Parshas Lech Lecha
Abraham's Dwelling
The first two parshiyot of the Torah, Bereshit and Noach, span two
thousand years of human life and events. The Torah records these two
millennia in an almost fast forward mode, stopping to dwell on a few
instances of historical importance - the stories of Gan Eden, Kayin,
Noach, the Flood and the Tower of Babel. But basically the Torah is very
sparse in detail regarding the lives and events of this long period of
time. In this week's portion of Lech Lecha, the Torah slows down
appreciably, barely covering a century in relating to us the life of our
father, Avraham. It is as though the Torah in the two previous parshiyot
was in a hurry to get to Avraham and his life and tell us the achievements
and struggles. The Midrash indicates that this is in fact a true analysis
of the Torah's intent when in the beginning of Bereshit it clearly
indicates that the entire process of creation was enacted for the purpose
of Avraham's coming on the world scene. Avraham is the pivotal figure in
human history. He is the one who raises the banner of monotheism in a
fashion that can be understood and followed by millions of humans. He is
also the father of goodness and kindness, compassion and sensitivity
towards others as a way of life, a value system, and not merely as
isolated acts of momentary compassion. And perhaps most importantly, he
alone emerges as the symbol of human resiliency - able to
withstand "tests," and to not only overcome adversity but to grow from the
experience. In this he is the true ancestor of the Jewish people, the most
optimistic and productive of all nations.
The Torah purposely dwells on the details of Avraham's live, almost in
slow motion, as it were, in order to impress upon us what one human being
can accomplish in a lifetime. The Torah champions the individual over the
state, the human being over seemingly inexorable rules of economics and
social science. The world is still reeling from the ideologies that
destroyed over one hundred million human beings in the last century. All
those ideologies were based on the priority of the state and ideology over
the life of an individual human being. The prophet Yeshayahu praises
Avraham by calling him "one," a single unique individual. It is this one
individual who turned human civilization away from barbarism and paganism
and gave humankind a vision of what a good person and a good world can and
should look like. The Talmud stresses therefore that Jews do not call
themselves "the children of Noach," though biologically we certainly are
Noach's descendants. Rather, we call ourselves the children of Avraham and
Sarah, for it is their vision that lights our life and guides all of
Jewish life and history. The Rabbis taught us to constantly ask
ourselves "when will my actions and behavior be in line with that of
Avraham?" Avraham remains the measuring stick of human accomplishment and
spiritual behavior. There can be no greater title that a human being can
bear than being called a child of Avraham.
Shabat Shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein
Text Copyright © 2004 by Rabbi Berel Wein and Torah.org
Visit www.rabbiwein.com for a complete selection of Rabbi Wein's books and tapes.
