Parashat Lech-Lecha

THE LORD SAID TO AVRAM:

GO YOU FORTH

FROM YOUR LAND

FROM YOUR KINDRED

FROM YOUR FATHER'S HOME

TO THE LAND THAT I WILL LET YOU SEE

(Bereishit 12:1)

 

 

"Go You Forth" - For Your Own Sake

... At Judaism's inception, it is written, "Lech lecha", go for your own sake. This is an even greater merit. No man has the right to say: I am righteous and honest in keeping with the fashion. Every man is responsible for himself before God. If it is necessary - even if the majority approach is wrong - worship God alone! This is the recognition required of Avraham as a point of departure to his destiny and that of his people. True, man is bound with powerful ties to his land and family; and Holy Writ also hints as much - by use of the words "home" and "land"; but our attachments to God must be stronger and braver than our ties to birthplace and family.

(Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Bereishit 12:2)

 

There Is No Justification For Theft, Even When the Land Is Promised Us

"There was a quarrel" - Lot's shepherds were wicked and grazed their flocks in others' fields. Avram's shepherds admonished them regarding the theft. They argued that the land was indeed given to Avram, but since he has no inheritor, Lot will inherit him, and this is not theft. And Scripture itself says "The Canaanite and the Perizite then dwelled in the land", Avram had not yet received right of possession.

(Rashi, Bereishit 13:7)

 

 

 "THE LORD SAID TO AVRAM:

GO YOU FORTH FROM YOUR LAND FROM YOUR KINDRED"

Eli Schwartz

 

In addition to familiar commentary, there are commentaries that are provided by Scripture itself. One is the 'trop', the cantillation marks, which not only indicate the division and tune of the verse, but which also, in certain cases, also explain it. Sentences often have alternative inner divisions, making for multiple understandings; "trop" is the arbiter.

Another commentary - more covert - is the division by the parasha of the week. The division is primarily a technical device intended to divide the Torah reading among the Sabbaths of the year. The division we use is the Babylonian division, which divides the Torah reading into a one-year cycle, thus creating 54 parashot (as against the Eretz Yisrael reading which completes a cycle every three years).

Usually, the division into parashot is simple, each parasha beginning a new subject. Sometimes, however, the way in which a parasha is ended and a new parasha begun does not seems to be warranted by the subject matter at hand; it comes to make a point, thus becoming an act of commentary. The parasha of Lech Lecha is an outstanding example. [The division into chapters - a Christian division dating back to the Middle Ages, which found acceptance in our circles - is not only a technical aid, it also provides commentary).

Our parasha begins with: "God said to Avram Go you forth from your land and from your kindred... and I will make you into a great nation."

The beginning of this parasha symbolizes the beginning of Avraham's path to the new land and destiny. It is one of the important symbols of Avraham's personality, and is considered by Chazal to be the first test that Avraham passed. It should be mentioned that in this command there is no mention of the specific land to which Avraham is to go, only "to the land that I will let you see."

But examination of preceding verses (end of Parashat Noah), reveals the beginning of the journey narrative. Terach is the one who initiates the journey from Ur of Chaldeans. Even more, we are expressly told that his goal is the land of Canaan: "Terach took Avram his son... and they went to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to Harran, and settled there..." (11:31). In other words, the beginning of the passage from Ur of Chaldeans to the land of Canaan was a Terach initiative; Avraham continued his plan. The story of Terach's family, read continuously, is as follows:     

"Now these are the begettings of Terach: Terach begot Avram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. Haran died in the living presence of Terach his father in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Avram and Nahor took themselves wives; the name of Avram's wife was Sarai, the name of Nahor's wife was Milca - daughter of Haran, father of Milca and father of Yisca.

Now Sarai was barren, she had no child. Terach took Avram his son and Lot son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, wife of Avram his son, they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go to the land of Canaan. But when they had come as far as Harran, they settled there. and the days of Terach were five years and two hundred years, then Terach died, in Harran.

God said to Avram: Go you forth from your land, from your kindred, from your father's house, to the land that I will let you see.

I will make a great nation of you and will give you blessing and will make your name great. Be a blessing! I will bless those who bless you, he who curses you, I will damn. All the clans of the soil will find blessing through you! Avram went as God had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Avram was five years and seventy years old when he went out of Harran. Avram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, all their property that they had gained, and the persons whom they had made their own in Harran and they went out to go to the land of Canaan". (Bereishit, Chapters 11-12)

This division by chapters pushes Terach to the margins of the parasha and the margins of history, illuminating with bright light Avraham, who sets out on a new path. This is the emphasis that our Sages wished us to perceive. (It appears to me that they succeeded indeed; many Torah readers have never noticed that Terach is the first "oleh" on the way to the land).

Commentators of the Middle Ages grappled with this question, and suggested modes of understand the family's journey.

 

Ibn Ezra (Bereishit, Chap. 11)

In keeping with his consistent exegetical stance that the Torah does not always observe strict chronological order, Ibn Ezra reads the commandment to Avraham "Go you forth" as the beginning of the narrative. God commanded Avraham to leave his land, and Terach, together with all his family, joins him, as described in the previous chapter; Terach, however, decides to stay in Harran.

This explanation is inconsistent with the text, "Terach took Avram his son and Lot son of Haran... and they went with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan", indicating that that Terach was the active figure in departing Ur of the Chaldeans.

 

Ramban (Bereishit 11:28), in a lengthy exposition, develops a different track:

"Our fathers' tradition in this respect is true, and I shall explain it. Our father Avraham was not born in the land of the Chaldeans... and we find in the Talmud (Bava Batra 91a) that Avraham was incarcerated in Kutha, and this city is not in the land of the Chaldeans... but a large city between Harran and Ashur, but it is included in 'across the river'... Terach begat his first sons - Avraham and Nachor - across the river, land of his fathers, and went with his son Avraham to the land of the Chaldeans, and there his youngest son, Haran, was born."

While in Ur of the Chaldeans, the regime harasses Avraham because of his beliefs, and he is thrown into a fiery furnace, as described by Chazal (Ur=fire). After his rescue, his father decides to flee with him to Harran. In the words of the Ramban, "the intention of Avraham and Terach his father, from the day that he was saved, was to go to the land of Canaan in order to distance themselves from the terror of the king, and Harran was too close..."

                       

Abarbanel does not accept the convoluted scenario sketched by Ramban. "The point of the whole narrative is not to relate the history of Terach and what happens to him - as the Ramban claims - but to inform how The Holy One, Blessed Be He, caused Avraham to leave for the land of Canaan." Abarbanel explains that Terach's origins were, as per the plain meaning of the text, in Ur of the Chaldeans, and his son Haran died there in the prime of life. Furthermore, his son Avraham was childless, and therefore he was concerned lest the family line be discontinued. Terach thought that the roots of the sad problem lay in his dwelling in Ur of Chaldeans, and therefore he decided to change venue and move to Canaan "which had good air because of its being a land of mountains and hills; its great climate produced the sons of the giants". When he reached Harran, however, he saw how that land, too, was good, and he settled there with Avraham. Therefore it was necessary for God to command Avraham to move on.

 

Rashi - does not deal with the details of the journey, but chooses to quote midrashim of our Sages that shed light on Terach's personality. Commenting on the verse, "And Haran died before the face of his father Terach" (Bereishit 11:28), Rashi writes:

"The Midrash Agaddah: Some say that he died at the hands of his father, for Terach complained before Nimrod about his son Avram who had smashed his idols and Nimrod threw him in the fiery furnace, and Haran thought to himself, if Avram is victorious, I am with him, and if Nimrod wins, I am with him. When Avram was saved, they said to Haran, with whom are you. He replied, I am with Avram. They threw him into the fiery furnace and he was consumed, and this was Ur [=fire] of the Chaldeans."

In other words, Terach was the wicked father, who complains about his son Avram and causes him to be thrown into the fiery furnace, and later brings about the death of his son Haran.

Rashi adduces additional proof to Terach's wickedness from the very fact of his leaving Harran. Calculation of the years shows that Avraham left Harran while his father Terach was yet alive. How, then, could Avraham leave his old father and go on his way? Rashi cites the midrash "and Terach died in Haran" (verse 32) - after Avram left Harran and came to the land of Canaan he was to live for more than sixty years... he had many years of life ahead. Why did Scripture place Terach's death before Avram's departure? So that the event not be publicized, lest people say that Avram did not respect his aged father, leaving him behind, therefore Scripture refers to Terach as dead, for the wicked, even in their lifetime, are called dead."

In these midrashim we detect the making of Terach into a demonic image; we do not see the father setting out for the Promised Land with his son.

The emphasis in Chazal's approach is the dichotomous perception of good and evil. There is the departure from the evil in order to reach the good, there is the passage from a land of idol worshippers to the holy land, and there is Terach, who is the image of evil, and his opposite, the righteous Avraham.

A very interesting commentary is offered by Philo of Alexandria (about 100 years before the destruction of the Second Temple). He reads the story neither as history nor as a confrontation of good with evil, but as a stage in the development of human thought.

 

Philo: "The exodus from Ur of Chaldeans for Harran was not to teach us a chapter in history, but to give us a lesson for life, and what is that? The Chaldeans were stargazers, who read the heavens, whereas the inhabitants of Harran were concerned more with the senses. The Holy Spirit wished to teach man that he should not indulge in matters of the universe; he should not boast that he touches the boundaries of the universe [this after the story of the Tower of Babylon]. but he should investigate himself. (The body orifices and Harran are linguistically related.) Investigation should begin with one's self" [Know thyself].

In other words, there are different levels in which human research is engaged. The Chaldeans (inferior people, to Philo's way of thinking) are the astronauts, the stargazers. They represent those who deal only with the sensual, with the external world alone.

Terach, on the other hand, represents occupation with man. Therefore Harran (as per Philo's explanation of the name) is the place which represents this occupation. Terach, then, progresses from dealing with the outer world to the inner world, to "Know thyself". According to Philo, Terach was the first "Socrates". "One who walks on this path is called by the Hebrews 'Terach' - Tar achar re-ach' - 'seeks after fragrance'. The Greeks termed such a type 'Socrates' who, throughout his life, studied "Know thyself".

According to Philo, Terach lacked the ability to be full with understanding; he was only able 'to scent it.' The man who had the ability to continue and advance on the basis of Terach's study was Avraham. "Avraham who traversed this path and had learned all the teachings of the senses was able to advance - to leave Harran - and to acquire supreme knowledge. The more man perceives himself, he becomes aware of his nothingness and that of all creatures, and is able to perceive his creator. (Philo, "Regarding Dreams" 1:47-48)

 Eliezer Schwartz is a physician.

 

 

"And Sarah afflicted her, and she fled from her"

Our mother sinned by this affliction, and so did Avraham by allowing her to do so, and God heeded her affliction and gave her a son who will be a wild man to afflict the seed of Avraham and Sarah with all manners of affliction.

 (Ramban, Bereishit 16:6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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