We draw inspiration from the torchbearers of our legacy

The very first brachah of Shemoneh Esreh spotlights our Avos Hakedoshim: Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Why are they worthy of this distinction, specifically within the context of Shemoneh Esreh?

Our Avos are the torchbearers of Yiddishkeit; their behavior set the standard for all future descendants. Rav Shlomo Wolbe notes another important but often overlooked contribution they made: Everything we know about Hashem is gleaned from the Avos. Their conduct, interactions, and deeds reveal knowledge of Hashem to us. No mortal since has divulged more than they. When we begin the Shemoneh Esreh, our intimate conversation with Hashem, we invoke the Avos who taught us all we know of Him.

The Emunah and Chesed Connection

The Birchas Avos ends with “magen Avraham,” distinguishing Avraham Avinu from Yitzchak and Yaakov. Why is he worthy of being singled out?

Most of us acknowledge chesed and emunah as Avraham Avinu’s spiritual legacy. But rather than behaving as two isolated traits, Avraham’s chesed is the middah that facilitated his dissemination of emunah.

The generations preceding Avraham Avinu believed in a Deity far removed from and disinterested in the proceedings of the mundane world. Apropos of their ideology of “Ram al kol goyim Hashem, al haShamayim kevodo,” they doubted a Supreme Being would concern Himself with the particulars of humanity down below.

In theory, their assessment of Divinity was correct; just as we don’t expect the president to be aware of, much less concerned with, the specifics of arbitrary citizens (unless, of course, there’s a PR opportunity), so too the early generations believed G-d was too busy with the universe as a whole to care for the specifics of humankind. In fact, they saw His involvement in the mundane as an affront to His dignity!

Enter Avraham Avinu. He not only introduced the middah of chesed, but more significantly, he demonstrated a previously unknown level of it.

Consider the incident with the three malachim: Avraham Avinu was three days post-bris, his pain quotient at its peak, when three dirty, vagabond Arabs appeared. Anyone who has endured the after-effects of surgery will confirm that the last thing they need while recovering is to entertain three homeless men! Yet Avraham didn’t hesitate; instead he blessed the opportunity to serve his guests, slaughtering animals and preparing delicacies for them.

This was but one example of many where Avraham Avinu demonstrated a level of middas hachesed his generation had never encountered. And in showing them the heights to which a human, mere flesh and blood, can extend himself in chesed, Avraham provided a template for the oceans of chesed which Hashem bestows on every individual, every moment of every day. His example showed his contemporaries that Hashem is indeed concerned for and engages in the mundane needs of individuals.

This is “chesed l’Avraham,” the middah of chesed which drew the masses to embrace emunah in Hashem. And it was this revolution he led that earned Avraham a brachah all his own.

Hashem’s Traits

The Birchas Avos begins by invoking the three Avos — “Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzchak, v’Elokei Yaakov” — and continues with a description of Hashem that corresponds to each one: “hagadol, hagibbur, v’hanora.” However, these descriptions are immediately preceded by the name “haKeil.” Why do we refer to Hashem as “Keil”?

“Keil” has the same source as the word “Elokim,” which means “takif,” powerful strength. Keil isn’t just another word for strength; it means “takif sheb’chesed,” the power within middas hachesed.

Chesed is the source of all Hashem’s middos; it’s the backdrop to all interactions He has with mankind. Before we describe Hashem as “gadol, gibbor, nora,” we qualify these three middos as wholly motivated by His immense chesed. When we encounter events that are difficult, painful, or entirely inscrutable, we can choose to feel anger or resentment. Or we can recall the name Keil and remember that even the most indecipherable things in life are underscored by Hashem’s chesed.

Hashem is gadol. This description parallels Avraham Avinu, and invokes the middah of chesed he revealed to the world.

Hashem is gibbor. This expression corresponds to Yitzchak Avinu, who revealed the middah of gevurah. Gevurah doesn’t refer to brute strength; rather it’s an allusion to spiritual strength — “Eizehu gibbor? Hakoveish es yitzro.” Gibbor is the ability to overcome an obstacle or withstand the pressure of detractors and enemies.

How is Hashem a gibbor? The Gemara (Berachos 7a) relates that Rabi Yishmael “blessed” Hashem with the request that His mercy override His anger. There are countless times when Klal Yisrael as a nation, or we as individuals, deserve harsh retribution. When Hashem is “misgaber,” and overcomes his justified anger toward us, and instead treats us with the rachamim and chesed we don’t necessarily deserve, He models middas hagevurah.

When Yitzchak Avinu went to the Akeidah, the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 56:8) recounts his concern that out of fear of the knife poised to slaughter him, he would move during the shechitah, invalidating it. He requested that his father bind him, ensuring he be an acceptable korban. This is the source for the name Akeidas Yitzchak, the Binding of Yitzchak.

When he asked to be bound, Yitzchak overcame the most basic desire of every human — life itself — to do the will of Hashem. He is our model for gevurah.

Hashem is nora. This middah relates to Yaakov Avinu, who, upon awakening from his dream, exclaimed, “Mah nora hamakom hazeh!” Norah shares a root with yirah, fear or awe. Traditionally, though, we link Yaakov to the middah of shleimus: “Vayavo Yaakov shaleim.”

How are shleimus and nora related?

Rav Dessler teaches that nora means going above and beyond our expectations or perceived abilities. Indeed, in Hebrew slang, when indicating something is superlatively positive, people say, “Zeh nora tov!” There is an awe, and at times actual fear, when we encounter utter completeness. Consider the feelings engendered when meeting a true gadol: We’re in awe at the spiritual completion embodied by a human being. Or (more mundanely) when we see a person accomplish a tremendous feat, we may comment, “He’s so (fast, strong, flexible), it’s scary!”

Yaakov Avinu taught us the middah of nora through his utter spiritual completeness. He didn’t sleep for 14 years in Yeshivas Sheim v’Ever, he maintained his spiritual integrity in the home of Lavan, and of the three Avos, he was the one capable of having the 12 Shevatim.

Hashem is the Source of all things shaleim, He’s the only true shleimus that exists. And it’s precisely this paradigm of completion that makes Him so awesome and feared: “Nora Elokim mimikdashecha,” the Shechinah of the Mikdash gave us a sense of the awesomeness of Hashem.

We’re indebted to the Avos for revealing the attributes of Hashem, their brachah sets the tone for every one of our tefillos Shemoneh Esreh. And their legacy ensures that when we daven Shemoneh Esreh, we recognize before Whom we stand: the True Paradigm of lovingkindness, fortitude, and perfection.

Mrs. Elana Moskowitz has been teaching in seminaries for nearly 20 years.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 785)