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Why did Avrohom's shepherds fight with Lot's shepherds over grazing rights in Canaan? The dispute wasn't about the Canaanites—both agreed the land belonged to Avrohom. Rather, Avrohom held the Canaanites had a divine lease for 400 years, making grazing on their land theft. By withholding permission from Lot, Avrohom controlled his nephew to prevent what he saw as stealing—an act of love possible only when someone genuinely wants to do right.
The shiur examines two profound questions from the week's parsha and the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s introduction to Hilchos Avodah Zarah. First, the Rambam extols Avrohom Avinu for not only teaching against idolatry but actively destroying idols, contrasting him with Shem and Ever who also taught against idolatry but, according to the Raavad, couldn't find idols to destroy because people hid them. This raises two difficulties: Is Avrohom's greatness merely that he was a better "snoop"? And how would we view someone today who went into homes destroying what he considered idolatrous—wouldn't we consider such behavior fanatical and disrespectful of others' autonomy? The second question emerges from the dispute between Avrohom's shepherds and Lot's shepherds. According to Rashi (רש"י), Lot's shepherds grazed their flocks on others' lands, arguing that since Hashem (ה׳) had already given the land to Avrohom (at age 70 in the Bris Bein HaBesarim), and since Lot was Avrohom's heir, they were merely using their own property. The Canaanites were just squatters. Avrohom's shepherds countered that "the Canaanite is still in the land"—the land would only become theirs in the future. But this presents a puzzle: why did this philosophical disagreement about how to deal with gentiles create such a bitter family dispute that Avrohom and Lot had to separate?
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Parshas Lech Lecha - Avraham and Lot's dispute
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