Summary Lech Lecha 5762
Lech Lecha opens with G-d's command to Abraham to leave his country and his father's house and go and live in the "land, which He would show him". Abraham was already 75 when he made this journey. Abraham went with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot. Lot was the son of Abraham's brother, who had died young, so he lived with Abraham and Sarah.

"The land" was Canaan, later to become the Land of Israel. When Abraham and Sarah arrived in Canaan, they wandered around the country, visiting Shechem and Elon Moreh. G-d appeared to Abraham and promised that his offspring would receive the Land. Abraham built an altar in honour of G-d, and then travelled further and pitched his tent between Bet El and Ai, where he built a second altar. From there he travelled to the Negev, but a famine followed and Abraham decided to travel to Egypt.

On the way, Abraham asked Sarah to say that she was his sister, because he was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him and take Sarah away. Sarah was taken to Pharaoh, with the idea that she should become his wife, but G-d sent terrible plagues, and Pharaoh released her back to Abraham.

Abraham, Sarah and Lot travelled back to Canaan. Pharaoh had given them many presents, including sheep and cattle. As a result, their shepherds quarrelled over where to pasture their cattle. There is a hint that Abraham's shepherds accused Lot's shepherds of stealing, by using land that didn't belong to them. Abraham decided that it would be best if he and Lot separated. He gave Lot the choice of where to live and Lot chose the city of Sodom. It was a very beautiful city and the people were very rich. But they were also very wicked.

Abraham moved to Hebron. Sometime later, there was a war involving two groups of kings. Sodom was overrun, and many people were taken captive, including Lot. Abraham formed a small army and went to rescue his nephew. He also rescued many other prisoners and ended the war.

G-d promised Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky. But he warned Abraham that although his offspring would inherit the Land of Canaan, they would first have to suffer a bitter exile in another country. That country turned out to be Egypt.

After Abraham and Sarah had been in Canaan for 10 years, Sarah suggested that Abraham should take a second wife, who would have a baby on her behalf, as it were. She suggested her maid, Hagar. So Abraham married Hagar and she soon became pregnant. Hagar's estimation of her mistress was lowered, causing Sarah to be very angry. She was cruel to Hagar, who then fled. But an angel of G-d persuaded Hagar to return.

For most of Lech Lecha, Abraham and Sarah are called Abram and Sarai, but at the end of the Sedra, G-d changes their names to Abraham and Sarah. He also gives Abraham the first Jewish commandment, to circumcise himself and Ishmael his son born from Hagar; and from that time onwards, to circumcise all Jewish boys at the age of 8 days.

G-d also promised Abraham that Sarah would give birth to a son who would be called Isaac.

In the Haftarah, Isaiah the prophet assures the Jewish People, that even if times should be difficult for the Jews in exile, they should not despair, for they are the seed of Abraham whom G-d loves, and G-d will fulfil all the promises made to Abraham.

Points to Ponder
1. Abraham's visit to Egypt is very controversial. Faced with the famine in Canaan, the classical commentators are divided over whether he was right to go to Egypt, having just been directed to Canaan by G-d! Nachmanides wrote that the actions of the forefathers were signs for their children. In this context, he says that Abraham's visit to Egypt, the plagues inflicted on Pharaoh and their hasty departure laden with gifts, laid the foundations for Israel's descent into Egypt and the entire sequence of events that followed.

2. We have already mentioned the war of the kings. Immediately following the war at the beginning of chapter 15, the word of G-d appeared to Abraham in a dream in a vision: "Do not be afraid Abram, I will protect you; your reward will be very great". Abraham replied: "L-rd G-d, what can you give me - I have no children; my servant Eliezer will inherit my possessions".

Then the word of G-d came to him: "He will not inherit you, rather your offspring will".

The Torah then relates that G-d took him outside and challenged Abraham to count the stars - with the implication that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars.

Questions (you really need an open chumash to follow these - Bereshit Chapter 15):
a) Why does G-d say: "Don't be afraid"? Of what was Abraham afraid?
b) Why did G-d say: "Your reward is very great"? What has this to do with anything?

Rashi explains that Abraham had just fought a successful war. Now he was worried that his merits had been used up and therefore he was fearful. G-d assured him that not only would He continue to protect him, but also his reward would be great indeed. The Seforno adds that G-d assured Abraham of substantial rewards, both in this world, and in the next. To this Abraham inferred that there was little point in such rewards in this world, as he had no children who would inherit from him. At this point G-d promises Abraham that he would yet have children. This leads to our next question:

c) Why did G-d take Abraham outside and ask him to count the stars? Why didn't He just say that Abraham would have many offspring?

The answer is a beautiful one: G-d said to Abram that according to the 'stars', he couldn't possibly have children. But he should 'go outside' - outside his 'star sign', and not feel that he is bound by fate. Abram and Sarai may not have a son, but Abraham and Sarah will! This is a message to us: logic - or astrology - may dictate that our future is fated, predetermined. But we can overcome!

3. Last week we asked: In the last paragraph of the portion of Noach, we see that Terach, the father of Abraham, took his family from Ur Casdim to the Land of Canaan, but they never reached their goal, settling in Haran, a place on the way. (11:31) In Lech Lecha, we see that G-d tells Abram to go to Canaan, and in case we are in any doubt, he departs from Haran. Yet we read later on that G-d says: 'I am the L-rd who took you out of Ur Casdim, to give you this Land to inherit it'. (15:7) This is written in the same style as the first of the Ten Commandments: 'I am the L-rd your G-d who took you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the House of Slavery.'

Why does the Torah imply an equation between the deliverance from Ur Casdim and Egypt? The latter was clearly a miraculous deliverance, but the former was partly undertaken by Abraham's father, and partly at G-d's request, but there was no miraculous deliverance.

The Ramban explains that there was a deliverance from Ur Casdim. Ur means 'fire', and this verse thus refers to the fiery furnace into which Abraham was cast by Nimrod. It does not refer to Abraham's travels.

Shabbat Shalom