Lech Lecha 5632 Third Ma'amar

In the beginning of our parsha God commands Avraham Avinu, “לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ ... אֶל-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ: וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל .../‘Leave your land … to the land that I will show you.  And I will make you into a great nation …” (Breishis 12:1)  Ramban[1] asks the following question.  Generally, the Torah tells us that receiving God’s bounty is dependent upon our righteousness.  One example is, “אִם-בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ ... /If you follow my laws …”  (VaYikra 26:3)  God tells us that if we listen to Him, He will bless us with His good.  However, here, with no introduction whatsoever, God grants Avraham Avinu an incredible gift.  What did Avraham Avinu do to deserve this blessing?

The Sfas Emes explains that the command, “לֶךְ-לְךָ/Leave” itself is the clue.  This is essentially a command to leave behind those things with which we are familiar in order to follow God and do His will.    The command does not even define God’s will.  God told Avraham Avinu simply to leave all he was familiar with to follow God to wherever he was led. 

It is a command that God is constantly sending to each of us.  Most people, though, are not tuned in and do not hear it.  The Zohar on this week’s parsha says that people tend not to think about why the world exists and what keeps it in existence.  The Zohar (1:77a) says, “Woe to those who are asleep who do not know and do not think …”  Avraham Avinu was awake.  He was searching.  When God commanded, he heard and acted.  This is the reason that he merited God’s blessing.

Like Avraham Avinu, even if we do not know what God requires of us, the very intent to fulfill God’s will, to leave behind the familiar and enter uncharted territory in a quest to come close to God, God gives us the understanding and we merit it.  Avraham Avinu, as well, did not know where God was leading him.  Yet, his desire to come close to God was so strong that he was willing to leave all that was familiar to him behind to do so.

May we all merit hearing God’s command to follow Him and do His will.

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[1] Ramban on Breishis 12:2, viz. vehyeh bracha

Lech Lecha 5632 First Ma'amar

“... לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ/Leave your country, your birth place and your father’s house for the land that I will show you.” (Breishis 12:1)  Why did God not reveal the land to Avraham Avinu immediately?  The reason, according to the Midrash[1], was to make the task more precious to him and to give him a reward for each step that he took to get there.

Coming to the land of Israel represents a quest to understand and achieve God’s will.  We can merit understanding God’s will by subordinating our own to His.  We show God that we want to subordinate our own will to His by being willing to sacrifice all to see His will.  This is the lesson we learn from Avraham Avinu.  He had such a burning desire to know God’s will that he was ready to leave everything he knew behind to pursue it.  When he did this, God’s will was revealed to him.

We learn an important principal from Avraham Avinu.  Many times God’s will is beyond our ken.  We do not understand what God wants from us.  We do not understand why things happen to us.  We find it difficult to leave behind that which we understand, know and are comfortable with for uncharted territory.  However, if we express our desire to understand by always being open to hear and accept God’s will even at the expense of suppressing our own, even if it is beyond our current understanding and knowledge, it will be revealed to us.  This is clear from a pasuk in Tehillim (45:11), “שִׁמְעִי בַת וּרְאִי וְהַטִּי אָזְנֵך וְשִׁכְחִי עַמֵּךְ וּבֵית אָבִיךְ/Listen daughter and see and incline your ear and forget your nation and your father’s house.”  An attitude of openness and acceptance, a mode of listening, seeing and hearing even at the expense of current understanding and knowledge, is needed.    This open attitude of acceptance of that which is beyond our grasp is the prerequisite for understanding God’s will.

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[1] Breishis R. 39:9

Lech Lecha 5634 Second Ma'amar

Many times during the course of our lives we are inspired.  We reach a new level of awareness.  We have Aha! moments at which time doubt and uncertainty are replaced by clarity and a sense of meaningfulness.  As a matter of course, the inspiration is forgotten over time, the clear vision may not last and we slide from our new level of awareness.  These inspirations are crucial in our quest to come close to God and accomplish our life missions.  What can we do to retain them and live by them?

The Sfas Emes learns an answer from the first Rashi of this week's parsha.  At the beginning of the parsha God tells Avraham Avinu to leave his homeland and family, and all the comforts implied by that for an unknown place.  Could God be telling him to begin living a monastic life, separated from the materialism of this world?  The answer is found in the words at the beginning of the parsha, "... לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ .../… Go for yourself from your land …" (Breishis 12:1)  The word "לְךָ/for yourself" seems to be extraneous.  Why is it there?  Rashi explains that "for yourself" implies "for your own benefit".  God is telling Avraham that even though he is to leave his homeland and family for the unknown, it is not because God wants him to lead a monastic life.  He is to leave for his own benefit.

How can leaving comfort for discomfort be for his own benefit?  The answer depends on how we define "his own benefit".  The ultimate benefit a person can attain is experiencing closeness with God.  God is teaching Avraham how to live in this world and constantly experience that closeness.  How?  

Leaving everything that is familiar for the unknown requires a remarkable level of trust in God.  God tells Avraham, though, that the point of this test is not only to have the faith to listen, but to internalize that faith.  "לֶךְ/Go" requires faith.  "לְךָ/for yourself" implies internalizing that achievement and applying it to all the activities of everyday life.  He thus lives with the inspiration, essentially the closeness to God.

This is the meaning of the pasuk, "וְהַחַיּוֹת רָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב .../And the living creatures (a type of angel) ran forth and returned …" (Yechezkeil 1:14)  Running forth represents reaching a new height in serving God.  Returning means internalizing that new level by bringing it back to everyday life so that it affects all of one's activities. 

A one time inspired act is an achievement.  Internalizing the inspiration and applying it on a daily basis causes it to last.

This idea provides the answer to another question.  The Torah tells us that Avraham Avinu took his wife and entire household with him.  But God said nothing of taking his wife and household.  How did he know to take them with him?  The answer, the Sfas Emes teaches us, is that Avraham Avinu understood from "לְךָ/for yourself", that this was more than a test of faith.  It was also a test to see if he would be able to apply the high level to his everyday actions dealing with his wife and household.  He knew therefore, that he was supposed to take his entire household with him so that he could apply the inspiration to his daily life.

May we merit internalizing our inspirations and applying them to our daily lives.