Lech Lecha
- Go! leave
your land,
birthplace and
father's home
and journey to
the land that I
shall show you
Thus begins
Jewish history.
Living somewhere
in ancient
Mesopatamia, at
the age of
seventy five,
Avraham receives
that famous
command and
begins begins
again by moving
to Eretz
Yisrael, sinking
roots into the
land and
creating an
irrevocable
historic bond
between Am
Yisrael and
Eretz Yisrael.
As the midrash
poetically
notes,
Avraham's
spiritual
journey is
framed between
two lech
lecha's.
[Midrash
Tanchuma]
R. Levi b.
Chama taught.
God said to him:
the first and
last test shall
I test you with
a "lech lecha"
[1st] - "from
your land"
[12:1] and [2nd]
" to the land of
Moriah" [22:1 -
the binding of
Isaac]
Beyond Avraham,
Lech Lecha
- the phrase,
powerfully
captures the
fate of the
wandering Jew. A
famous story
illuminates:
The Duke of
Manheim asked R'
Zvi of Berlin:
"Why do children
ask the "Four
Questions on
Pesach and not
on Sukkos? It
would appear
that Sukkos
brings more
changes to their
lives than
Pesach does!"
"On Pesach,"
R' Zvi answered,
"the child sees
everyone sitting
around the
table, at ease
like free men,
and not like
people in exile.
This arouses the
child's
curiosity and he
asks, 'Why is
this night
different?' On
Sukkos, however,
the child sees
Jews exiled from
their homes and
without a true
roof over their
heads. That does
not surprise him
at all; Jews
have always
lived that way,
ever since they
first went into
exile."
If Jewish
history begins
with and is
encompassed by
lech lecha,
we ought to
understand it!-
for the obvious
question that
troubles
midrash and
meforash
alike is the
superfluous 2nd
word, lecha
(the "you"
pronoun) -
leading to an
awkward
translation of
go
yourself out.
A simple lech
[go] (either
from your land
or to the land)
should suffice!
What added
nuance is gained
with the already
implied lecha?
Herein, we
present several
approaches:
-
for
yourself -
i.e. for
your benefit.
Your
departure
from your
land,
birthplace
and home
will allow
you to reap
great
personal
dividends -
for there
you shall
have
children and
expose your
spiritual
greatness to
the world.
(Rashi)
. A
midrashic
exposition
likens
Avraham to
fragrant
perfume
housed in an
odious
place. Once
moved,
Avraham's
fragrant
ways are
detected and
appreciated
-
go -
you.
It is the
way of the
text to
explicate
the implied
pronoun as
in
Vayelech lo
[and he
went - him],
Eilcha li
[I shall go
- me,
Yirmiyahu,
5:5] (Radak,Ramban).
Thus,
nothing
significant
is added by
the lecha
-
towards
yourself
- return to
your roots.
Man was
created from
the earth.
When Adam
was kicked
out of Gan
Eden, he was
to work the
land
asher lukach
misham
(from whence
he came) [Bereishis,
3:23].
Avraham,
original man
was created
from earth
that
emanates
from Israel
and from
Mount Moriah.
Return to
those roots
in order to
clue into
your
essential
reality (Kli
Yakar)
-
towards your
inner self.
Every person
has an
external
facade that
must be
penetrated
in order to
develop a
real
relationship
with Hashem.
Our
self-worth
might be
obstructed
(negatively
or
positively)
by material
success or
societal
status . We
might even
feel
compelled by
these
factors.
Leave "your
land" and
move towards
a true
definition
of inner
self
developed by
exercising
one's free
will
(Rabbis Wein,
Sacks, etc.)
-
go
away from
yourself.
In order to
develop
greatness,
you must
leave your
comfort zone
- the place
where things
come easy.
Greatness is
difficult
and oft
requires
transcending
personal
needs and
creature
comforts. [Ishbitzer]
.
Paradoxically,
Hashem
promises
Avraham, he
will get
those things
anyway (v'eesecha
l'goy gadol)
-
go and
go again
- Leave
(Aram
Naharim) and
leave (Aram
Nachor).
Your journey
towards
greatness
can not be
achieved in
one fell
swoop. It is
a process of
leaving,
arriving and
moving
forward
again.
Greatness
comes in the
form of
small
consolidated
gains.
(Midrash
Rabah 8)
-
lech +
lecha = 100[1]
. After you
reach the
age of lech
and lecha,
you will
have a child
and be able
to
perpetuate
your ideals
and
knowledge.
(Midrash
Tanchuma)
-
you
shall
(always) be
on the go
- "lech"
(on the
go) shall be
your lot. In
this world
we are
overcome by
constant
travels and
travails;
our life
station an
unsettling
place of
short-lived
serenity. In
the next
world, you
shall
achieve
menucha.
(Midrash
Tanchuma 4)
Two more
definitions
emerge
from a powerful
midrash that
depicts an
anxious Avraham
Avinu worrying
about the
wanderings of
his past life.
He wonders:
Shall you say
that I have
sinned - for I
was an idolater
all those years?
The midrash
portrays
Hashem's
response through
the mouthpiece
of David
HaMelech's
tehillim [Tehillim,
110:3]
אמר לו הקדוש
ברוך הוא:
לך טל ילדותך,
מה טל זה פורח אף
עונותיך פורחים
God said to
him - your youth
is like dew to
you - just as
dew evaporates -
so have your
sins vanished
In other words:
your past, like
the tal,
(dew) has
evaporated:
lech lecha -
your lecha
has gone away.
It is a
comforting
answer.
And yet who
wants to erase a
piece of their
life? Avraham
might respond:
Yes,
thankfully,
there are no
negative
consequences to
my meanderings,
but what of the
lost
opportunities,
the missed
chances.
Thus the midrash
gives a second
answer:
מה הטל הזה סימן
ברכה לעולם, אף
אתה סימן ברכה
לעולם
Just as the
dew is symbol of
blessing, so are
you a blessing
to the world
No, Avraham -
your past is not
gone.
Go towards your
past - draw from
it!
Maybe at first
glance, it seems
to have no
positive
residual effect,
but even as dew
has completely
evaporated, it
coaxes growth
and leaves
subtle and
significant
blessing in the
world. Your past
is like dew! How
so? A simple
Rambam
illuminates:
Once Abraham
was weaned, he,
as a child,
began
contemplating
and thinking day
and night, and
wondered how a
sphere could
follow a fixed
path without
being directed.
If so, who
directed it?
Surely it would
be impossible
for it to rotate
on its own!
Abraham did
not have a
mentor, but was
immersed amongst
the stupid
idolaters of Ur
Casdim, where
everyone,
including his
mother and
father, served
idols, as did he.
In his heart,
however, he
continued to
contemplate,
until he
realised .. and
knew that there
is a God .. knew
that the whole
world was
erring, and knew
what caused the
mistake ..
Abraham was
forty years old
when he
recognised his
Creator. Once he
achieved this,
he began to
reason with the
inhabitants of
Ur Casdim and to
argue with them,
.. Since people
were listening
to him, the
king, Nimrod,
sought to kill
him, .. and he
went to Haran,
where he got up
and proclaimed
to the whole
world that there
is just one God
in the world,
whom it is
fitting to
worship.
He went and
gathered people
together from
cities and
kingdoms, until
he reached the
land of Canaan..
Since
agnostics were
coming to him
with questions
about this
matter, he would
answer each
person [in a
way] so that he
would return to
the way of
truth, until
thousands and
tens of
thousands came
to him. These
were the people
of the house of
Abraham. He
placed this
important
principle in
their way of
thinking, wrote
books, and
taught it to his
son Isaac.
... This matter
became more and
more publicized
amongst the
children of
Jacob and those
who accompanied
them, and a
nation who knew
God was
established in
the world.
Avraham utilizes
every past
mistake,
meandering, and
mental
miscalculation
as a platform
for new clarity
and impact. He
draws from his
lecha,
his roots, to
inspire the
world. For the
ba'al teshuva
or the ffb ("frum
from birth") who
has gone askew
and returned, a
life gone astray
and back, need
not be an
everlasting
shame - for
having been
there, done
that, eaten it,
and thought such
allows one to
tackle the
challenges of so
many others who
still grapple -
providing
insight and
inspiration to
show them the
path home.
[1]
לך לך
(lamed[30]+
kaph[20])
x 2
