LECH LECHA 12:1-17:27
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Parshat Lech Lecha begins at 12:1 –
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ
וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ
“And the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I foresee you.”
Hashem’s command to Abraham is very specific as to how the journey is to begin, but ambiguous as to the actual ending. But whatever or wherever Abraham’s destination is to be, one thing is certain: Hashem will be part of it.
At the outset, Abraham is commanded to go from or rid himself of past influences and trappings, whether they be cultural, religious or parental.
He will be his own man, and moreover: God’s man.
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וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ.
“And the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will foresee for you”.
Abraham’s birthplace was the city of Ur, in what is now Iraq and what was then the country of Sumer.
At the time when Hashem commanded Abraham to leave, Abraham was living with his father in Harran, חָרָן, a major trading center located in southernmost Turkey next to Syria. If you scroll further down this post you will find a map that shows the location of Ur and Harran. See the long journey made by Terach and family traveling in the Euphrates valley or upstream in the river and its canals. Years later when our Parsha begins, Abraham and family made the arduous trip from Harran to southern Canaan. They must have passed through Aleppo one of the oldest cities in the region. If you consider that it all began in Ur, they made what amounts to a wide U-turn.
There are commentators who say that God did not immediately reveal the destination, wanting to make it a surprise…ridiculous. Abraham could of hopped on a barge going down the Tigris or just as well he could of headed out to Asia Minor or somewhere else.
Olim: Abraham was called to leave his father's home, and start on his journey; Olim, so have we.
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Paraphrasing the Star Trek mission statement “to boldly go where no one has gone before”, Abraham is the Man:
From Harran he crossed the Euphrates River, ventured out from his land, his birthplace and his Father’s house to come to the Land that we now call Israel. And because of Abraham’s bold stroke we are here today, and I for one am very grateful.
In a larger sense, of the six billion human beings that populate our planet, because of Abraham, half of them recognize that there is only one God who created them and everything else.
All of us are beholden to Abraham our Father…and rightly so.
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In Parshat Lech Lecha we learn at 12:10 that, without being prompted by Hashem and on his own volition, Abraham and family leave the Promised Land and descend down to Egypt:
וַיְהִי רָעָב, בָּאָרֶץ; וַיֵּרֶד אַבְרָם מִצְרַיְמָה לָגוּר שָׁם, כִּי-כָבֵד הָרָעָב בָּאָרֶץ
“And there was a famine in the land, and Abram descended to Egypt to sojourn there because the famine was severe in the land”.
The Ramban takes Abraham to task for sinning in the first place by going to Egypt, and in compounding that sin by putting his wife in jeopardy of committing adultery.
With all due respect to the Ramban, I have another take on this matter: It is no secret that Sarah was sharper than her husband. I can see Sarah telling Abraham: “No problem, Sweetie. I can handle Pharaoh. Just you wait and see. When I’m through with him we’ll be leaving Egypt with a basket full of gold and silver. And so it was.
Sarah in Pharaoh’s Palace.
Our Ancestors were giants, and but for their trail blazing deeds we probably would not be here today. Although they were heroic, they were not super heroes; they were men of flesh.
The Zohar says that the famine was of spirituality. This sounds dubious.
But what did they expect to find in Egypt?
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There is an apparent contradiction in Parshat Lech Lecha:
At 12:16, Abraham has no problem accepting gifts from Pharaoh:
וּלְאַבְרָם הֵיטִיב, בַּעֲבוּרָהּ; וַיְהִי-לוֹ צֹאן-וּבָקָר, וַחֲמֹרִים, וַעֲבָדִים וּשְׁפָחֹת, וַאֲתֹנֹת וּגְמַלִּים.
“And he benefited Abram for her sake, and he had flocks and cattle and he donkeys and men servants and maid servants, and she donkeys and camels”.
Don’t lose sight of the fact that one of those “maid servants” was probably Haggar, who may have had a family connection with the Pharaoh.
Often when two kings want to enter into a treaty, they seal the agreement by exchanging royal women in marriage. The women then also serve as hostages.
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Compare this action with Abraham’s refusal to accept any booty at all from the King of Sodom in 14:23 -
אִם-מִחוּט וְעַד שְׂרוֹךְ-נַעַל, וְאִם-אֶקַּח מִכָּל-אֲשֶׁר-לָךְ; וְלֹא תֹאמַר, אֲנִי הֶעֱשַׁרְתִּי אֶת-אַבְרָם
“Neither from a thread to a shoe strap, nor will I take from whatever is yours, that you should not say, 'I have made Abram wealthy”.'
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In this week's Parsha, Lot and Avram have separated. Lot has chosen to dwell in the lush Jordan valley in the city of Sodom, despite the city's sinful reputation.
The Jordan valley is made up of five or more City-States. For a period of 12 years five City-States, including Sodom, have been vassal kingdoms under the empire of Elam which is now Iran. The time period is approximately 1850 BCE.
Chedarlaomer along with three other allied kingdoms put down the revolt. They defeat Sodom and take Lot and his family captive. Avram, aided by 318 armed men from his household give chase and rescue Lot.
It is an exciting story, a precursor to the Entebbe rescue mission.
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Rabbi Avichai Rontzki, Z’L served in the position of IDF Chief Military Rabbi from 2006 to 2010, with a rank of Brigadier General.
At 14:14 we learn:
וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם, כִּי נִשְׁבָּה אָחִיו; וַיָּרֶק אֶת-חֲנִיכָיו יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ, שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת, וַיִּרְדֹּף
“And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed (led) his trained boys, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued…”
חֲנִיכָיו has been defined as “his trained”, but may also mean dedicated, tutored, educated, consecrated and more.
It would seem then, that Abram gave intellectual, moral, and social instruction to his “boys” as well as how to handle weapons...the 1st Hesder Yeshiva, an important concept.
There is an ongoing heated debate in Israel regarding compulsory
service for Ultra-Orthodox men serving in the IDF.
Regarding the 318 household men that Abraham took in order to
rescue Lot there is an interesting comment made in Talmud tractate Nedarim 32a:
Rabbi Abbahu said that Rabbi Elazar said: For what reason was
Abraham our Patriarch punished, and his children enslaved to Egypt for 210
years? Because he made a draft [angarya] of Torah scholars, as it is stated:
“He led forth his trained men, born in his house” (Genesis 14:14). These
trained men that he took to war were actually his disciples, who were Torah
scholars.
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Meeting of Abraham and Malchizedek – by Dieric Bouts the Elder, 1464–1467
In Parshat Lech Lecha at 14:18-20 we are introduced to the gentile King of Shalem, Malchi-Tzedek, and Priest of a deity called the Most High, אֵל עֶלְיוֹן.
וּמַלְכִּי-צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם, הוֹצִיא לֶחֶם וָיָיִן; וְהוּא כֹהֵן, לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was Priest of God the Most High.”
We witness some questionable behavior on the part of Abraham:
Let's not gloss over the problem of Avraham Avenu accepting not only bread but accepting wine from an idol worshipper, Wine in particular raises a problem. In today's Halakhic environment there is a prohibition against wine touched by a non-Jew: If the person who touched it is possibly an idol worshiper, the wine is forbidden.
In Israel wine that is Kosher bears a kosher label,כשר. Non-Kosher wine may say כשרלא
When I moved to Israel and poured my first bottle of wine it took me a minute to realize that לא meant "not", and it went down the drain. Live and Learn.
Traditionally, Shalem is assumed to be Jerusalem, the city of peace or the city of ” שלום" . However, Shalem is the name of a Canaanite god, and this seems to be a better interpretation. The name ירושלים is not mentioned in any of the Five Books, and only first appears in the Book of Joshua at 10:1 where we are introduced to the King of Jerusalem whose name is Adoni-Tzedek.
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Sarah presenting Hagar to Abraham, Adriaen van der Werff, 1699.
When Hagar became pregnant Sarah treated her harshly, and Hagar ran away. An angel appeared to Hagar, who instructed her to return to Sarah, promising her that the child she will bear will become a great nation. She was told to call her son Ishmael. יִשְׁמָעֵ֔אל
At 16:11 -
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהּ֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה הִנָּ֥ךְ הָרָ֖ה וְיֹלַ֣דְתְּ בֵּ֑ן וְקָרָ֤את שְׁמוֹ֙ יִשְׁמָעֵ֔אל כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֥ע יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־עָנְיֵֽךְ
“And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your torment”.
This meaning for Ishmael is readily seen in his name: יִשְׁמָעֵ֔אל; “The Lord has heard”.
Afterward, Hagar referred to God as "El Roi", אֵ֣ל רֳאִ֑י , my seeing Lord.
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How does Abraham compare to Noach?
Noach is characterized at 6:19 being as having been:
--נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה, בְּדֹרֹתָיו: אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים, הִתְהַלֶּךְ-נֹחַ
“Noah was a righteous man; he was perfect for his generation(s); Noah continually walked with God”.
In the Parshah at 17:1 Hashem expresses his aspiration for Abraham, telling Abraham to:
וַיֵּרָא יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי-אֵל שַׁדַּי--הִתְהַלֵּךְ לְפָנַי, וֶהְיֵה תָמִים.
“…and God appeared to Abram, and He said to him, "I am the Almighty God; continually walk before Me and be perfect”, but not necessarily a tzadik.
Abraham pleads with Hashem to forestall the destruction of Sodom. While the Chumash is silent on whether or not Noach acted in a similar fashion with respect to saving all of Creation. Because of this possible dichotomy, some commentators attribute Abraham to be more of a Mensch than was Noach.
However, Abraham was pleading from afar in his lofty perch overlooking the valley. In contrast for at least 100 years, Noach was in harm’s way, where the action was, day after day after day.
So you tell me; will the real tzadik please stand up.
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At 17:27 Abraham follows out the commandment of circumcision:
וְכָל-אַנְשֵׁי בֵיתוֹ יְלִיד בָּיִת, וּמִקְנַת-כֶּסֶף מֵאֵת בֶּן-נֵכָר--נִמֹּלוּ, אִתּוֹ
“And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him”.
What is interesting to me here is that Abraham purchased people, presumably foreign Canaanites. He was a slaveholder. When the “Black Lives Matter” people get wind of this do you think they will ask for compensation from us Jews?
