Our Rabbis explain that the early stories about our ancestors that comprise most of Sefer Breishit remind us that the Torah is not merely a law-book of halachic principles and guidelines, but the words of the Torah are meant to instill in the Jewish people a value system and a sense of morality by which we must interact in and with the world around us.This beautiful understanding of the purpose of Sefer Breishit leaves us still with a question: If these early stories are included for us to learn important lessons from our ancestors, why doesn’t the Torah start with Parshat Lech Lecha – when we are first introduced to the story of Avraham Avinu and the birth of the Jewish family? In understanding the place of these early stories in the Torah, we come to learn an important lesson about how to approach and apply the Torah to our lives.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains that in order to understand the role of Judaism in this world, one must first appreciate and experience the world that we live in. As he so aptly writes, “We cannot apply Torah to the world unless we understand the world.” Only when we understand the world, culture, and society we live in can we hope to successfully influence and impact our surroundings by implementing Torah values and ideals. For this reason, it is essential to understand the roots of within the context of the greater world.
If the goal of Torah is to guide the Jewish people in how to impact the world we live in, then it is no only essential that we know what the world needs, but we must also know what we have to offer – this is true both on the national and individual level. This is perhaps the challenge every individual faces – as each of us has a mission during his lifetime to both explore and understand the world he lives in, while simultaneously embarking on an inward journey of self-discovery.
This seemingly paradoxical journey is precisely the adventure that Avraham embarks on in this week’s parsha – in understanding Avraham’s journey we can learn important lessons about how we, too, can recognize and ultimately fulfill our individual potentials:
And Hashem said to Abram, "Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you (Gen 12:1)
A basic understanding of Hebrew tells us that the words lech lecha mean go to yourself. On a deeper level, Hashem tells Avraham, go find yourself - go on a journey to discover and develop your unique qualities and abilities. In order for Avraham to fulfill his destiny, he had to first discover his inner strengths so that he ultimately live up to his God given potential. In fact, based on this interpretation, Rav Dessler writes that when one sets out to devote their life to serve Hashem, the first act he must do is discover and recognize his dominating qualities.
The Torah tells us that Avraham going to an unidentified land - land that I will show you. We know that this journey was both a physical and a spiritual one – just as the physical destination remained unknown to Avraham, so too the destination of his spiritual journey was unknown to him at the time. Like Avraham, most of us do not yet know where our path will lead us, or what our inner strengths are – and like Avraham we must be prepared to search for them and likely we will discover what they are.
The commentaries point out that the Torah never tells us what qualities deemed Avraham worthy of being the Father of the Jewish nation, nor does the Torah tell us any details about how Avraham discovered Hashem in his surroundings. Rabbi Glasser suggests that perhaps the reason for these omissions is that the Torah does not define or outline for us one right path towards discovery of oneself, developing ones relationship with God, or impacting our surroundings. There is not one right way to embrace and embark on a Divinely inspired life. The ideal that Avraham models for us is not necessarily one specific quality or path, but it the readiness to take that first step on the path towards exploration and growth.
So often when we fail to live up to the potential, it is because we are not prepared to make changes to leave our comfort zones or face challenges that lie ahead on a new path that is open to us. We learn from Avraham Avinu that it is essential that we take these steps, even leaps forward - to embark into the unknown sometimes. It is only when we take these strides forward that we are able to discover our inner strengths and then use that discovered potential to make a difference in our own lives and the lives of those around us.
The Sfat Emet, based on the Zohar, explains that the words lech lecha were not addressed only to Avraham Avinu – rather, these words were a universal call that Avraham chose to answer. Hashem chose all of us –and He gives us the opportunity to choose Him – to answer the call as Avraham did. We each have a slightly different call to answer, but essentially it is the same call that unites us – we each have different paths to take but when we all follow in the footsteps of Avraham wherever they lead us – then we can make the greatest and lasting imprint on the world we live in.
May we all have the courage and confidence to take these steps – big and small – to continue to explore and understand the world we live in and in doing so, may we discover the uniqueness that each of us has to offer. May Hashem help each of us to live up to each of our greatest potentials!
Shabbat Shalom, Taly
