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Why did Avrohom risk so much—including triggering the destruction of the seven Mishkanos and jeopardizing Klal Yisrael's future—by making a covenant with Avimelech over Be'er Sheva? The shiur develops a yesod that after Bris Milah and Yitzchok's birth, Avrohom's mission shifted: connecting the nations to Hashem (ה׳) now required connecting them to Klal Yisrael itself. Be'er Sheva represents HaKadosh Baruch Hu's direct sovereignty—water, like air, is etzem chaim that no earthly king can withhold—and Avrohom's gamble was to draw Avimelech into recognizing that sovereignty, making the well itself a mikdash me'at, a template for the Beis Hamikdash.
The shiur opens with an acknowledgment that the entire episode of Be'er Sheva—including Avrohom's covenant with Avimelech and the disputes over wells in Bereishis and Toldos—is extraordinarily difficult to understand on any level of pshat. Chazal teach that the seven sheep Avrohom gave to Avimelech caused the destruction of seven mishkanos: the Ohel Moed, Gilgal, Nov, Givon, Shiloh, and the two Batei Mikdash. Avrohom also contracted away Eretz Pelishtim (which belongs to Klal Yisrael according to the Bris Bein HaBesarim) and obligated himself not to oppose Avimelech's descendants, nearly preventing Dovid from conquering Yerushalayim. The cost was catastrophic—seven tzaddikim (Shaul, his three sons, Chafni, Pinchas, Shimshon) were killed because of this covenant—and yet Avrohom appears to have received nothing tangible in return beyond a kind word from Avimelech. The shiur proposes that after Bris Milah and the birth of Yitzchok, a fundamental transformation occurred in Avrohom's mission. Before Yitzchok's birth, Avrohom's task was to spread belief in Hashem (ה׳) among the nations directly, person by person, through philosophical argument and chesed (חסד). The Rambam (רמב"ם) describes hundreds and thousands assembled by Avrohom. But once HaKadosh Baruch Hu chose Avrohom and his seed—"Yitzchok yikarei lecha zera"—a new reality emerged: from now on, there is only one nation with a direct relationship to Hashem, and any other nation can only connect to Him through a relationship with Klal Yisrael. Avrohom's mission shifted from making the nations ma'aminim on their own to making them connected to himself (and through him, to Hashem).
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What is the primary purpose of the cities of refuge - protecting the accidental killer or something else? The shiur argues that creating respect for law takes precedence over providing sanctuary. True deterrence comes from recognizing the gravity of murder itself, not fear of punishment.
