Torah This Week
Welcome to Torah This Week, where you will find thoughts and reflections by CLAL
faculty and associates on the Torah portion of the week.
LEKH LEKHA
(Genesis 12:1 - 17:27)
We locate the initial covenant that binds us as Jews in the encounter between God and
Abram. God promises Abram land, power, fame, and progeny. Abram agrees to leave his home,
people and culture to begin anew in Eretz Israel. Abram should be satisfied. He gains
great wealth, his herds and flocks graze on the promised land, and he is in a meaningful
relationship with God. Bu Abram is miserable, for he has no one to inherit all he has
built. And he is confused — three times he tries to identify an heir, and each time is
rebuffed by God.
Abram, upon leaving his home for Eretz Israel, takes his wife and his nephew, Lot. Lot
has potential -- he is family, he is willing to go with his uncle, and he settles in Eretz
Israel. Abram must have high hopes, but they are misguided. Lot fails repeatedly to
distinguish himself as a potential heir. He cannot share the land with his uncle so he
moves into an evil town that will eventually cause his downfall. In the end, he fathers
the Moabites and Ammonites, sworn enemies of Israel.
Abram then turns to his faithful servant, Eliezer, who clearly is a righteous man. But
when Abram offers Eliezer as a possible heir, God must correct him again. To bear the
covenant, Abram is reminded, one must be of the family of Abram. Eliezer fails on this
account.
Finally, Abram has a son, Ishmael, born to his wife's handmaiden. Abram is thrilled,
but is once again reprimanded for not seeing the essence of the covenantal connection. The
heir will come from Sarah, not from an Egyptian slave woman. Abraham cannot hear,
painfully responding, "Oh that Ishmael might live by Your favor!" God chides
Abraham, confirming that Abraham has little awareness or sensitivity to the family
dynamics in which the covenant will be played out. The commitment to uphold the covenant
by sustaining and nourishing the family will not come through Abraham, who will try
sacrifice Isaac, but through Sarah, who will fight fiercely to protect him. Her insights
into the power of human relationships and the central role of the family set a model that
fundamentally challenges our commitment to uphold Jewish families today.
(David Elcott)
To join the conversation at CLAL Torah Talk, click here.
To access a CLAL commentary on this week's Haftorah, click here.
To access the Torah This Week Archive, click here.
To access the Haftorah This Week Archive, click here.
To receive the CLAL Torah Talk column by email on a regular basis, complete the box
below: