Parshat Lech Lecha: Beating the Vultures

The first of the two significant covenants that were forged between Avraham and G-d was the Brit Bein Habtarim (Covenant Between the Pieces). In exchange for a promise that he’ll have children, that they’ll be enslaved for 400 years, but that they’ll ultimately inherit the land of Canaan, G-d asks of Avraham (still Avram at that time) to “Bring for Me a prime heifer, a prime goat, a prime ram, a dove and a young pigeon.” (Bereshis 15:9)

The Torah describes what Avram did: “He brought all these for Him. He split them in half, and placed one half opposite the other. The birds, however, he did not split.” (15:10)

Once he set up the halved animals and the whole birds, he was faced with a real problem: “Vultures descended on the carcasses, but Avram drove them away.” (15:11)

Between the vision of the stars in which this encounter began, and concluding with the trance that came upon Avram as the sun set (15:12), it seems that the Brit Bein Habtarim was minimally a 20-hour experience.

What took so long?

Perhaps the verse describing Avram’s encounter with the vultures may have taken a lot more time than its press coverage might indicate.

The rabbinic interpretation of the vultures’ descent paints a metaphor of Avraham’s descendants fighting against those who want to break apart our Covenant with G-d. But perhaps there is room to interpret the events more literally.

In an interpretation that is difficult to understand literally, the Midrash Hagadol posits that when the vultures came, Avram put the split carcasses next to each other and they returned to life to frighten away their would-be attackers. More in line with the actual wording of the verse, Radak suggests that the vultures only descended on the dead birds (complete carcasses) and not on the animals that were split in half.

Getting into the trenches with Avram, Chizkuni suggests that Avram was literally running back and forth to cover the animals with a sheet – protecting them from the hungry vultures – as he lay in wait for the divine presence to pass between the pieces so the covenant could be set in motion.