bereshit 12:1)

רמב"ן: וטעם להזכיר ארצך ומולדתך ובית אביך כי יקשה על האדם לעזוב את ארצו אשר הוא יושב בו ושם אוהביו ורעיו, וכל שכן כשהיא ארץ מולדתו ששם נולד, וכל שכן כשיש שם כל בית אביו, ולכן הוצרך לומר לו שיעזוב הכל לאהבתו של הקב"ה.

Ramban: The reason that it mentions “your land”, “your birthplace”, and “the house of your father” is because it is difficult for a person to leave the land in which he lives with his friends and loved ones, and more so his birthplace where he was born, and more so the house of his father. Therefore it was necessary to tell him that he should leave everything for his love of God.

אור החיים: אחר שאמר "מארצך" אין מקום לומר "ממולדתך" כי בצאתו מארצו הנה הוא יוצא גם ממולדתו. אכן הטעם הוא: להיות כי בערך צער הפרידה קטן הוא צער פרידתו מארצו מפרידת מולדתו, ופרידתו ממולדתו מפרידתו מבית אביו…

Or Hachaim: After He said “from your land”, it was no longer necessary to say “from your birthplace”, for by leaving his land he would also be leaving his birthplace. The reason is that the pain relating to leaving his land is less than the pain of separating from his birthplace, which is less than the pain of separation from the house of his father…

The Rabbis expanded on this idea, viewing Avraham as isolated from mankind in general. Avraham becomes known as Avraham Ha’ivri (Bereshit 14:3), an appellation which, according to the midrash, reflects Avraham’s separation from the rest of the world:

ולכן כתוב "אברהם העברי". מהו "העברי"? שכל העולם מעבר אחד והוא היה מעבר אחד והיה אוהב לקב"ה ועובדו. (פםיקתא רבתי לג)

And therefore the term Avraham Ha’ivri is written. What is the meaning of “ivri”? That the whole world was on one side (“ever echad”) and he (Avraham) was on the other side in his love and worship of God. (Pesikta Rabbati 33)

A Blessing to the Nations of the World

Although Avraham’s mission is characterized by particularism, it also contains a universalistic aspect:

"ואעשך לגוי גדול ואברכך ואגדלה שמך והיה ברכה. ואברכה מברכך ומקללך אאר ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה." (בראשית יב:ב-ג)

“And I will make you into a great nation, and I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. And those who bless you will be blessed, and those who curse you will be cursed, and all of the families of the earth shall be blessed through you.” (Bereshit 12:2-3)

The goal of Avraham’s separation is ultimately to bring blessing to all of the people of the world. Rashi explains that Avraham’s role in the realization of the divine plan for mankind is greater than that assigned to mankind during the times of Adam and Noah:

רש"י: הברכות נתונות בידך. עד עכשיו היו בידי, ברכתי לאדם ונח, ומעכשיו אתה תברך את אשר תחפוץ.

Rashi: And you will be a blessing: The blessings are given into your hand. Until now they were in my control: I blessed Adam and Noah . From now on, you will bless whom you wish.

Avraham’s greater level of responsibility and partnership in the completion of creation is reflected as well in Rashi’s commentary on verse 12:5:

"ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו ואת לוט בן אחיו ואת כל רכושם אשר רכשו ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען…" (בראשית יב:ה)

“And Avram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all of the property that they acquired, and the souls that they made in Harran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan...” (Bereshit 12:5)

רש"י: אשר עשו בחרן - שהכניסן תחת כנפי השכינה. אברהם מגייר את האנשים ושרה מגיירת את הנשים, ומעלה עליהם הכתוב כאילו עשאום.

Rashi: That they made in Harran - He brought them under the wings of the Divine Presence: Avraham converted the men and Sarah converted the women, and the Torah considered it as if they had made them.

Rashi’s comment is based on the midrash in Bereshit Rabbah 39:14:

אם כן "שגיירו", למה "אשר עשו"? אלא ללמדך שכל מי שהוא מקרב את העכו"ם ומגיירו כאילו בראו.

If they converted them, why does it say “that they made”? To teach you that anyone who brings an idolater close to Torah, it is as if he created him.

Thus, the particularism reflected in the selection of Avraham was designed to bring all of mankind to a recognition of God and the divinely ordained value system. This concept of particularism for the sake of universalism is reflected as well in the conditional nature of the selection of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai:

ועתה אם שמוע תשמעו בקלי ושמרתם את בריתי והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים כי לי כל הארץ. ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש… (שמות יט:ה-ו)

And now, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own treasure from among all the nations, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation... (Shemot 19: 5-6)

Sforno explains these verses as follows:

והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים - אף על פי שכל המין האנושי יקר אצלי…ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים - ובזה תהיו סגולה, כי תהיו ממלכת כהנים להבין ולהורות לכל המין האנושי לקרוא כולם בשם ה'.

You shall be my own treasure from among all the nations - Even though all of mankind is dear to me…And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests - By virtue of the fact that you will be a nation of priests, you will be more treasured than all of them – to understand and to teach all of mankind to call on the name of God.

Thus, the concept of selection does not imply special privilege, but rather special responsibility.

Nationalism and Universalism

Many view nationalism as antithetical to universalism, and would thus question the linkage between particularism and universalism. Ramban explains the connection in his commentary to verse 12:6:

ויעבר אברם בארץ עד מקום שכם עד אלון מורה והכנעני אז בארץ. וירא ה' אל אברם ויאמר לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת ויבן שם מזבח לה' הנראה אליו. (בראשית יב: ו-ז)

רמב"ן: והכנעני אז בארץ - להורות על ענין הפרשה לומר כי אברם בא בארץ כנען ולא הראהו ה' הארץ אשר יעדו ועבר עד מקום שכם, והכנעני הגוי המר והנמהר אז בארץ, ואברם ירא ממנו ולכן לא בנה מזבח לה'. ובבואו במקום שכם באלון מורה נראה אליו ה' ונתן לו הארץ, וסרה יראתו כי כבר הובטח בארץ אשר אראך, ואז בנה מזבח לה' לעבדו בפרהסיה.

And Avraham traversed the land until the place of Shechem, until Alon Moreh, and the Canaanites were then in the land. And God appeared to Avraham and said: ‘I will give this land to your offspring.’ And he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.” (Bereshit 12:6-7)

Ramban: And the Canaanites were then in the land - And it is possible that the Torah mentions that the Canaanites were then in the land in order to teach the issue of this section: For Avram came to the land of Canaan, and God had not revealed to him his destination. And he traversed until the place of Shechem. And the Canaanites, that bitter and impetuous nation, were then in the land. And Avraham was afraid of them, and therefore did not build an altar to God. And when he came to the place of Shechem to Alon Moreh, God appeared to him and gave him the land, and his fear disappeared because he had already been promised the land that God would show him. At that point he built an altar in order to worship God publicly.

The sense of belonging and identity associated with the ownership of the land of Israel gave Avraham the self-confidence to persuade others of the value of his message. And so it is that Parashat Lech Lecha, the section of the Torah that begins the narrative of the Jewish mission in the world, focuses on nationalism. The parasha records four instances in which God promises the land of Canaan to Avraham and his descendants:

ויעבר אברם בארץ עד מקום שכם עד אלון מורה והכנעני אז בארץ. וירא ה' אל אברם ויאמר לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת ויבן שם מזבח לה' הנראה אליו. (בראשית יב: ו-ז)

And God appeared to Avraham and said: ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ And he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. (Bereshit 12:7)

וה' אמר אל אברם אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו שא נא עיניך וראה מן המקום אשר אתה שם צפנה ונגבה וקדמה וימה. כי את כל הארץ אשר אתה ראה לך אתננה ולזרעך עד עולם. (בראשית יג: יד-טו)

And God said to Avram after Lot had departed from him: ‘Raise your eyes and look out to the north, south, east and west, for I will give all of the land that you see to you and your descendants for eternity.’ (Bereshit 13:14-15)

ביום ההוא כרת ה' את אברם ברית לאמר לזרעך נתתי את הארץ הזאת מנהרמצרים עד הנהר הגדול נהר פרת. את הקיני ואת הקנזי ואת הקדמני, ואת החתי ואת הפרזי ואת הרפאים, ואת האמרי ואת הכנעני ואת הגרגשי ואת היבוסי. (בראשית טו: יח-כא)

On that day, God made a covenant with Avram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates – the Keni, the Kennizi, the Kadmoni, the Hitti, the Perrizi, the Refaim, the Canaani, the Girgashi, and the Yevusi.’ (Bereshit 15:18-21)

ונתתי לך ולזרעך אחריך את ארץ מגוריך את כל ארץ כנען לאחוזת עולם והיית להם לאלקים. (בראשית יז: ח)

I will give the land in which you sojourn to you and your descendants, all of the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. (Bereshit 17:8)

The final promise is given to Avraham in conjunction with the commandment of circumcision. The promise also coincides with the changing of Avraham’s name:

אני הנה בריתי אתך והיית לאב המון גוים. ולא יקרא עוד שמך אברם והיה שמך אברהם כי אב המון גוים נתתיך. (בראשית יז:ד-ה)

As for me, behold my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. And your name shall no longer be called Avram, but your name shall be Avraham, for a father of many nations have I made you. (Bereshit 17:4-5)

The Netziv points out the irony in the fact that the charge for Avraham to become “a father to many nations” is connected to circumcision, the act that physically differentiates Avraham and his descendants from others.

באשר הזהירו על תמימות פרסום כבודו של הקב"ה בכל הגוים אפילו לא יתגיירו להיות בכלל ישראל, הוסיף להזהירו על ברית מילה המציין את האומה בכל מקום להגיד כי הם נבראים לזה התכלית להכיר א-להותו בעולם. (העמק דבר, בראשית יז:ד-ט)

When He exhorted him regarding the publicizing of the glory of God among all of the nations even if they would not convert to become part of the people of Israel, he added an exhortation regarding the circumcision which creates a demarcation of the nation in every place, to demonstrate that they were created for this very purpose, to foster a recognition of God in the world. (Ha’emek Davar, Bereshit 17:4-9)

Thus, in this promise we see again the relationship between nationalism and universalism.

Ramban, in his commentary on verse 15:18, explains the progressive nature of the promises:

רמב"ן: הנה הקב"ה הבטיח את אברהם במתנת הארץ פעמים רבים וכולם לצורך ענין. בבואו בארץ מתחילה אמר לו לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת ולא באר מתנתו, כי אין במשמע רק במה שהלך בארץ עד מקום שכם עשר אלון מורה. ואחרי כן כשרבו זכויותיו בארץ הוסיף לו שא נא עיניך וראה מן המקום אשר אתה שם צפנה ונגבה וקדמה וימה, כי יתן לו כל הארצות ההן בכללן….והוסיף לו בברכה שנית הזאת עוד לזרעך עד עולם ושירבה זרעו כעפר הארץ. ובפעם השלישית באר לו תחומי הארץ והזכיר לו כל העמים עשרה אומות, והוסיף לכרת לו ברית עליהן שלא יגרום החטא. וכאשר צוהו על המילה אמר לו לאחזת עולם לאמר שאם יגלו ממנה עוד ישובו וינחלוה.

Ramban: Now the Holy One Blessed Be He promised Avraham the gift of the land many times, and each promise served a purpose. When he originally arrived in the land, he said to him: “I will give this land to your descendants” (12:7) But he did not clarify the extent of his gift, for included in this promise is only the land that he traversed up to the place of Shechem, up to Alon Moreh. Afterwards, while his merits increased while in the land, He gave him the additional promise: “Raise your eyes and look out to the north, south, east, and west” (13:14), meaning that He would give him all of the lands in their totality…He further added that this second blessing is directed “to you and your descendants for eternity, and that Avraham’s offspring would multiply as the dust of the earth. The third time, he clarified the boundaries of the land, mentioning all of the ten nations, and in addition made a covenant that sin would not cause a cancellation of the promise. When He commanded him regarding circumcision (the fourth promise), He informed him that the land would be an everlasting possession, meaning that if they would be exiled from it, they would again return to possess it.

At the end of the Ramban’s analysis, he introduces the conditional nature of the promises. Although this idea is not evident in the text in Bereshit, it is mentioned in parshiyot Bechukotai and Ki Tavo. In his explanation of the fourth promise, Ramban juxtaposes the conditional nature of the promises with the seemingly contradictory pledge that the promises have eternal validity. Yet, these two components need not be contradictory. The land of Israel is to serve as a base for the Jewish people to foster the recognition of God and of Torah values in the world. It is for this reason that the settlement of the land by the Jewish people is viewed throughout the Torah as conditional, with inappropriate behavior leading to exile. This concept has its source in the experience of Avraham and his descendants, as expressed in the following Gemara (Nedarim 32):

מפני מה נענש אברהם ושנתעבדו בניו למצרים? … ר' יוחנן אמר: מפני שהפריש בני אדם מלהכנס תחת השכינה.

Why was Avraham punished that his descendants were enslaved in Egypt?…Rabbi Yochanan said: “Because he caused some people to separate rather than to come under the wings of God’s presence.

Nevertheless, as Ramban explains, the title of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is eternal. Within His promises, God expresses His confidence that His people will return to their land to fulfill their role as a light unto the nations.

Nationalism and Universalism in the Prophetic Vision

The relationship between nationalism and universalism that originated with Avraham continued to play a prominent role in the prophetic vision of redemption. This is reflected, for example, in chapter 36 of Yechezkel:

ויבא אל הגויים אשר באו שם ויחללו את שם קדשי באמור להם עם הי אלו ומארצו יצאו….לכן אמור לבית ישראל כה אמר ה' אלקים לא למענכם אני עושה בית ישראל כי אם לשם קדשי אשר חללתם בגויים אשר באתם שם. וקדשתי את שמי הגדול המחלל בגויים אשר חללתם בתוכם וידעו הגויים כי אני ה' נאום ה' אלקים בהקדשתי בכם לעיניכם. ולקחתי אתכם מן הגויים וקבצתי אתכם מכל הארצות והבאתי אתכם אל אדמתכם. (יחזקאל לו:כ, כב-כד)

And when they came to the nation to which they came, they desecrated My holy name in that they said about them: ‘These are the people of God, and they have gone out of their land…. Therefore say to the house of Israel: ‘So says God: Not for your sake do I do this, Oh house of Israel, but for My holy name that you have desecrated among the nations to which you came. And I will sanctify My great name that has been desecrated among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst, and the nations will know that I am God, says the Lord, when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes. And I will take you from among the nations, and I will gather you from all of the lands, and I will bring you into your own land.’ (Yechezkel 36: 20, 22-24)

What is the desecration of God’s name, to which the prophet is referring? According to the Malbim, it refers to the evil behavior of Bnei Yisrael that resulted in their exile. Abarbanel, however, views the desecration as the very fact that they are in exile among the nations

לא שבני ישראל היו מחללים אותו בעצם, כי אם שסיבת גלותם וצרותיהם בהיותם עם ה' היה מחולל שמו בגויים…

Not that Bnei Yisrael were actively desecrating his name, but by virtue of their exile and their suffering, as the people of God, His name was desecrated among the nations.

The degradation of the Jewish people in their existence without a land and without independence is in itself a desecration of God’s name. If so, the converse is also true – that the settlement of the Jewish people in their land constitutes a sanctification of God’s name among the nations. This is indeed expressed by the prophet in verses 22-24. The fact that the return of the exiled Jews to their land is not based on their merit lends support to Abarbanel’s position.

Thus, in Yechezkel’s vision, the fulfillment of Jewish national aspirations will also bring about a universal recognition of God. This concept is also seen in Yeshayahu’s famous vision of the end of days:

"כי ביתי בית תפילה יקרא לכל העמים." (ישעיהו נו:ז)

“For my house will be called a house of prayer for all people.” (Yeshayahu 56:7)