05 Nov PARASHAT LECH LECHA: RECEIVING THE POWER TO BLESS

When G-d first
spoke to Avraham
and commanded
him to leave his
homeland and
move to what
would become known as the Land
of Israel, He made several promises,
including, “Va’abarechecha Mebarecheka,
U’mekelelcha A’or” – “I shall bless those
who bless you, and those who curse you,
I shall curse.” G-d assured Avraham that
those who bless him and his descendants
would be blessed, and those who curse
him and his descendants would be cursed.
The Or Ha’hayim Ha’kadosh (Rav
Haim Ben-Attar, 1696-1743) notes the
different sequences in the two parts of
this phrase. When it comes to those who
bless Avraham, G-d promised, “I will bless
those who bless you,” mentioning first
His blessing, and then the blessing which
people give to Avraham. But in the next
part of the verse, G-d says, “those who
curse you, I shall curse” – mentioning first
the curse which people would try to place
on Avraham, and then that G-d would
curse them. What is the reason for these
different sequences?
The Or Ha’hayim explains that the first
phrase – “I shall bless those who bless
you” – means that G-d would bless people
who bless Avraham even before they
actually utter the blessing, as soon as they
intend to bless him. Those who curse
Avraham, however, would be cursed by
G-d only after they actually utter the curse.
And thus G-d stated, “I shall bless those
who bless you” – indicating that they will
be blessed even before they pronounce
their blessing to Avraham” – and “those
who curse you, I shall curse” – indicating
that they will be cursed only after cursing
Avraham.
Why would those who bless Avraham or
the Jewish People be rewarded even before
they actually pronounce the blessing,
whereas those who curse Avraham or
his descendants are punished only after
pronouncing the curse?
The Or Ha’hayim offers a number of
explanations, one of which is that people
need to be blessed in order to grant
blessings to others. The blessings that
people would confer upon Avraham
or upon the Jewish Nation will not
be effective unless those people have
themselves been blessed. Therefore, G-d
assured Avraham that He would grant
blessings to all those who intend or wish
to bless him or his descendants. These
blessings will then grant them the power
to bless Am Yisrael. This is the meaning

of “Va’abarechecha Mebarecheka” – that
G-d will bless those who wish to bless the
Jewish People, empowering them to give
us their blessing.
The more we desire to bring blessing to

other people, and to the world, the more
G-d blesses us with this ability. If we
truly strive to bless and give to the world,
then we will receive G-d’s blessings to

enable us to do so.