I once saw a sign in front of a church that said, “Your life is God’s gift to you. How you use it is your gift to God.” This Shabbat’s Torah portion begins with a command, “Adonai said to Abram, “Go forth (lech l’cha)from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) Lech l’cha is an interesting Hebrew construction. It seems to mean, literally, go to yourself. Robert Alter (21st C. California) in his translation of Genesis translates it as “Go forth,” Rashi (12th C. Germany) in his Torah commentary says it means, “go for your own benefit.” Ibn Ezra (14th C. Spain) in his Torah commentary says it means, “take yourself out” of your father’s house. There is, in all these translations, a sense of call and response: God challenges Abraham to begin a great adventure, the outcome of which will be good but is unknown. God is asking Abraham to leave all he knows, all that is familiar and comfortable and take himself to a new place, so he can fulfill his destiny. With this challenge the Jewish story begins. So it is with us also. Like Abraham, God gives us the gift of life, but how things will turn out is unknown. This week’s Torah portion teaches us that if we accept the challenge of life, to live it fully, in all its twists and turns, its joys and its sorrows, we, like Abraham, may become a blessing to those around us. May we have the courage to accept God’s challenge.
Lech-Lecha, Genesis 1 2:1-17:27 – Torah Reading for Shabbat, November 9, 2024
November 8, 2024 by tbhrich • Drashot
I once saw a sign in front of a church that said, “Your life is God’s gift to you. How you use it is your gift to God.” This Shabbat’s Torah portion begins with a command, “Adonai said to Abram, “Go forth (lech l’cha)from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) Lech l’cha is an interesting Hebrew construction. It seems to mean, literally, go to yourself. Robert Alter (21st C. California) in his translation of Genesis translates it as “Go forth,” Rashi (12th C. Germany) in his Torah commentary says it means, “go for your own benefit.” Ibn Ezra (14th C. Spain) in his Torah commentary says it means, “take yourself out” of your father’s house. There is, in all these translations, a sense of call and response: God challenges Abraham to begin a great adventure, the outcome of which will be good but is unknown. God is asking Abraham to leave all he knows, all that is familiar and comfortable and take himself to a new place, so he can fulfill his destiny. With this challenge the Jewish story begins. So it is with us also. Like Abraham, God gives us the gift of life, but how things will turn out is unknown. This week’s Torah portion teaches us that if we accept the challenge of life, to live it fully, in all its twists and turns, its joys and its sorrows, we, like Abraham, may become a blessing to those around us. May we have the courage to accept God’s challenge.