Lech Lecha
We are introduced to Abraham who is told to go to Canaan. In a packed parshah, a battle between kings is described, Abraham is honoured by a separate king - Malki Tzedek - and Abraham encounters God and they make a covenant. It also describes Ishmael's birth and the difficulties Sarah has in giving birth. It ends with Abraham circumcising all the men in his family.
Lech Lecha – Marc Soloway
Marc serves as rabbi of Bonai Shalom in Boulder, Colorado. He has been an actor, storyteller and practitioner of complimentary medicine. Marc has been a Limmud activist since 1994 in Oxford, Worcester, Manchester, Nottingham, Southwold, New York, and recently he co-chaired the first ever Limmud Colorado in the Rocky Mountains.
Some people pray three times every day, others once a week on Shabbat and some of us once a year on Yom Kippur. No matter how often or how seldom we pray, the one piece of liturgy that is in every single service is the Amidah, the standing prayer. The opening words of blessing call on Elohai Avraham, The God of Abraham. What is it about this central character, whose story we begin in this week's parsha, that gives him and his God such a special status in our tradition that we address our daily prayers in his name and call God his shield (magen Avraham)?
There is a classic Rabbinic parable, or Midrash, on the very first verse of our parsha, Lech Lecha: "God said to Abram [his name is not yet Abraham]: Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace and from your father's house to a land that I will show you." (Genesis 12:1) 'R. Isaac said: This may be compared to a man who was travelling from place to place when he saw a building in flames. "Is it possible that the building lacks a person to look after it?" he wondered. At that moment the owner of the building peeked out and said, "I am the owner of the building." So it was with our father, Abraham, who said, “Is it possible that the world is without a guide (manhig)?” at that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, peeked out and said to him, "I am the Guide, the Master of the Universe..." '(Bereshit Rabbah 39:1)
The image of a building engulfed in seemingly uncontrolled, undirected flames, as a metaphor for the world is very powerful and stirring. It certainly feels like our world is on fire and it is all too easy to question whether there can be any possible meaning or direction behind it all. Economic crisis; unimaginable instability; the potentially catastrophic impact of climate change; war; bloodshed and horrific human suffering all seem to threaten every aspect of the world as we know it.
One response might be to throw our arms into the air in despair at the hopeless, chaotic mess of it all. Another might be to keep the faith of our ancestors that, 'gam zeh ya'avor, this too will pass.' Abraham, as the father of faith, goes further than this. He opens his eyes and ears to see the secret messages in the flames and to hear the call to action in the crackling crevices. God's instruction is for Abraham to leave all that he knows and everything with which he is familiar.
The mystical tradition sees Abraham's journey as a spiritual quest, leaving behind habituated patterns and responses in order to grow and evolve, never standing still. This is compelling as God's call to our forefather is also a call to each of us to get out of our own stuck places! This is not confined to an inner, spiritual odyssey, however, but also to the work that each one of us is called to do in the world, to maintain the faith that there may be order behind the chaos, an owner of the burning building. More importantly still, it may be that we all carry a piece of the responsibility to put out the fire and repair the broken world.
The God of Abraham is our God and the God of our ancestors, Elohaynu v'Elohai Avotaynu. Our prayers are to give us the strength, courage and creative vision of Abraham so that we too can live lives of faith, meaning and conviction. Our God is the same God who called Abraham, calling us.
Another Voice - Gail Chester
It seems very appropriate that I was invited to write this contribution the same day that I heard about the death of Irene Bruegel, the founder of Jews for Justice for Palestinians. My interpretation of the phrase "Lech Lecha" is that God is saying to Abraham, "Go on, get on with it, stop dithering" – good advice that we all need when taking on a difficult task which could bring us into conflict with those closest to us and who we care most about.
One of the things I love about the Jewish tradition of interpreting text is the way that the same passage can be read in many different ways. On the one hand we have Abraham smashing the idols in his father’s workshop before starting on his journey – an act of great potential conflict between them. On the other hand, Abraham’s father was said to have accompanied him on his way far into the desert, which suggests fatherly support for a project that he may have had his doubts about.
As the mother of a Jewish teenager who is reaching for his independence, as well as a long-time political activist, I am intrigued how the symbolism of Lech Lecha provides much food for thought about how the practical and ethical tensions in our families, in the Jewish community, and in the wider world can be navigated so that space is made for everybody to grow and thrive.
