G-d’s Blessing to Abraham is Valid For All Time

It is written, “Now Abraham was old, well on in years, and the L-RD had blessed Abraham in everything” (Genesis 24:1). The Sages explain, “Wherever it is said, ‘And the L-RD,’ it means Him and His Celestial Court” (Bereshith Rabba 51:2). Therefore here too, G-d with His entire Court blessed Abraham. Why did the Celestial Court add its blessings to G-d’s? It is because “With ten tests was our father Abraham tested, and he withstood them all” (Perkei Avoth 5:3), and also because “Abraham caused the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, to be uttered by the mouth of every passer-by” (Sotah 10b). This is why he received a double blessing, one from G-d and another from all the angels.

We need to understand why it was necessary for the assembly of angels to bless Abraham. Was G-d’s benediction not adequate to bless Abraham with all the blessings mentioned (see Numbers 11:23)? The Source of all blessings gives His own, yet that is insufficient?

To explain this, we note that in the natural order of things, no one born of a woman would have the power to overcome the ten tests of Abraham. Yet during his last test, the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham demonstrated that his love for G-d was so strong that it exceeded his love for his own son.

Abraham had proved himself. He eliminated his evil inclination in his words, thoughts, and deeds. The Satan wanted to prevent him from hearing G-d’s voice and make him fail, yet Abraham defeated and drove him away. The angels observed all this and wanted to add their blessings to G-d’s in order to make us realize that Abraham merited all the blessings that G-d gave him. The angels praised and also blessed Abraham.

The blessing of the angels for Abraham, in accordance with G-d’s blessing, has an important and profound meaning. If Abraham’s descendants would sin and be condemned by accusers, the angels would not join along with these accusations because they would remember Abraham’s merits and become advocates for all Israel, in the sense of “Whatever happened to the Patriarchs is a sign to the children” (Tanhuma Lech Lecha 9). Abraham is a sign that his children are also blessed and cannot be accused, for Abraham’s kindness and mercy protect them. Thus G-d will forgive their errors and erase their sins, and He will defend them in order to annul all their transgressions.

This also explains why G-d accepted that the angels should join Him in blessing Abraham. G-d is called the Father of Israel (as we say in the prayer “Our Merciful Father”) and we are His children. This is why He is close to us, acting as our advocate, as is it written: “G-d is close to Israel” (Esther Rabba 7:17). Yet if He is close to Israel, how can He testify in our favor and act in our defense, since it is written: “Relatives cannot serve as witnesses for members of their own families” (Makot 6a)? This is why He uses the favorable opinion of the angels when Israel makes appeal to the merit of the Patriarchs, as the Sages have said: “Since when has the merit of the Patriarchs been exhausted?” (Shabbat 55a). Jews therefore benefit from the merit of Abraham for all time. G-d silences the accusers, for the angels also blessed Abraham and his descendants after him. They themselves become advocates for Israel and silence the Accuser and his cohorts. This is why G-d accepted the blessing of the Celestial Court along with the one He gave to Abraham and his descendants after him. The angels praised G-d for the blessings that He gave to Abraham and his children, who are called the children of G-d, as it is written: “Children of the Living G-d” (Hosea 2:1) for all time.

We may also find an allusion to this in the verse, “The L-RD had blessed Abraham bakol [in everything]” (Genesis 24:1). The word bakol has the same numerical value as twice G-d’s Name, a reference to both G-d’s blessing and that of the angels, who blessed Abraham and his descendants in G-d’s Name for all time.