Lech Lecha - Neshama Leibowitz

Nehamah Leibowitz - Studies in Bereshis - Genesis
[this was ocr'ed from the "Zohar" collection in the Kohelet library]
(Optical Character Recognized)

"As time went on, the awesome and glorious name of G-d was forgotten from the mouths of all mankind and from their minds and they recognised Him not. Thus it came about that all the people of the land, women and children were only acquainted with the image of wood and stone, the sanctuary of stones to which they had been reared from childhood to bow down to, to worship and swear by. The wise men they possessed, that is to say, their priests imagined that there was no other G-d save the stars and spheres represented by these images, whilst there was no one who recognised the Rock of Eternity, no one would acknowledge Him save a few individuals such as Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem and Eber.

In this manner, the world continued on its course till there was born the Pillar of the World - that is the Patriarch Abraham. When this spiritual giant was weaned, whilst yet in his infancy his mind began to rove hither and thither, day and night; he pondered and wondered: "How is it possible for this sphere to revolve continually without a motive force propelling it, since it was impossible for it to revolve itself?" He had neither teacher nor guide, but wallowed in Ur, of the Chaldees amongst brutish idolaters, his father and mother and all the people serving the stars, he among them, his mind roving and seeking understanding, till he arrived at the true path and perceived the line of righteousness from his own right reasoning. He perceived that there was one G-d who governed the spheres and created all, and no other G-d existed save Him.

He perceived that all human beings were at fault and that the cause of their error lay in worship of the heavenly bodies and the images till the truth had eventually become erased from their minds.

Forty years old was Abraham when he acknowledged his Creator. Now that he had been granted perception and knowledge he began to debate and argue with his neighbours protesting that they were not following truth, breaking their idols and publicising that there was only one G-d to whom it was meet to serve . . . that all images deserved to be destroyed and broken in pieces to save the people from error as they therefore imagined there was no G-d but them. _ Since he began to triumph in his arguments, the king sought to slay him. A miracle was however wrought for him and he departed to Haran where he publicly proclaimed the worship of the true G-d. He wandered from place to place and kingdom to kingdom, assembling and addressing the people, till he reached the land of Canaan. There he proclaimed as it is said: "And called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting G-d."
(Laws of Idolatry - Avodas Zaras - Maimonides (1136-1204))

The Torah itself relates nothing of Abraham's inner spiritual strivings before he arrived at a knowledge of the true G-d or of his religious debates with the Chaldeans, his successful arguments and the resultant persecution by the king who sought to slay him. We know of these biographical details from the stories retold by our Sages in the Midrash, where, it is recounted, how Abraham was reared in the house of his father Terach, a purveyor of images, how he would persuade customers not to buy the images, how he smashed them in pieces and was cast into the fiery furnace, the first to be thrown to the flames for serving the true G-d. The Torah merely furnishes the bare details of Abraham's parentage in the last lines of the previous sidra and opens in our sidra with the verses containing the Divine call to Abraham:

Now the Lord had said unto Abraham: Get thee out of thy country and from thy birthplace, and from thy father's house, unto a land which I will show thee.And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall be blessed all the families of the earth.
(Genesis 12, 1-3)

The opening theme of these, three verses, containing the first revelation of the founding father of the Jewish people, is characterised by an extreme particularism, placing a barrier between Abraham and the rest of the world, taking him out of his social surroundings, his family and country. Their closing theme is precisely the opposite - that of a generous universalism: "and in thee shall be blessed all the families of the earth." In other words, Abraham, as he left for the promised land, was to be considered the only glimmer of light wandering through a world of thick darkness, eventually spreading, illuminating the whole of mankind, enveloping the whole world with its glow, "from the shining of the sun to its going down" - "in thee shall be blessed all the families of the earth."

Note how this theme of all-embracing blessings recurs five times in the history of the patriarchs, the founding fathers of the Jewish people. Regarding Abraham it is stated:

Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. (18, 18)

Then after the binding of Isaac: And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth

And to Jacob in his dream: And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

This, however, is locking far ahead into the distant future, to the ultimate goal of human history, the first step toward which we see unfolded in this sidra, with the uprooting and separating of Abraham from all that was near and dear:

Get thee out of thy country, and from thy birthplace, and from thy father's house . . .

Commentators have remarked on the usual order. The verse should have read, in the ordinary way, "from thy father's house, thy birthplace and from thy country." This is the logical sequence, since a person first leaves home, then his birthplace and then his fatherland. The commentary, Haketav Vehakabbala penetratingly suggests that there we are referring to a spiritual rather than physical withdrawal, beginning with the periphery and ending with the inner core. The withdrawal from one's birthplace is not such a cruel wrench as the cutting of one's connection with one's family. First, therefore, Abraham was bidden to sever his connections with his country, then his city and finally the most intimate bond, that of home. Let us once again note the recurrence of parallel phrasing holding together the threads of the narrative. Abraham's first and last trial are prefaced by the words "Get thee out . . .": (1. (from the country - 12, 1; (2. into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering, 22, 2).

In his first trial he is bidden to forgo his past, in the last one, his future. Let us conclude by citing here the late Benno Jacob's remark on our subject in his work on Genesis. He notes that the expression of blessing from the root barekh hz occurs five times in the opening verses of the sidra quoted earlier on. (1) And I will bless thee (2) thou shalt be a blessing (3) And I will bless them (4) that bless thee (5) Shall be blessed This abundance of blessing corresponds to the fivefold abundance of light created on the first day of Creation (where the word "AUR" "light" occurs five times). Here we have a second world created with the advent of Abraham, a world of blessing given to man by man.

1. Why did Rambam prefer to cite the verse in Vayera (21, 33) "and he called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting G-d" rather than any of the others in the previous sidra (12, 8; 13, 4) which make identical statements?

2. Find a text in the Sidra which would seem to support Rambam's contention that Abraham wandered from place to place proclaiming the worship of the true G-d.

The blessings are placed at your disposal (in your hand). Hitherto they have been in My hand. I blessed Adam and Noah. Henceforth you bless whom you wish. (Rashi 1040-1105)

It is the blessing of G-d that He rejoices in His works. This point is made in the Talmudic story (Berakhot 7a) of the dialogue between G-d and Rabbi Ishmael. "(The Almighty turned to R. Ishmael and said) : Ishmael my son, bless Me! I (R. Ishmael) said to Him: May it be Thy will that Thy mercies be shown to Thy Children." In the light of this the drift of our text is as follows: Be a blessing to Me by thinking deeply and striving to perfect yourself and teaching the people knowledge. (Sforno 1475-1550)

also a couple things I remember from classes - "lech lecha", the beginning words of the story of G-d calling Abraham (Genesis 12), have an interesting grammatical oddity that imparts a lesson. Literally, the words mean: "Go, go to you" - and many people have speculated as to the deeper meanings. It's said that these words refer to the process of going within ourselves, of exploring and developing an inner world, of building a vessel of peace, an inner Mishkan or Temple, a prayerful space to praise, bless, and thank the Creator Before Time for every miraculous moment we are given.

also, that when Abram's name was changed to Abraham, the addition of the letter "heh" to the name showed Abraham's spiritual development, heh being the letter that occurs twice in the Holy Name.