Parshat Lech Lecha 5781
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha (Chapter 12, Pasuk 2), V’E’escha L’Goy Gadol, Va’Avarechecha, Va’Agadlah Shemecha, Ve’Heyah Bracha. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be for a blessing. Rashi teaches, in one explanation, that Hashem will be known as Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzchak and Elokei Yaakov. He associates His name with the forefathers of this great nation. This is because the Avos are the foundation upon which the nation of Israel was built. Noach, in contrast, was a Tzadik Be’Dorosav; beyond his generation he didn’t leave an imprint. But the Avos left an imprint on Bnei Yisrael through their actions, and this impact continues until this day.
The Rashi above darshens the words at the end of the pasuk, Ve’Heyah Bracha; Becha Chosmin. We recite at the end of the first bracha of Shemoneh Esrei Magen Avraham. Though we mention the three Avos at the beginning of the bracha, we conclude by only mentioning Avraham Avinu.
The Sfas Emes explains that the deeper meaning of Becha Chosmin is that Bnei Yisrael received the greatest impact from Avraham Avinu. The Bris Milah is part of the physical makeup of every male Jew, as we say in the bracha, Asher Chasam Bivsareinu; you have inscribed it on our flesh. The spiritual legacy we receive from Avraham Avinu is combined with a physical one making Avraham’s imprint the strongest. Hence Chazal teach by Avraham Becha Chosmin.
The spiritual legacy we have from Avraham Avinu was established from the very beginning of our parsha when Avraham is told Lech Lecha. Leave behind your father’s home, and come closer to Hashem in Eretz Yisrael. This is a process that has repeated itself in history and continues to be part of our genetic makeup until this very day.
Firstly, the Sfas Emes teaches, when Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim they travelled forty years in the desert until they reached Eretz Yisrael. As the Navi Yirmiyahu said (Chapter 2, Pasuk 2), Zacharti Lach Chesed Ne’urayich…Lechteich Acharai Bamidbar. Your following Me in the desert was a strength you inherited from Avraham Avinu who left his homeland and followed me to Eretz Yisrael. Lechteich Acharai Bamidbar was a continuation of Avraham observing the words of Lech Lecha Me’Artzecha.
This process of Lech Lecha is also expressed in the mitzvah given to Bnei Yisrael on the Shalosh Regalim to leave our homes and be seen in the Beis Hamikdash in Yerushalayim. This mitzvah of Re’iyah is explained in the Sefarim as being a time when we are not only seen by Hashem in Yerushalayim, but we also attain a special vision and understanding of Hashem. This mitzvah was preceded and paralleled by the command of Lech Lecha…el Ha’Aretz Asher Ar’eka. Hashem promises Avraham with the words Asher Ar’eka that He will give him a greater vision and closer relationship to Hashem when he comes to Eretz Yisrael.
This process is also connected more intimately with the festival of Succos. On Succos, Chazal teach in Succah 2A that we are commanded Tzei Me’Diras Keva V’Shev B’Diras Araiy. Leave your comfortable homes for seven days and live in the tenuous surroundings of the Tzila D’Heimnusa, the Divine shade of belief and faith in Hashem. Once again, we emulate the Lech Lecha of Avraham Avinu.
But perhaps the greatest expression of Lech Lecha is every week on Shabbos. We leave behind our mundane activities of the six days and we enter Shabbos. We refrain from all melacha and experience Shabbos; a higher place where our vision and connection to Gd is on a much higher level. But we need to totally leave everything behind. As Chazal teach, we need to view all of our physical work as having been completed, and only then can we enter the Divine world of Shabbos. And the three meals we eat on Shabbos correspond to the three Avos. For it is precisely from the Avos that we receive the ability to fulfill Lech Lecha every week and have Shabbos.
This process is our legacy not only on a national level, but on an individual level as well. We are commanded to leave behind a life of the physical and try to connect with the spiritual. It is during these times that we are able to invoke the unique characteristics we inherited from the Avos. But the one who gave us the greatest connection to this process was Avraham Avinu, as Rashi states Becha Chosmin. The whole point of Bris Milah is to leave the physical and focus on the spiritual. And it is only when we fully appreciate the significance of Bris Milah that we are able to follow the journey of Avraham Avinu and fulfill the Divine command of Lech Lecha.
Good Shabbos
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