Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
One of the goals of a spiritual life is to keep our eyes open to the wonder of existence; to maintain a “beginner’s mind,” that sees everything as fresh and new. But this is a challenging task, for we are creatures of habit: habits of mind and habits of the heart. Habits are essential; in many ways, they make us who we are and they enable us to live efficiently.
Imagine what life would be like if we had to learn everything new each day. On the other hand, it is easy to become dulled to the wonders of existence by the habituation of life, to see the world as routine rather than as special and magnificent. How do we rouse ourselves from our comfortable habits and cultivate a mind that is open to the wonder of existence?
In this week’s Torah portion, God commands Abraham to get up and go, to leave the life he knows behind and journey to a new, unknown place, that God will show him, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)
The Hebrew for “Go forth” is, Lech-lecha (לך לך). Even if you can’t read Hebrew you can see that when written out in Hebrew the two words, though pronounced differently, look identical. Lech is the second person, masculine imperative (or command) form “go” while the second word lecha has a number of meanings. It can mean to yourself or by yourself. Additionally, the doubling of a verb is a grammatical device in biblical Hebrew to give greater emphasis. The English translation might be, “You must really go,” or “You must go immediately.” In other words it creates a sense of urgency.
All of these meanings direct our attention to the idea that we need to rouse ourselves from our routines, the things that we know, and bring ourselves to a place of newness and urgency.
In this way, like Abraham, we can continue our life journey with a sense of wonder and openness. Our Torah portion thus reminds us that life is short and we must savor it.
Lech-Lecha, Genesis 12:1-17:27, Parshat Ha Shavua for Shabbat, Saturday, October 16, 2021
October 15, 2021 by Dean Kertesz • Drashot
Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
One of the goals of a spiritual life is to keep our eyes open to the wonder of existence; to maintain a “beginner’s mind,” that sees everything as fresh and new. But this is a challenging task, for we are creatures of habit: habits of mind and habits of the heart. Habits are essential; in many ways, they make us who we are and they enable us to live efficiently.
Imagine what life would be like if we had to learn everything new each day. On the other hand, it is easy to become dulled to the wonders of existence by the habituation of life, to see the world as routine rather than as special and magnificent. How do we rouse ourselves from our comfortable habits and cultivate a mind that is open to the wonder of existence?
In this week’s Torah portion, God commands Abraham to get up and go, to leave the life he knows behind and journey to a new, unknown place, that God will show him, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)
The Hebrew for “Go forth” is, Lech-lecha (לך לך). Even if you can’t read Hebrew you can see that when written out in Hebrew the two words, though pronounced differently, look identical. Lech is the second person, masculine imperative (or command) form “go” while the second word lecha has a number of meanings. It can mean to yourself or by yourself. Additionally, the doubling of a verb is a grammatical device in biblical Hebrew to give greater emphasis. The English translation might be, “You must really go,” or “You must go immediately.” In other words it creates a sense of urgency.
All of these meanings direct our attention to the idea that we need to rouse ourselves from our routines, the things that we know, and bring ourselves to a place of newness and urgency.
In this way, like Abraham, we can continue our life journey with a sense of wonder and openness. Our Torah portion thus reminds us that life is short and we must savor it.
~Rabbi Dean Kertesz