Parasha Lech Lecha is the third portion of the Torah in which we are introduced to our father Abram, who experiences a new beginning. We already had a new beginning with Adam in the first portion, Bereshit, and then there was another new beginning in the second portion, Noah. There were ten generations between Adam and Noah, and ten generations between Noah and Abram. Number ten represents fulfillment, completion and something new.
I want to expand on the topic of being chosen. Abram was a man, “chosen” by the Creator. His name would later be changed to Abraham by adding the letter Heh, which is part of God’s divine name. Within religious circles, there are many understandings about how Israel came to be Israel and about who a Jew is or is not. Even the Supreme Court of Israel lacks a clear understanding of it. All the sects fight for their right to convert, as if they had the power to convert. Most religions require that we convert to their brand if we want to belong to their group; we need to go through their process, otherwise, we are not accepted. I call it hocus pocus. Is this what the Torah teaches?
Abram was “called” by the Creator, who told him to leave his home in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) and follow Him to Canaan. That land was not an ideal place. We saw that as soon as he arrived, Abram had to escape to Egypt to survive a famine. Here is a key: God spoke to Abram in Genesis 12:4-5, “4 So Abram went as the LORD spoke to him…” We need to understand that it was the LORD who “spoke” to Abram, who was leading him, not the other way around. We don’t tell the Creator where to go; He tells us.
“5…and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife, Sarai, his nephew, Lot, all the possessions he had amassed, and the people they had acquired in Haran.” Personally, I don’t like the translation of the phrase וְאֶת-הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר-עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן “the people they had acquired in Haran”. In Hebrew, it says, “all the people or souls that he ‘made‘” (עָשׂוּ – asu). We need to understand who “the people that he made” were from a spiritual sense. It means all those who listened to him and followed him, not because of who he was but because of the message that Abram had received from the Creator. They became Abram’s talmidim (students). No one coerced them; they left with him voluntarily. As it was the first time they had heard about the one and only God, this message was revolutionary at a time when the world was steeped in idolatry and paganism. And this message would go with him to the land that he was being given.
“They set off for the land of Canaan and arrived there.” The reason he needed to leave his home, his security, and everything else was that he would now learn to depend solely upon the Almighty, not on anyone or anything else. Abram would begin his process of going from emunah (faith) to bitachon (trust).
Who are the people who would become Abram’s people, his descendants? His first son, Ishmael, was not “elected”. At the end of Abraham’s life, after Sarah died, he married Keturah, and they had six more sons, one of whom was the father of the Midianites, but they were not considered the “Chosen People”. The only one called was Isaac. Isaac and Rebekah had twins, Esau and Jacob – the same mother and the same father. Esau’s descendants were the Edomites, who were not considered Jewish —the “Chosen People”. So, what does that mean for those who want to trace their Jewish lineage through their mother or father?
Next, Jacob had twelve sons through his four wives. His first wife, Leah, who was not his beloved, gave birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Rachel, his beloved, complained that she had no children, so she brought her servant Bilhah to Jacob, and she had two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Then Leah gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob, and she had Gad and Asher. Afterward, Leah had two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun. Finally, Rachel gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin. Notice…not one of these “mothers of Israel” was Jewish, yet the twelve tribes are all considered to be part of Israel. The Jewish people did not exist at that time. The Torah differs significantly from the opinions of our rabbis on this subject today.
What is my point? Over time, human understanding has distorted the true Word of our Creator through their doctrines and the “wisdom” of man. We believe that we are more capable than the Creator, so we must now set things straight.
Abram needed to leave his home because he was being bombarded by the “status quo”. Like Abram, many of us have left our backgrounds and are discovering a new relationship with the Creator. We have found that the Creator is talking to us and is leading us toward a new way of life. It has nothing to do with doctrines or dogmas, but rather with what is inside us and our relationship with the Creator. The cosmetics of religion can be deceptive, preventing us from seeing what is truly within.
Now Abraham Avinu would come to a land he didn’t know, one that didn’t offer him much, but he needed to keep going. In his process, Abram would go through many tests of his faith. As soon as he arrived there, there was a famine, and he would need to head South. He was afraid because he knew how the Egyptians were; so, he asked his wife to say that she was his sister so that they wouldn’t kill him. In so doing, he was literally selling his wife. Although Abraham Avinu is known as our greatest patriarch, he was showing a great sign of weakness. At the end of his life, this would be repeated. We wonder if he learned his lesson.
What is the Creator showing us? That Abram was a dedicated man; he followed his calling, but he was still very human. How often do we make our heroes greater than who they really are? By making men into gods, we miss their most important aspect – their humanity. When we examine the heroes of the faith in various religions, we see that the myths surrounding them were fabricated, making them larger than life. Why? We love superheroes, but we miss the most important aspect that allows us to relate to them, to identify with them. Abram heard the voice of the Creator, and despite his mistakes, the Creator remained faithful to him.
Then he had an encounter with his nephew Lot, who no longer wanted to be part of Abraham’s family. Perhaps he thought, “Now I’m an adult; I want my independence.” Abraham, who witnessed the quarrelling among their workers, decided that it was best for them to separate. So, he told Lot to make a choice. What does Lot do? He chose the best and greenest part of the land and headed toward Sodom, the worst part of the world, with the same perverted mentality that we have here in this world today. We will see later what will happen to Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot was selfish, instead of being respectful and reverent to his uncle, who had treated him like a son. The right thing would have been to let his uncle choose where to go first.
Twelve years later, caught up in a war between the kings, Lot was taken captive along with his family and possessions. The news reached Abram, who could have said, “You decided to go there; it’s your problem.” But Abraham was not vindictive, totally the contrary. Not only did he take his own men to rescue Lot, but later he would negotiate with God over saving the people of Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction.
What can we learn from this story? When we separate from a center of virtue and join the company of non-principled people, we will be contaminated and suffer the consequences. We cannot allow ourselves to become isolated. Even if we think that we won’t do what they do, our defenses are slowly broken down, and we eventually follow their ways.
To young people today, I advise you to choose your friends carefully. If they are on drugs, even if you say you don’t do drugs, little by little, you will be pressured into doing the same. Do you know how nations start changing their moral values? Their leaders slowly feed you wrong things as if they are right, until you lose the capability to keep up your defences and you accept the wrong morality. You even start to think, “everyone does it, so what’s wrong with it”? Youth cannot understand the consequences of their bad behaviour. We adults have the responsibility to teach our children how to choose right over wrong from the beginning. But we can’t force them or put a pistol to their heads; instead, we need to talk to them honestly and let them know the consequences. In contrast, I know parents who overcontrol their children, trying to protect them, but that only forces them to rebel. We do have the right to warn them about the bad company they are keeping, and hope that they will eventually wake up to see it.
In Chapters 15 and 17, the Creator establishes two covenants with Abraham: Brit Habetarim (the covenant of the parts) and Brit Mila (the covenant of circumcision), to demonstrate that He is in constant contact with us. The Brit Mila doesn’t make us Jewish; otherwise, Ishmael would also have been Jewish. The bottom line is that being part of Israel is not based on conversion or bloodline; as with Abram, it is based on God’s “calling. He places the desire within each of us to serve Him and to be part of His community, chosen to bring light to those around us. However, as the name Israel implies, being part of Israel means being in constant struggle with Him. The Creator puts His Torah into our hearts as He did with Abram when He spoke to him. This is being Shomer Torah—Keeper of the Torah—by having a relationship with the Creator. When we walk (halacha) with God, we learn about who we really are and who He wants us to be, because each of us is special to Him.
Abram “made” his people; he formed his community, just as we are forming ours. We have the opportunity to share what we receive from the Creator with others; He speaks to each of us as He spoke with Abram. We can’t order people or force them to follow God; instead, we show them what God is doing in our lives. Words have little value if they are not followed up by our actions. That is our true Halacha. Abram walked with God, and everyone saw that he had something special. He never pretended to be anything other than what he was. True transformation within is what affects others, and it doesn’t come from what we eat, drink or wear. It has nothing to do with our outward appearance but with who we are inside. Abraham wasn’t converted; he was made aware of God’s Presence. We all have that opportunity. When Rabbi Yeshua was confronted about why his disciples didn’t perform the ritual washing of their hands before they ate, he replied, “Don’t worry about what you put in your mouth because it goes into the latrine. Worry about what comes out of your mouth because that comes from your heart.” I ask you to examine what is within you, now that you are walking with the Creator, and be willing to hear what He is revealing to you.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Netanel ben Yochanan Z”l (Ranebi)