1 The reader may remember that during Aseres Y mei Teshuva (and on Erev Rosh

Transcription

1 פרשת לך לך For the most regrettable of reasons, in the last months there has been a focus upon terrible murderers, committing ghastly crimes. For whatever reason, all sorts of reports wish to present a personality portrait of such individuals as if they are able to trace a path from their traits and behavior to the terrible deeds that they have perpetrated. A common picture often emerges. The individual is a loner, having very little to do with the society around him. This hermit-type of behavior is indicative of a psychopath; he is a potential danger to all those around him! What does the Torah say about the above description? Is there something unhealthy or unnatural about the person who divorces himself from community and society as much is possible? This topic is very relevant when we come to study Parshas Lech Lecha and are introduced in this Parsha, and at the end of last week s Parsha, to the dominant figure of Avraham Ovinu. Rambam (Hilchos Avoda Zarah Perek 1/Halachos 2-3) describes the proliferation and prevalence of idolatry in the first twenty generations following Creation and the role that Avraham Ovinu played in reference to idolatry s proliferation and rolling back its prevalence. He writes:...צור העולמים לא היה שום אדם שהיה מכירו ולא יודעו אלא יחידים בעולם כגון חנוך ומתושלח נח שם ועבר, ועל דרך זה היה העולם הולך ומתגלגל עד שנולד עמודו של עולם והוא אברהם אבינו. The Creator of the World no one recognized Him and no one knew Him, with the exception of a few individuals such as Chanoch, Mesushelach, Noach, Eiver and Shem. That was the path of the world that kept on going until the pillar of the world was born and that was Avraham Ovinu. כיון שנגמל איתן זה...והתחיל לחשוב ביום ובלילה והיה תמיה היאך אפשר שיהיה הגלגל הזה נוהג תמיד ולא יהיה לו מנהיג ומי יסבב אותו...ולא היה לו מלמד ולא מודיע דבר אלא מושקע באור כשדים בין עובדי כוכבים הטפשים ואביו ואמו וכל העם עובדי כוכבים...

2 When this mighty person was weaned he began to think day and night and was puzzled how is it possible that the universe keeps on its path and it has no one directing it. Who causes it to move? He had no teacher and had no one to inform him about this; rather he was sunk in Ur Kasdim among the foolish idolaters and his mother and father and all the people were idolaters. ולבו משוטט ומבין עד שהשיג...וידע שיש שם א...ל'וק אחד והוא מנהיג הגלגל והוא ברא הכל... His heart was searching and understanding until he reached the conception and knew that there is One G-d and He directs the universe and He created all. כיון שהכיר וידע התחיל להשיב תשובות על בני אור כשדים ולערוך דין עמהם ולומר שאין זו דרך האמת שאתם הולכים בה...והתחיל להודיע לעם שאין ראוי לעבוד אלא א...ל'ו...ק העולם...כדי שיכירוהו כל הברואים הבאים... Once he recognized and knew, he began responding with refutations to the people of Ur Kasdim and to arrange debates with them to say, What you are doing and the path that you are following is not truthful. He began informing people that it is proper to worship only the G-d of the Universe in order that all the people who would come to be born would recognize Him. עד שהגיע לארץ כנען...העם מתקבצין אליו ושואלין לו על דבריו היה מודיע לכל אחד ואחד כפי דעתו עד שיחזירהו לדרך האמת עד שנתקבצו אליו אלפים ורבבות... Until he came to the Land of Canaan. There the people would gather around him and ask him regarding his words and he would inform each and every one, according to the level of their knowledge, until he would return them to the true path until thousands and myriads gathered around him. What extraordinary titles Rambam bestows upon Avraham Ovinu pillar of the world and 1,איתן this person of strength. 1 The reader may remember that during Aseres Y mei Teshuva (and on Erev Rosh Hashanah as well) an extra Selicha is added each morning dealing with the Akeida. In many of those Selichos, Avraham Ovinu is referred to as האזרחי,איתן The Mighty Citizen.

3 And how did Avraham demonstrate that strength? How did he become a very pillar of the world? We read in this week s Parsha, regarding the war between the four kings and the five kings (B reishis Perek 14/Posuk 13): ו י ב א ה פ ל יט ו י ג ד ל אב ר ם ה ע ב ר י ו ה וא ש כ ן ב א לנ י מ מ ר א ה א מ ר י א ח י א ש כ ל ו א ח י ע נ ר ו ה ם ב ע ל י ב ר ית אב ר ם: The refugee came and he told Avram HaIvri, and Avram was dwelling in the plains of Mamre, the brother of Eshkol and the brother of Oner; they were partners in a covenant with Avram.?העברי Why was Avraham referred to as Rashi writes: The Ivri He came from the other side river. העברי - שבא מעבר הנהר: That is, Avraham was a foreigner. He was known as not being one of us. Even though he had made a covenant with his trusted friends, he was still an outsider. The Midrash (B reshis Rabbah Parshata 42/8) offers three explanations of HaIvri. One is that which Rashi wrote and evidently holds that is closest to the p shat. A second one is very similar in idea: רבי נחמיה אמר שהוא מבני בניו של עבר Rabi Nechemia said that Ivri implies that he was a descendant of Eiver. In last week s Parshas Noach we learned (Perek 10/P sukim 22, 24) that Shem, the son of Noach had a son named Arpachshad who was the father of Shelach and Shelach was the father of Eiver. The Torah repeats some of this lineage at the end of Parshas Noach and adds to it. There (Perek 11, P sukim 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26) we learn that Eiver was the father of Peleg and Peleg was the father of Re u. Re u was the father S rug and S rug was the father of Nachor. Nachor was the father of Terach, the father of Avraham Ovinu.

4 According to this explanation, Avraham Ovinu was the sixth generation following Eiver. It would certainly seem remarkable that Avraham was known because he was such a distant descendant of Eiver. Even if one would argue that Eiver was particularly famous because of the Yeshiva that he and his ancestor, Shem, had, we could still ask then why Avraham wasn t called ha Shemi, 2 instead of haivri? What is the third explanation of the Midrash 3? ויגד לאברם העברי...רבי יהודה אומר כל העולם כולו מעבר אחד והוא מעבר אחד He told Avram HaIvri Rabi Yehuda says, The entire world was on onside and Avraham was on the other side. Avraham was separate from almost of all humanity. He placed himself squarely against all of society. He was alone. How are we to see that state of aloneness? The state of aloneness appears to go against the very nature of Man. Rambam writes in Moreh Nevuchim (Maamar II/Perek 40): האדם מדיני בטבע, ושטבעו שיהיה מתקבץ, ואינו כשאר בעלי חיים אשר אין לו הכרח להתקבץ, ולרוב ההרכבה בזה המין מפני שהוא המורכב האחרון כמו שידעת, היה ההבדל רב בין אישיו, עד שאפשר שלא תמצא שני אנשים מסכימים במין ממיני המדות, כמו שלא תראה צורותיהם הנראות שוות, 2 What could reply to this question that hashemi would be more inclusive of many families, those not ancestors of Avraham. The term hashemi is Semitic in our English and it is worthwhile to know that Jordan calls itself the Hashemite Kingdom. However, Eiver also had other offspring so, while not being as inclusive as Shem, certainly wasn t limited to the direct line to Avraham. 3 In fact, it is the first explanation listed in the Midrash.

5 Man is societal 4 by his nature; it is his nature that he should form groups. He is unlike animals; they have no inner need to form groups. Because of the many aspects of the species of man, because he was the final compound as you know, there is a great difference among its individuals to such an extent that it is possible that there will not be found in the entire species two people who are alike with the same traits just like you will not see [two people] whose outer features are identical. It was unnatural for Avraham Ovinu to be an Ivri, meaning someone who separated himself from society. Why did he do so? Rambam has already provided us with the answer in more than one place. In Mishneh Torah (Hilchos Deios Perek 6/Halacha 1) we read: דרך ברייתו של אדם להיות נמשך בדעותיו ובמעשיו אחר ריעיו וחביריו ונוהג כמנהג אנשי מדינתו, לפיכך צריך אדם להתחבר לצדיקים ולישב אצל החכמים תמיד כדי שילמוד ממעשיהם, ויתרחק מן הרשעים ההולכים בחשך כדי שלא ילמוד ממעשיהם, הוא ששלמה אומר )משלי יג/כ( הולך את חכמים יחכם ורועה כסילים ירוע, ואומר )תהילים א/א ) 5 אשרי האיש וגו', The nature of the creation of Man is for him to be influenced in his middos and his actions by his companions and friends and to behave like it is accustomed in his country. Therefore, a person has to adjoin himself to righteous individuals and to always live near wise people so that he can learn from their actions. He should distance himself from the wicked who go in darkness in order not to learn from their actions. That is what Shlomo 4 The word in the Hebrew translation of Moreh Nevuchim (which was written in Arabic) is מדיני which in Modern Hebrew means related to the state or that which is political. In medieval philosophical terminology, borrowed from the Greeks, Politic refers to the society, hence our translation here. 5 The entire verse reads: א ש ר י ה א יש א ש ר לא ה ל ך ב ע צ ת ר ש ע ים וב ד ר ך ח ט א ים לא ע מ ד וב מ וש ב ל צ ים לא י ש ב: Happy is the man who did not go according to the counsel of the wicked and in the path of the sinners he did not stand and in the seat of the mockers he did not sit.

6 HaMelech said, He who walks with the wise will be wise; he who befriends the foolish will be wicked. It also says, Happy is the man וכן אם היה במדינה שמנהגותיה רעים ואין אנשיה הולכים בדרך ישרה ילך למקום שאנשיה צדיקים ונוהגים בדרך טובים, ואם היו כל המדינות שהוא יודעם ושומע שמועתן נוהגים בדרך לא טובה כמו זמנינו, או שאינו יכול ללכת למדינה שמנהגותיה טובים מפני הגייסות או מפני החולי ישב לבדו יחידי כענין שנאמר )איכה ג/כח ) 6 ישב בדד וידום, ואם היו רעים וחטאים שאין מניחים אותו לישב במדינה אלא אם כן נתערב עמהן ונוהג במנהגם הרע יצא למערות ולחוחים ולמדברות, ואל ינהיג עצמו בדרך חטאים כענין שנאמר )ירמיהו ט/א ) 7 מי יתנני במדבר מלון אורחים. And so, if he was in a country that had bad practices and its people did not follow the straight path, he should go to a country where its people are righteous and behave as good people do. If all of the countries about which he was aware and heard about were acting in an improper way, like nowadays, or that he cannot go to a country in which the behaviors was good because of the armies or because of illness, he should sit alone, by himself, as it says, he shall sit alone and be silent. If the people of his country were so bad and sinful that they don t allow him to live in the country [and behave properly] unless he mixes with them and behaves according to the way their bad behavior, he should leave and go to live in caves or in the thistles or in the desert and not let himself behave in the way of the sinners. This is like the verse says, Who will let me be in the desert, an inn for guests? We have a paradox. On the one hand, G-d created us to have a particular nature. He Yisborach made us to be social creatures. And now, we are told to abandon our 6 The entire verse reads: י ש ב ב ד ד ו י ד ם כ י נ ט ל ע ל יו: The mourner sits alone, silently, because G-d has put this upon him. 7 The entire verse reads: מ י י ת נ נ י ב מ ד ב ר מ ל ון א ר ח ים ו א ע ז ב ה א ת ע מ י ו א ל כ ה מ א ת ם כ י כ ל ם מ נ א פ ים ע צ ר ת ב ג ד ים: Who will let me be in the desert as an inn for guests and I will forsake my people and I will from being with them because they are all adulterers, a gathering of traitors.

7 very nature and disassociate ourselves from the very society that we were created to cling to. Is that fair? The first step in answering that question is what Rambam writes in Hilchos Teshuvah (Perek 5/Halachah 1). It is a selection that we have noted many times in the past and reads: רשות לכל אדם נתונה אם רצה להטות עצמו לדרך טובה ולהיות צדיק הרשות בידו, ואם רצה להטות עצמו לדרך רעה ולהיות רשע הרשות בידו, הוא שכתוב בתורה הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע, כלומר הן מין זה של אדם היה יחיד בעולם ואין מין שני דומה לו בזה הענין שיהא הוא מעצמו בדעתו ובמחשבתו יודע הטוב והרע ועושה כל מה שהוא חפץ ואין מי שיעכב בידו מלעשות הטוב או הרע G-d has granted every person the self-control that if he wishes to turn himself to a path of good and be righteous he has that control. If he wishes to turn himself to a path of evil and be a wicked person he has that control. That is what the Torah writes, Behold, Man has become like one of us to know good and bad. That means that the species of Mankind is unique in the world and there is no other species that is similar to him in this matter that he, himself, according to his judgment and thought, knows that which is good and that which is bad and he does all that he wants to do and no one can prevent him from doing good or bad. That is, Rambam teaches us that man is not a social being only. Man is also an independent being. Those are the two aspects of his nature. Of course, there is no reason why these two aspects must be in conflict with each other in an ideal world. But the world is not ideal not in our nowadays and not in the nowadays of Rambam and not before him 8 and not in the intervening centuries between his time and our time. 8 This does not mean that our view of the world should be jaded. The opposite is true and Rashi gives expression to that in last week s Parshas Noach. In regards to the sign of the rainbow that was presented to Noach, we read (B reishis Perek 9/Posuk 12):

8 And because there were and are so many instances of nowadays throughout history, Man s nature as a responsible individual was able to maintain its status and not have his nature as a social creature overcome his individuality. In השמד his 9,אגרת The Letter Regarding Forced Apostasy, Rambam writes to those communities threatened by other religions with demands to leave Judaism: ו י אמ ר א... ל 'קים ז את א ות ה ב ר ית א ש ר א נ י נ ת ן ב ינ י וב ינ יכ ם וב ין כ ל נ פ ש ח י ה א ש ר א ת כ ם ל ד ר ת ע ול ם: G-d said, This is the sign of the covenant that I give between Me and between you and between all of the souls of living creatures that are with you for everlasting generations. We see that the word,לדרת generations, is written chaser, lacking the letter vov between the reish and the sov. If I would read this word without the proper vocalization, but just based on the k siv how it is written, I would read as l doras a generation, not all of the generations. Thus Rashi explains: לדרת עולם - נכתב חסר, שיש דורות שלא הוצרכו לאות לפי שצדיקים גמורים היו, כמו דורו של חזקיהו מלך יהודה, ודורו של רבי שמעון בן יוחאי: For everlasting generations The word is written chaser because there are generations who did not need the sign [to survive] because they were completely righteous - like the generation of Chizkiyahu, the King of Judea and the generation of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai. Sifsei Chachamim explains that Rashi s intent is that only a generation that is chaser, lacking, required the promise of the covenant. However, generations that were not chaser, were not lacking, had an existence that was not threatened by annihilation and therefore had no need of a protective covenant and its sign. So we see that there were generations which were righteous. 9 There are a number of editions of the Letters of the Rambam which were written in Arabic and translated into Hebrew. The quotations here are from the 1968 Lewin-Epstein edition. The page numbers are from the more recent edition of Rav Yitzchak Shilat, currently the Rosh HaYeshiva in Yeshivas Maaleh Adumim, who has translated and published important annotated editions of many of Rambam s Arabic writings.

9 והעצה שאני יועץ לנפשי, והדעת שאני רוצה בה לי ולאהובי ולכל מבקש ממני עצה, שיצא מאלה המקומות וילך למקום שהוא יכול להעמיד דתו ולקיים תורתו בלא אונס, ולא יפחד ויעזוב ביתו ובניו וכל אשר לו, כי דת ה' שהנחיל אותנו גדולה, וחיובה קודם לכל המקרים הבזויים בעיני המשכילים, שהם אינם עומדים ויראת ה' היא שעומדת. The counsel that I take for myself 10 and the opinion that I want for me and for my loved ones and for anyone who seeks counsel from me, is that they should go out from these [evil] places and go to a place that he can keep his religion and fulfil his Torah without coercion and he will not be fearful. He should leave his household and children and all that he has because the law of G-d that He bequeathed to us is greater and its obligation takes precedence over all of the events that are looked down upon by the intellectuals because those events have no permanence and fear of G-d has permanence 11. ולא עוד אלא אפילו היו שתי מדינות מישראל, אחת מהן יותר טובה במעשיה ובמנהגותיה ויותר מדקדקת ונכנעת למצוות מן האחרת, שחייב ירא ה' לצאת מאותה שמעשיה אינם כל כך נכונים לאותה מדינה טובה אבל אם היה המקום מן הגוים, ישראל העומד שם על אחת כמה וכמה שהוא חייב לצאת מאותו מקום וללכת למקום טוב, וישתדל לעשות ואף על פי שמפיל עצמו בסכנה, עד שינצל מן המקום הרע שאינו יכול להעמיד דתו כראוי, וילך עד שמגיע למקום טוב. Even more so: even if there were two [good] provinces of Jewish People, but one was superior in its deeds and practices and more precise and more submissive to Mitzvos than the other province he who is a fearer of G-d is obligated to leave the one where the practices are not as good and go to the better one. But if these were non-jewish provinces, the Jew who is there all the more so is obligated to leave and go to a place that is good. He should make the efforts to do so even if there is danger in going from place to the other. He 10 Some biographies of Rambam report that he was forced to flee from a threat of apostasy by coercion. 11 Page 55.

10 should make the efforts until he can be saved from the place that is bad in which he is unable to practice his religion appropriately and he should go until he reaches a good place. 12 וכן מצינו באברהם אבינו עליו השלום שמאס משפחתו ומקומו וברח לנפשו להנצל מדעת הכופרים. וכל זה אם לא יכופו אותו הכופרים לעשות מעשיהם, שצריך האדם לצאת מביניהם, אבל בשכופים אותו לעבור על אחת מן המצוות, אסור לעמוד באותו מקום, אלא יצא ויניח כל אשר לו, וילך ביום ובלילה עד שימצא מקום שיהא יכול להעמיד דתו, והעולם גדול ורחב! So we find regarding Avraham Ovinu of blessed memory that he rejected his family and the place where he lived and fled for his life to be saved from the mindset of those who denied G-d Ibid. 13 Rambam s words here do not seem to be in accord with the account of Avraham Ovinu leaving Ur Kasdim as we read in the Torah (B reishis Perek 11/Posuk 31): ו י ק ח ת ר ח א ת אב ר ם ב נ ו ו א ת ל וט ב ן ה ר ן ב ן ב נ ו ו א ת ש ר י כ ל ת ו א ש ת אב ר ם ב נ ו ו י צ א ו א ת ם מ א ור כ ש ד ים ל ל כ ת אר צ ה כ נ ע ן ו י ב א ו ע ד ח ר ן ו י ש ב ו ש ם: Terach took his son Avram and Lot, the son of Haran his son and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Avram his son, and they went out with them from Ur Kasdim to go to the Land of Canaan and they came to Choron and they settled there. The verse clearly says that Terach took Avram, not that Avraham left on his own. However, Rabbenu Bachye (ibid. Posuk 28) teaches that certainly that move was based on the impetus of Avraham Ovinu, not that of his father Terach. The reason that the Torah attributes the move to Terach, Rabbenu Bachye writes, is Avraham s desire to honor his father. That idea is in consonance with that which Rashi and Rabbenu Bachye and others write in relationship to the dating of the death of Terach. The very next verse, the last Posuk in Parshas Noach, reads: ו י ה י ו י מ י ת ר ח ח מ ש ש נ ים ומ את י ם ש נ ה ו י מ ת ת ר ח ב ח ר ן: The days of Terach were 205 years and Terach died in Choron. Rashi and others point out that Terach did not die at the moment that the Torah wrote of his death. He died much later. But so as not to impugn the character of Avraham Ovinu, the death of Terach was written much earlier to hide the appearance of filial neglect.

11 All this under discussion [in which we said that a person should try to go to a better place] is when those who deny G-d do not force him to do as they do then a person should try to go out from among them. But if they force him to transgress one of the Mitzvos, it is forbidden to stay in that place. Rather he must go out and leave all that he has behind and to go day and night until he can find a place that he can establish his religious practice. [He should not think that such is impossible because] the world is very great and wide 14. חייב הוא כל מי שאינו יכול לצאת מפני משאלות לבו וסבות סכנת הימים, ועמד באותם המקומות, שיראה נפשו מחלל שם שמים לא ברצון ממש, אבל קרוב הוא להיות ברצון, ושהוא נזוף מלפני המקום נענש על רוע מעשיו, ועם זה יהיה בדעתו אם עשה מצוה מן המצוות שהקדוש ברוך הוא מכפיל שכרו עליהן, שהוא לא עשה אלא לשמים בלבד, ואינו מבקשו כדי להתגדל ושיראה שהוא עושה מצוה, ואינו דומה When the Torah wished to hide the appearance of filial neglect it was not because it wanted to give a false impression. It was because the Torah wanted to give a true impression. Avram did not neglect his responsibility; rather his responsibility to HaKodosh Boruch Hu took precedence. When he was able to attribute honor to his father, he did. Thus, he placed his initial travels as being at initiative of Terach, not his own. This thesis has support from the text of the Posuk itself. First, Avram is mentioned twice in the verse as Terach s son. Even if there was a need to mention it one time, why should it be mentioned twice? The reason may be to show that the way that Posuk expresses itself is a result of the honor and respect that Avraham Ovinu wished to give to his father Terach. Secondly, the Posuk writes that Lot and Sarai went with them referring to Terach and Avraham. If the total impetus of the move was that of Terach, then the verse should have written that they went with him Terach. By writing with them, the implication is that Avraham Ovinu was an initiator of the move, at least with Terach, if not exclusively. 14 Page 59.

12 שכר מי שעושה מצוה בלא פחד לשכר מי שעושה אותה והוא יודע שאם יודע בו יאבד נפשו וכל אשר לו. One who is not able to leave [these negatively coercive places] because of his personal wishes or because of the dangers of a sea journey and stays in such places, is obligated to see himself as being Mechalel Hashem, even though it is not exactly done intentionally but it approximates intention. He is held in anger before G-d and punished for the evil of his deeds. But, with all this, he should know that when he does any Mitzvah, Hashem doubles his reward because it is clear he is doing the Mitzvah exclusively for the sake of heaven. [In this situation] he is not doing the Mitzvah [for extraneous reasons] to be seen as more important or as more righteous because he does Mitzvos. The reward of one who does a Mitzvah without fear isn t comparable to the one who does a Mitzvah, knowing that if it is discovered that he is doing a Mitzvah that he may lose his life and all that he has. 15 Thus, HaKodosh Boruch Hu imbued within every individual the ability to part ways with an improper society and be on his own, being self-supportive and independent. By referring to Avraham Ovinu as hoivri, the Torah is telling us that he exercised that ability and allowed his personal ability to be independent to overcome his natural need to be part of society. However, the skeptic may wonder if, perhaps, Avraham Ovinu was not welladjusted. Perhaps the fact that he was haivri was because he didn t fit in to society. Perhaps he was maladjusted? The refutations for such a thought are easy to find. First, let us look again at a Posuk brought earlier, the one verse that identifies Avraham Ovinu as haivri: ו י ב א ה פ ל יט ו י ג ד ל אב ר ם ה ע ב ר י ו ה וא ש כ ן ב א לנ י מ מ ר א ה א מ ר י א ח י א ש כ ל ו א ח י ע נ ר ו ה ם ב ע ל י ב ר ית אב ר ם: 15 Page 59.

13 The refugee came and he told Avram HaIvri, and Avram was dwelling in the plains of Mamre, the brother of Eshkol and the brother of Oner; they were partners in a covenant with Avram. Isn t it amazing the verse that tells us that Avraham Ovinu was a loner tells us that he was living with other people! A loner avoids society. He wants to live someplace by himself without others and to do without others as much as possible 16. By telling us that Avraham Ovinu was haivri in the very same breath that we are told he lived with others, the Torah is assuring us that the separation of Avraham Ovinu was not one of pathology. The separation of Avraham Ovinu was the transcendence of his person above his societal needs. If we go to next week s Parshas Vo era and read of the exuberance that Avraham Ovinu showed to welcome unknown guests, if we refer to the Posuk that tells us that chessed was the focus of the life of Avraham Ovinu, then we understand how much of a sacrifice that he made by leaving a life that he knew so well behind, his family and all that was familiar (yes, the shoresh of familiar is family) to him. That is why the heroism of Avraham Ovinu is presented to us at the beginning of our Parsha, as we read (B reshis Perek 12/Posuk 1): ו י אמ ר ה' א ל אב ר ם ל ך ל ך מ אר צ ך ומ מ ול ד ת ך ומ ב ית אב י ך א ל ה אר ץ א ש ר אר א ך : Hashem said to Avram, Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace and from the house of your father to the land that I will show you. If Avraham Ovinu was an isolationist, a loner, one who wished to be separate from the rest of humanity and society, this would not have been a test for him at all. On the contrary it would have been a natural step; he would have welcomed the opportunity. When reading the passages brought earlier about the need to live in a place of the righteous, a place where the norms of the society are Torah supportive and not 16 Those who read Walden Pond will have a vision of those who wish to live in isolation.

14 anti-mitzvos, we are required to step back from our natural comfort zone and to assess ourselves, our lives and our environment, immediate and wider, and to consider what it means to us. If we are truly inspired when we come to Parshas Lech Lecha, when we first meet and get to know this pillar of the world and individual of strength, then we need to investigate why we are inspired and why the Torah went to such lengths to share the episodes of the lives of the Ovos with us. If we are inspired to admire Avraham Ovinu and that is the extent of what inspires us, then we transform the Torah into a storybook about people who lived a long time ago and no more. Undoubtedly, we understand that the point of the Torah sharing with us all that it teaches in Sefer B reishis is to make us think about our own lives, our own families, our own communities and about Am Yisroel and the mark that its first Father is supposed to make upon all of us. If we allow Parshas Lech Lecha and the ensuing chapters of B reishis to speak to us, if we free ourselves even somewhat of being captives of nowaday society and allow our personal self-sufficiency, self-reliance and integrity to come to the fore, then our study of Avraham Ovinu will remind us that we are his children and we must consider our obligation to live up to his legacy. If we study the life and times of Avraham Ovinu because we want to emulate him in a way that is appropriate for ourselves, in our nowadays, then we can be rightful heirs to the title that the Torah conferred upon him HaIvri. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Pollock