Parshat Lech Lecha
PARSHA OVERVIEW
Ten generations have passed since Noach. Man has descended spiritually. In the year 1948 from Creation, Avram is born. By observing the world, Avram comes to recognize
A famine ensues and Avram is forced to relocate to Egypt to find food. Realizing that his wife’s beauty could cause his death at the hand of the Egyptians, Avram asks her to say that she is his sister. Sarai is taken to Pharaoh, but G d afflicts Pharaoh and his court with severe plagues and she is released unmolested. Avram returns to Eretz Yisrael (Canaan) with much wealth given to him by the Egyptians. During a quarrel over grazing rights between their shepherds, Avram decides to part ways with his nephew Lot. Lot chooses to live in the rich but corrupt city of Sodom in the fertile plain of the Jordan. A war breaks out between the kings of the region and Sodom is defeated. Lot is taken captive. Together with a handful of his converts, Avram rescues Lot, miraculously overpowering vastly superior forces, but Avram demurs at accepting any of the spoils of the battle.
In a prophetic covenant,
PARSHA INSIGHTS
Evoking a Blessing
“And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” (12:2)
A trip down memory lane: One of the more interesting reactions to Gilad Shalit's release from more than five years of incarceration in Gaza was a tweet from an Arab in Syria who said that the Israelis were prepared to give up 1,000 people to save one life, but their government treated its citizens' lives as though they were worthless.
The Jewish People are very often held to a higher and double standard.
In this case, we ourselves held ourselves to a higher standard. If nothing else, Shalit's release showed the world the sanctity with which the Jewish nation prizes human life and freedom.
“And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”
The above sentence is part of the first recorded communication between Hashem and man. The beginning of the relationship. As it is the beginning, these words must also contain the essence of that relationship. For all beginning contains essence. A seed is not just the beginning of an oak, it is also its essence.
When Hashem spoke to Avraham, He promised him many things: that he would be a great nation, that he would be blessed and that his name would be made great. However, all of this was predicated on a single condition — that Avraham would be a reason for people to bless Hashem. This was to be the essence of the relationship between Hashem and man. That through his every action, man would sanctify Hashem’s name. That he would bring a blessing to the lips of the world.
Our actions are scrutinized by the world. If we are held to a higher — and sometimes double — standard, whether as individuals or as a nation, it is because the world recognizes subconsciously that our job in this world is “to be a blessing,” to sanctify Hashem’s name.