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Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27)
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Meaning of the Torah portion name
| The portion is named | , literally "go" or "go forth", because it begins with God's command to |
Abram to leave his country and family and go to the land God will show him.
| This week's portion is especially important, because it presents the beginning of monotheistic belief. Abram, his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot leave the rest of the family in Mesopotamia and go to the land of Canaan. We hear of the places in Canaan Abram passed through when he first arrived and of how he built an altar for God. The portion continues to tell us of a famine which came upon the land, due to which Abram went down to Egypt. He feared that the Egyptians would kill him in order to allow the Pharaoh to marry the beautiful Sarai, and he therefore asked her to tell them that she was his sister. Pharaoh and his house were afflicted with great plagues, and then the truth was discovered, and Abram and Sarai were sent away. Upon returning to Canaan, Abram and Lot's workers got into a fight over pasture lands. Abram realizes that if they continue living together the fights will continue, and therefore calls upon Lot to part with him and choose where he would like to go. Abram leaves Lot the choice, and after he chooses the area of Sodom, then extremely prosperous, Abram settles in the Hebron area. The close kinship between Abram and Lot, which was kept unharmed thanks to the separation between them, is proven when Lot is taken captive during a regional war, and Abram goes out to save him. |
God then makes a covenant with Abram, who has no children, and promises him many descendants and the Land of Canaan. Sarai, distraught by not having children, gives her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar, to Abram in order for him to have a child. Hagar soon conceives, and patronizes Sarai. Sarai then drives her out of the house, and Hagar runs to the desert. An angel approaches Hagar and tells her to return to Abram's house, which she does. Hagar gives birth to Abram's oldest son, Ishmael.
At this point, God approaches Abram again and emphasizes his covenant with him. Abram's name is changed to Abraham, and Sarai's to Sarah, and they are promised a joint child, Isaac. The sign of the covenant with God is circumcision at the age of eight days. Abraham circumcises himself, his son Ishmael, and his entire household on the very day when he is commanded to do so.
List of dates
| 08 November 2008 | |
| 31 October 2009 | |
| 16 October 2010 |