Category Archives: Lech Lecha

5784, Abraham, AI art, Genesis, Kli Yakar 2, Lech Lecha, Parsha

The Power to Bless (Lech Lecha)

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PDF Version for print: Kli Yakar Lech Lecha

The Power to Bless (Lech Lecha)

 No man or woman can be strong, gentle, pure, and good, without the world being better for it and without someone being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness. -Phillips Brooks

Abraham Blessing

Dry conventional theological wisdom might claim that only God is capable of affecting blessings upon us. There is a perhaps apocryphal joke of a Lithuanian (non-Hasidic) Rabbi who is approached by a simple Jew and asks the Rabbi to bless him. The Rabbi answers:

“Are you an apple that I should bless over you?”

The Hasidic and Sephardic traditions on the other hand are rife with blessings being bestowed at every opportunity.

When God commands Abraham to leave his homeland and head towards Canaan, He states:

“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.” Genesis 12:2

Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Prague, the Kli Yakar (1550-1619) on the verse wonders as to the seeming repetition of ‘be thou a blessing’ and what is the difference from ‘I will bless thee’?

He explains that not only will Abraham be blessed for obeying God’s word, but that Abraham will also have the power to bless whoever he wants to and will indeed be the source of the blessings he bestows.

The Kli Yakar further explains the simple metaphysical mechanics of how one achieves the power to bless. God is the ultimate source of all blessing. The closer one is behaviorally or “physically” to God (the Kli Yakar also points to the Temple mount as a ‘source’), the more one will acquire His ability to bestow blessing.

May we acquire more and more the power to bless – and may we use it.

Shabbat Shalom and blessings on our hostages, our injured, our soldiers, all of Israel and all our brethren around the world.

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

 To the countless selfless and heroic deeds of our people. The stories we’ve heard, the stories we are yet to hear and the stories we will likely never hear.

5783, Abraham, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Parsha

Attracted to Holiness (Lech Lecha)

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Attracted to Holiness (Lech Lecha)

A soul without a high aim is like a ship without a rudder. -Eileen Caddy

Abraham is famously directed by God to leave his homeland and venture to the land of Canaan, a land that God would bequeath to Abraham and his descendants. However, what is perhaps less noticed, is that a few verses before God’s directive to Abraham, the Torah tells us how Terach, Abraham’s father, takes his family from their homeland, from Ur of the Chaldeans and heads to Canaan. However, Terach’s journey ends when they arrive in the town of Haran, before entering the land of Canaan. It is only Abraham, later, who successfully enters Canaan.

The Bat Ayin on Genesis 12:1 wonders as to what the cause of the apparent false start was. Why does Abraham’s family, when accompanied by his father Terach head towards Canaan, before God commands it; why are they initially unsuccessful in entering and why later, does Abraham, without Terach, succeed?

He explains that while still in Ur of the Chaldeans Abraham started to perceive the holiness of the land of Canaan. He ventures west, attracted by the holiness of Canaan, independently of God’s command. His father Terach, seeing Abraham’s efforts, is taken up by the spiritual journey and he too seeks the holiness of Canaan. However, upon reaching the town of Haran, in close proximity to Canaan, they realize something that gives them pause. They come to the conclusion that though they’re attracted to the holiness, they don’t feel themselves worthy of entering the land. They are not yet at a level where they could fully connect with the inherit holiness of the land.

It is then, after God’s command, that Abraham redoubles his spiritual efforts and realizes that he needs to divest himself of his material, worldly attachments. Only with a pure spiritual focus can one fully connect to the inherent holiness of the land. Abraham succeeds in reaching that spiritual level, that focus on the transcendent and that connection with God. He is then worthy of entering the land and claiming its spiritual and material bounty for himself and his descendants.

May we take advantage of the road to holiness our forefathers already paved for us and bequeathed to us and connect to the holiness of the land of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To democracy.

5782, Abraham, Chidushei HaRim, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Parsha

Blinded by Reality (Lech Lecha)

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Blinded by Reality (Lech Lecha)

You too must not count too much on your reality as you feel it today, since like yesterday, it may prove an illusion for you tomorrow. -Luigi Pirandello

Abraham’s first documented encounter with God is when God addresses him and commands him to leave his land (literally, “go for you from your land”), his birthplace and his father’s home to the ambiguous “land which I will show you.”  Abraham, full of faith, obediently complies, and does leave his life in the advanced and cosmopolitan Mesopotamian Empire. He leaves his homeland, leaves his father and treks to the relative wilderness of the land of Canaan; the rural, rough and uncultivated land bridge that connected the two ancient major political, economic and cultural powers of the Ancient Near East – the Mesopotamian and the Egyptian Empires.

That command starts Abraham’s journey. We see the development of his relationship with God. We see Abraham’s kindness and generosity. We see his bravery and faith. We see his devotion and sacrifice. It all started with Abraham leaving his land.

The Chidushei HaRim on Genesis 12:1 reads more deeply into the command of “go for you from your land.” The word “from your land,” in Hebrew, “Me’artzechah,” can also be read as from your landedness, from your materiality, from your obsession with the material world and material things.

The Chidushei HaRim explains that in order to serve God, the first step is to leave the trappings of the physical world which blind us to the evil, to the materiality that we’re submerged in. We have to leave that mindset of preoccupation exclusively with the corporeal, even if we don’t know where we’re going.

Once we’ve become free of our fixation on material things and approach God without pretense and in truthfulness, then God will lead us to “the land which I will show you,” – to a more elevated existence, to a deeper relationship with God and the truth of our existence, to the development of our soul and our own personal, divine missions on Earth.

May we loosen our shackles from the “realities” that both bind us and blind us, and may we follow in the footsteps of our patriarch, Abraham.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To William Shatner’s real star trek!

5781, Bechor Shor, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Parsha

Choosing Real Estate (Lech Lecha)

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Choosing Real Estate (Lech Lecha)

Of neighborhoods, benevolence is the most beautiful. How can the man be considered wise who when he had the choice does not settle in benevolence. -Confucius

Upon Abraham’s and his nephew Lot’s return to the land of Canaan from their stint in Egypt, laden with wealth, their respective shepherds start to fight. Abraham (still called Abram at this stage) suggests they put some distance between themselves. Lot sees the area of Sodom. It is a lush and beautiful land (before God destroyed it), watered by the fresh waters of the Jordan River and compared to the highly fertile land of the Nile Delta. Lot chooses to move to the area of Sodom. He takes all his wealth and invests in the area, building for himself a home, raising a family, and marrying off some of his daughters to local Sodomite men.

The Bechor Shor on Genesis 13:10 finds in this account a critique of Lot. Like any savvy businessman, Lot checks out the prospect before he invests. He sees a rich, fertile, productive land. He sees wealth and opulence. From a purely superficial, material, financial perspective, it was likely the best neighborhood in the area. However, the Bechor Shor states, Lot didn’t check out the neighbors. He didn’t bother to determine the character, the kindness, the benevolence of his fellow residents of Sodom. He saw nice fields and nice houses and that was enough for him.

The fate of Sodom is well known. God found the Sodomites to be degenerate, abhorrent, evil. Lot himself was not nearly as bad. God sends angels to save Lot and to destroy Sodom with fire and brimstone. Lot is saved, but literally with just the clothing on his back. He went to Sodom because of wealth and left it a pauper.

The Bechor Shor warns that when seeking a place to live, definitely check out the land and the physical conditions, but don’t forget to check out the neighbors.

May we be good neighbors, as well as be blessed with having good neighbors.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the US elections and a peaceful aftermath.

5780, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Meshech Chochma, Parsha

Horoscope-Proof (Lech Lecha)

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Horoscope-Proof (Lech Lecha)

 This is the excellent foppery of the world: that when we are sick in fortune — often the surfeits of our own behavior — we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars, as if we were villains on necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion, knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance, drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforced obedience of planetary influence. An admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition on the charge of a star!  -William Shakespeare (King Lear: Act 1, Scene 2)

 

Jewish tradition looks negatively at astrology and those who follow horoscopes. Judaism typically views adherents of modern astrology as somewhere on the spectrum between idolatry, superstition and simple foolishness. We are meant to have a simple faith in God, to believe in our free will, to choose wisely, to make our best efforts in all we do and ultimately attribute the circumstances of our lives to God and not to His intermediaries.

However, both the Midrash and the Talmud carry a slightly more nuanced story of the power of astrology (though it’s believed that the insights of true astrology have been long lost). The Midrash recounts how Abraham was a master astrologer and read in the stars that he would remain childless. God chides him, tells him to look beyond the stars, renames him (from Abram to Abraham) and tells him that not only will he have a child but that he will be the father of a multitude of nations.

Based on this episode, the Talmud explains that the people of Israel are impervious to horoscopes, that we are beyond the laws and effects of astrology. Our free will is such that we are unbound by mundane, predictable predestination. Our destiny is so open and free that even the mighty stars and constellations have no effect on our future.

The Meshech Chochma however, fine-tunes such thinking. He explains that the Talmudic dictum is true, that the people of Israel have direct divine providence that is independent of astrological influences. However, that is only true for the entirety of the people of Israel and not necessarily for an individual Jew. A Jew, in theory, could be subject to astrological forces.

But there is an exception to that exception. Any Jew who serves the Jewish people or is needed by the Jewish people has the same inoculation, the same immunity to any arbitrary astrological influence as does the entirety of the Jewish people. A Jew who is so identified with the Jewish community, who is a resource to his brethren, has a much more direct divine influence, without any intermediary stellar intervention.

May we keep our direct divine connections.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the Link Kollel and Shul, for a truly wonderful learning and davening experience.

5779, Abraham, Berdichever, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Uncountable People (Lech Lecha)

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Uncountable People (Lech Lecha)

Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty. –Jacob Bronowski

God communicates with Abraham. God tells Abraham, who at the time was old and childless, that his progeny will be as uncountable as the dust of the earth, as the stars in the heavens. To further deepen the wonder of God’s promise to Abraham, the Midrash recounts that among Abraham’s many amazing attributes and capabilities was the fact that he was one of the greatest astrologers that ever lived. He knew how to read a person’s destiny based on the movement of the planets through the constellations. When he sought his own astrological prognosis, he saw that he would remain childless.

The Midrash continues the conversation with God telling Abraham to look beyond the astrology, beyond the stars, for his destiny and that of the future people of Israel is not tied to this physical, visually-perceived world. Jews, from their very inception, are beyond nature, above physical laws.

The Berdichever, in his commentary on the phrase, “if a man were able to count the dust of the earth, so too, would your progeny be counted,” recalls that there is a Torah prohibition against directly counting the nation of Israel. When a census was done, the counting was done indirectly, using a coin for each person. To this day, when we want to determine if there are ten men, the minimum for a Minyan (a prayer quorum), we are prohibited to count the people directly (i.e. we don’t count 1, 2, 3, etc.). The classic way is to recite words from a verse that we know contains ten words.

The Berdichever elaborates that not only are we prohibited from counting Jews, but that more fundamentally, it is impossible to count Jews. Israel as a whole, and its component members individually, are beyond understanding, beyond rational grasp. How can you count something that you don’t understand, that you can’t comprehend? What is the meaning of numbering an entity or entities that are beyond our perception?

In some deep sense, we are as numerous and as uncountable as the dust of the earth and as the stars in the universe.

Because Israel can’t be understood in our world, in our reality, even Abraham, the great astrologer, can’t see his or our destiny in the constellations. We are not limited by our physical reality. We’re beyond that. We’re physically unknowable; essentially uncountable; spiritually limitless.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the upcoming Mayoral elections throughout Israel. Every vote counts.

5778, Abraham, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Parsha, Rabbeinu Bechaye, The Times of Israel

You can choose your friends

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You can choose your friends

Tell me who’s your friend and I’ll tell you who you are. -Proverb

God commands Abraham to leave his land, his birthplace and his father’s home. In the process, Abraham is also leaving his childhood friends, the social network he grew up with and was familiar with his entire life. He’s commanded to leave all he knew, his comfort zone, and move to a new land, a new climate, a new culture and a new people.

We may go through life surrounded by friends of circumstance. Classmates, co-workers or neighbors become our closest friends, not from any conscious decision, but rather from a natural progression of circumstance, comfort and inertia. Rabbeinu Bechaye on Genesis 12:1, quoting King Solomon asks us to reconsider how we choose our friends. King Solomon in Proverbs 13:20 states: “He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will come to harm.”

So too, Abraham needed to leave the foolish people of his hometown before he could truly grow and serve God. They were holding him back from becoming the great man he had the potential to be: the beloved of God, the beacon of his generation and the forefather of the Jewish people.

Rabbeinu Bechaye is not saying we need to move countries to find worthy friends. What he is saying is that we should become closer to the wise and put some distance from the foolish. It’s a conscious effort. When we take the path of least resistance, we may fall back to old, unproductive patterns and relationships. However, when we look around and actively seek out those who are wise, those who are pursuing noble goals, people of character, integrity and purpose, and befriend them, we elevate ourselves. There is nothing artificial or conniving in purposely seeking out new friends, better friends, inspiring friends; of finding areas of joint interest; of identifying shared dreams and aspirations; of pursuing a common cause for the greater good.

Rabbeinu Bechaye compares befriending the wise to walking into a perfume store. Even if one didn’t buy anything, just having been in the store already improves ones scent. So too, being in the presence of the wise will rub off on a person. The converse is likewise true.

May we be worthy of wise friends and enjoy each other’s company.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To my own childhood friends, who’ve stayed in touch through all the continents and decades.

5777, Abraham, Genesis, Hirsch, Lech Lecha, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Abraham the Individualist

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Abraham the Individualist

Not armies, not nations, have advanced the race; but here and there, in the course of ages, an individual has stood up and cast his shadow over the world. -Edwin Hubbell Chapin

individualistIn the very first recorded conversation between God and Abraham, God commands Abraham “Lech Lecha” which can be translated as “go for you” or “go to you.” Rabbi Hirsch on Genesis 12:1 explains that it is a command to “go your own way” or “follow your unique path.”

Rabbi Hirsch elaborates that one of the prominent beliefs during Abraham’s time was the primacy of the communal over the individual and the priority of centralization of authority rather than individual decision-making. It engendered the “tyranny of the majority” (a phrase originally seen in the writing of John Adams, and subsequently popularized by Alexis de Tocqueville and John Stuart Mill).

Abraham, by leaving his country, his birthplace and his people, by demonstrating an unyielding belief in one God, by standing up to the entirety of the rest of the polytheistic world, indeed carved his own path. He demonstrated an unflinching capacity to do his own thing, to go his own way, to be his own person, to do what he knew to be correct though the entire planet thought otherwise. He is a model of the Individual, of the non-conformist, of the person who will take a stand for what is right though it is unpopular. His is the lesson that even if the majority believes in something or says something, it doesn’t necessarily make it right.

May we hold steadfast in our positive and unique paths.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the global Shabbat Project and especially to those organizing it and celebrating it in their own unique ways in Uruguay.

 

5776, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Parsha, Sfat Emet, The Times of Israel

Circumcision Power

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 The earth seemed to move with me. I found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never knew existed. -Roger Bannister 

The first commandment given to the proto-Israelite nation, in the form of our patriarch Abraham is circumcision, the Brit Mila. I don’t believe it is coincidental, that of all the myriad of commandments in our tradition, circumcision is perhaps the most widely practiced to this very day, although it has fallen under attack in isolated venues.

The Sfat Emet on Parashat Lech Lecha, writing in 5636 (1876) explains that a person is composed of two forces. Man has a spiritual force that is present in his body in this world, but he also possesses a spiritual force in the upper metaphysical realm that is independent of his body. For a man specifically, (as opposed to a woman), the Brit Mila (literally, the Covenant of the Circumcision), is a ritual that creates a connection between these two forces, in a way binding them together, and granting the person access to an otherwise unprecedented amount of spiritual power. When a Jewish male has a Brit Mila, he has the capacity to reach completeness, to be existentially whole.

However, it seems there is really only one way to activate this incredible power, and it is an aspect that is intrinsic to the covenant between the Jewish people and God. The key to accessing that storehouse of spiritual energy is the Torah. Learning the Torah, becoming acquainted with the Torah, knowing the Torah and living the Torah allows a person to tap into that infinite power that was used for the creation of the universe. The divine guidebook for our lives has a much deeper and pervasive effect than one might imagine. And it is there for the taking.

May we grow in our spiritual capacities and power, using that ancient yet entirely relevant guide, the Torah.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To The Shabbos Project.

5775, Abraham, Baal Haturim, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Super-blessed

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First posted on The Times of Israel at: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/lech-lecha-super-blessed/

Baal Haturim Genesis: Lech Lecha

Super-blessed

Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence. -Og Mandino

After the failures of Adam, Noah and successive generations we are finally introduced to the first Patriarch, the founder of our nation, Abraham.

He was an outstanding personality. He rose to a higher calling against all opinion, pressure and odds. In return for his loyalty, his courage, his goodness and his example, God blesses Abraham.

The Baal Haturim on Genesis 12:2 enumerates seven blessings with which Abraham was graced:

  1. Abraham will become a Nation
  2. Abraham will receive great wealth.
  3. Abraham will receive a new name (Abram was switched to Abraham)
  4. Abraham himself will be considered a blessing.
  5. Whoever will bless Abraham, God will ensure that they in turn are also blessed.
  6. Enemies will be cursed.
  7. All families of the world will be blessed by Abraham.

May we live up to the example of Abraham and also participate in his blessings.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Gabriel Boruchovas for going over and above the call of duty in making sure the Uruguayan Shabbos Project was a major success.