By Rabbi Eli Mansour

The Midrash (Bereshit Rabba 42) tells the story of how Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus first began learning Torah. He had worked with his brothers in the farmlands owned by their father, Hyrcanus, until Eliezer ran away in order to learn Torah under the great Rabbinic leader of that generation, Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai.

Sometime later, his father came to inform Eliezer that he was disowning him, and removing him from his will. But when his father arrived, he saw that Rabbi Yochanan was hosting a major feast for the Rabbis, with the wealthiest men of the generation in attendance. Of all the people assembled, Rabbi Yochanan selected Eliezer – now Rabbi Eliezer – to deliver a speech. Rabbi Eliezer’s words dazzled everyone in the room – including his father, Hyrcanus, who approached him afterward.

“I had come here to disown you and exclude you from my fortune,” he said, “but I am instead giving you everything I own.” What was this speech that so impressed Hyrcanus?

The Midrash says that Rabbi Eliezer spoke about an event told by the Torah in Parashat Lech-Lecha – the war waged by the four kings against the five kings. During this war, the four kings captured the city of Sedom, and took its entire population as captives, including Lot, the nephew of Avraham Avinu. When Avraham heard that his nephew was taken, he immediately mobilized a small army and boldly launched an attack against the four kings. Miraculously, Avraham’s little army triumphed, and rescued all the captives, including Lot.

Rabbi Eliezer, in this first speech that he ever delivered, said that this war is alluded to in a verse in Tehillim (37:14): “The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow, to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those who walk uprightly.” These “wicked” people, Rabbi Eliezer explained, were the four kings, who were led by Amrafel, whom Rashi (Bereshit 14:1) identifies as Nimrod, the evil king who had thrown Avraham into a furnace to kill him for denying paganism. These kings came with their armies to wage war against “the poor and the needy” – referring to Lot, and to “slay those who walk uprightly” – referring to Avraham. However, their plan backfired, as the next verse says, “Their sword shall enter their heart” – they were defeated and killed by Avraham.

What was so profound about this lecture? What great insight did Rabbi Eliezer here reveal, thus earning him his father’s newfound admiration and praise?

Rabbi Eliezer here taught that when other nations wage wars, they are invariably, in some way, targeting us, the Jewish People. When we read the Torah’s account of this war, we get the impression that Avraham’s involvement was purely incidental, the result of Lot happening to be living in Sedom, which fell to the four kings. In truth, however, as Rabbi Eliezer taught, the four kings were actually coming after Avraham and Lot. They targeted Avraham because of the monotheistic belief that he disseminated, and they targeted Lot because he was the ancestor of Rut – the great-grandmother of Dovid – and Na’ama – the wife of King Shlomo, from whom the Davidic dynasty descended, culminating in Mashiach. This conflict outwardly seemed like a struggle between different kingdoms who had strategic alliances, but in truth, it was aimed at Avraham and Lot, seeking to destroy Am Yisrael even before its emergence, and to prevent the possibility of Mashiach’s arrival to redeem the Jewish People.

In the next passage, the Midrash comments that these four kings represent the four empires that would later persecute the Jewish Nation – Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Edom (associated with Rome and the Christian world). The Midrash here teaches us that just as the war waged by the four kings was driven by hostility toward Avraham Avinu and toward the nation he was creating, the subsequent wars will similarly be motivated by this ancient hatred.

We are thus assured that just as G-d miraculously assisted Avraham Avinu in overcoming his enemies, we, too, will prevail over our hostile adversaries. We need to confidently place our trust in the Almighty, in the “Magen Avraham” (“Shield of Avraham”), and ask Him to protect us and deliver us from our enemies just as He helped our ancestors throughout history.