When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk in my ways and be “tamim”. I will establish my covenant between me and you…”
This is the second covenantal moment described in our Torah portion, and it is deeply transformative. During this covenantal moment, God announces that Abram’s name will be changed to the more familiar to us, Abraham by adding the Hebrew letter “Hay” to his name. Similarly, God tells Abraham that his wife’s name will also be changed from Sarai to the much more familiar Sarah by changing the final letter to a “Hay”. Entering this covenant is symbolically expressed by the new names given to our first patriarch and matriarch.
A second expression of the covenant is the challenge to Abraham “to walk in God’s ways.” That verse concludes with the Hebrew word “tamim”, a multi-valent term that has resulted in various translations into English. Some preserve the King James translation which renders the word as “perfect” based in part on how that term is used in the description of sacrificial animals which are required to be unblemished if they were to be brought to the altar. Other translations render the term as “wholehearted”, reflecting a sense of internal rather than external perfection. The Jewish Publication Society translation which appears in our Etz Hayim chumash renders the term as “be blameless”, reflecting upon expectations of Abraham and Sarah’s behavior.
The multiplicity of translations reflects the challenge presented by this Hebrew term which in its essence conveys the idea of wholeness. Seen through this prism it suggests that Abraham and Sarah need to bring their entire being into the covenant with God, that they need to commit their whole self to the nascent divine endeavor; an expectation that continues through the generations to us, their descendants.
Shabbat Shalom –
Rabbi David M. Eligberg
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