The journeys of Avraham are highlighted in this week’s Parsha.
The name of the Parsha says it all.
Lech = GO
Lecha – FOR YOURSELF i.e. for your benefit.
That sounds great.
Avraham the great founder and patriarch of monotheism, the first of the three forefathers of Judaism is being ‘hired’ to ‘travel’ on behalf of G-d.
His instructions are spelled out: ‘G-d speaks to Abram, commanding him, “Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you.” There, G-d says, he will be made into a great nation.
You would expect a ‘traveling salesman’ on behalf of ‘G-d’s company’ to travel in the highest class possible, to meet with no friction or resistance and to have as much money as needed.
Yet the parsha describes that this is not exactly the way it works out.
At least not in the beginning.
Avraham meets with a famine in the country of Canaan – that very country that G-d has explicitly guided him to relocate to.
With no way of finding subsistence in Canaan, Avraham looks for a solution. He travels to Egypt to find food but then even that doesn’t seem to work out as he falls into financial debt along the way. It gets worse. Upon arrival in Egypt his wife Sara is discovered trying to evade the incoming immigration inspections. She is very beautiful and thus when she is discovered, she is forcibly taken to the Egyptian king.
Catastrophic.
Everything that could go wrong seems to go wrong.
Yet, Avraham does not falter.
Avraham does not entertain any doubts regarding his mission in life.
Avraham has marching instruction from G-d and he remains steadfast in his faith in G-d.
He soldiers on faithfully, resolutely and energetically.
His faith is rewarded.
G-d brings a plague to Pharaoh and his household before anything can happen to Sarah. Pharaoh realizes that Sara is Avraham’s wife and releases her. Avraham and Sarah are gifted with gold and silver and come back to the land of Canaan as a wealthy couple.
Phew, a happy ending.
But the story is not over.
A new problem arises.
Avraham and Sarah discover that they are childless after many years of waiting to be blessed with the greatest gift – having children.
And the ‘tests’ seem to be ongoing.
Even once a problem is resolved, a new one pops up.
Avraham and Sarah are blessed with a wonderful only child named Yitschak.
The epitome of all challenging tests is sprung upon Avraham.
The ‘Akeda’. Where Avraham is instructed to bind and offer his beloved son Yitschak on the altar.
This is the tenth and grand finale of all ten tests.
Which he passes with absolute success.
Once Avraham declares his willingness to do the will of G-d no matter what, even if it meant sacrificing his beloved son, Hashem reveals His true plan. Yitschak is not offered as a sacrifice. Rather Yitschak goes on to marry, have children and carry on the legacy of Avraham.
At the end, Avraham passes away in old age and in a very good state of affairs.
He had abundant wealth.
His mission of spreading belief in G-d was succeeding. His son Yitschak was poised to continue bearing the torch of promoting faith in G-d after Avraham’s passing.
His tension fraught relationship with his father was repaired. His father Terach was originally an idolater, fiercely opposed to Avraham’s newfound zeal for monotheism. Terach came around to his senses when he got older and became a believer in one G-d.
His son Yitschak bore him two grandchildren. Yaakov and Esav.
He lived till their bar mitzvah and they both provided him with ‘nachas’ gratification.
Avraham passed away a day before his grandson Esav left the Abrahamic path of righteousness and started his wicked actions.
Things now look ‘picture perfect’.
Indeed, Hashem's instruction and promise of ‘Lech Lecha’ GO and it will be good for YOU was fulfilled.
There is a powerful message here for all times.
Doing the will of Hashem, following in His plans is the sure path to blessing.
It is not always immediate.
Sometimes the blessing only becomes evident once you see the whole picture.
If you were to enter the difficult parts of Avraham’s life you would be indignant and disheartened.
How could someone on a mission from G-d meet with such problems?
Can you relate to this incongruity? Doing the right thing and meeting challenges that make doing the right thing more difficult?
Someone called me this week to go to the hospital to look in on their future father-in-law who collapsed while traveling here and was hospitalized. The young man who was working tirelessly to help, is getting married in a few weeks. While he was handling this crisis, doing a huge mitzvah, he got laid off from his work. Literally on that same day he became a statistic of one of the ‘Amazon’ layoffs. He told me that he has been going from crisis to crisis as a few weeks ago he had a bad motorcycle accident and was in hospital himself for five days.
I listened and felt his pain. ‘Keep on putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward’ was all I could tell him. Please G-d the blessings will start.
I hope he keeps me updated and I hope the story takes a miraculous leap into blessing and success.
Later that day a young man walked into my office asking if he can speak to me. He bursts out in tears. He finished his army duty in Israel where he saw ghastly sights of what our enemies did to us on October 7th that no one should ever see. After a few months of travel and decompressing in Thailand, he was finally feeling back to himself. Then his phone dropped and broke. He felt cut off from the world, from his family and didn’t have enough money to buy a new phone. A few thousand baht fell out of his pocket when he got off the motorcycle taxi. He felt so vulnerable and unlucky that he started crying. When a few things go wrong, the world feels unfair and cruel.
I was blessed to help him with a spare phone, a listening ear, a snack and a hug. I was rewarded with seeing his face get lighter and brighter by the minute. He still faces many challenges. He is on the right path. I pray that he moves to the next part of his journey where he can see blessings and success.
Sometimes you do your best to do the right things and instead of meeting success you find that you are challenged.
Don’t give up!
Remember your father Avraham, whose spiritual DNA you share.
Keep on doing the next right thing by G-d.
Lech. Keep going and progressing.
Ultimately, G-d promises that ‘Lecha’ it will be good for you as well.
Tragically, sometimes the ‘good’ is only at the end of the much bigger picture which includes the afterlife – Gan Eden. For the soul there is respite. While for those who are still here on earth there is excruciating pain. So many questions arise when you see suffering. And I prefer to leave those questions unanswered. G-d knows what He is doing. I don’t understand G-d’s ways. May G-d answer those questions Himself by bringing Mashiach and resolving all suffering).
I pray that each of you reading this note, will be blessed with abundantly visible good. That your good deeds be rewarded by G-d swiftly and openly.
If you are going through a challenging spot, may Hashem give you the power to jump above it and reach your next ‘landing pad’ plateaus.
Remember to count your blessings constantly. There are so many good things in our lives. It helps to remember them and voice your gratitude to Hashem for them.
May you have many calm and serene and blissful moments to prepare you for any challenge that may come your way.
May the only challenges you face be self-imposed challenges. I.e. challenging yourself to reach even higher in your commitment to Hashem, His Torah and Mitzvot.
With blessings for an uplifted Shabbat and a blessed life.
May Mashiach come speedily, AMEN
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Kantor