Lech Lecha

In this week's Torah portion, Abraham is brought to the Holy Land, gong through tests and trials, until he is found worthy of inheriting the Land. G-d swears two covenants with Abraham; the "covenant between the pieces", and the covenant of circumcision. In the first, G-d tells Abraham that his children will inherit the land, to which Abraham gives the unusual response ""Oh L-rd. how do I know that I will inherit it?". G-d then informs him that his children will first be slaves in Egypt, but then inherit the Land. Some of the commentaries say that it was this question that brought about the dire decree of Egyptian slavery. Abraham, the first human completely faithful to G-d, the one who taught Mankind the truth of One G-d, was asking for proof for a Divine promise! Thereby, Abraham had "blemished" faith, the inheritance of the Land, and prayer itself! (It should be noted that Jewish Tradition does not hesitate to point out mistakes made by any human being, even the greatest.) Rabbi Nachman comments on this incident as follows: The Land of Israel represents Divine providence, as we are told in Deuteronomy, "the Land where the eyes of G-d are directed, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year". Egypt, on the other hand, represented the Natural Order. The gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt were mostly Nature deities. The Nile would inundate Egypt regularly, every year, watering the crops and insuring prosperity. In fact, Egypt is sometimes called "the gift of the Nile". It represents living in the course of Nature, rather than by Providence (Hashgachah). By Abraham questioning the promise of inheritance of the Land, he blemished prayer itself, as prayer implies that everything is in the will of G-d, who can, and does, change the course of history, from great empires, down to every man and woman. Now Abraham's children would not inherit the land, until they would experience the Land of the Natural order. They would not rise from the illusion of a natural order to inherit the place where miracles and Divine Providence ARE the natural order, until they had descended and discovered the truth. That is why it was not Abraham who descended to Egypt, but Jacob and his twelve sons. Jewish tradition says that each tribe had a unique method of prayer (Nuschaot). Jacob comprised all prayer, his sons expressed twelve variations of prayer. Prayer must go into exile as a result of being blemished, but prayer would be the tool for discovering that Nature is but a mask of G-d, making them worthy of inheriting the Land, inheriting their destiny.
WE each must go through our own "Egypts"; the struggles, the disappointments, the challenges of a "natural world" that appears to have no direction. Through prayer, we can see, even while still in Egypt, that there is a Divine hand at work in our lives; until we find the Promised land.