B"H

Thursday, Mar-Cheshvan 9, 5783 (Hakhel Year) / November 3, 2022

As mentioned many times, the word "Torah" comes from the word "hora'ah" - meaning "teaching" and "lesson."  The stories of our patriarchs and matriarchs, even though they took place thousands of years ago, are not just stories of the past, but a lesson to guide us in each generation at all times.

This week's Parsha, Lech Lecha, is devoted to our patriarch Abraham and matriarch Sarah. The Parsha talks about many of the tests which Abraham and Sarah endured, beginning with G-d's commandment to Abraham and Sarah to leave their birth-place and homeland and move to an unknown land.

At the age of seventy-five, Abraham and his wife, Sarah became the first wandering Jews. They left their home and went to an unknown destination--the land of Canaan.  When they finally arrived, G-d brought a famine upon the land and again they had to move. This time, they journeyed to Egypt where they experienced more trials and tribulations.

Torah commentaries discuss why does the Torah use the words "Lech Lecha" which literally means, "Go for you," when only the word "Lech" ("go") would have sufficed?

Rashi explains that G-d told Abraham that although this may seem difficult at this time, it is in fact, "for your benefit and for your pleasure."  For whatever G-d does and whatever He wants us to do is in truth for our benefit and if we accept it as such, it is also for our pleasure, whether we see it at the time or not.

A wise person said, “Many of the pleasures one experiences in life are not necessarily for one’s benefit. However, the pleasures one derives from performing G-d's commandments are always for our benefit!

The Midrash uses the following analogy: A bottle of perfume was placed in the corner of a shelf.  As long as it remained there, no one, except for the people in the room, appreciated its fragrance.  Only when someone moved the perfume from place to place did everyone enjoy its wonderful fragrance.  The same was with Abraham and Sarah. G-d wanted them to move from place to place so that people would get to know them, learn from their ways and thus benefit from them.

"Lech Lecha" can also be understood as "Go to you."  G-d expects each person to excel and achieve according to theirability. We must not be discouraged by the fact that others have the ability to accomplish more.  All G-d asks of each person is to do the best according to his or her ability.

The noted Chassidic Rabbi Zusia of Anipoli would say, "After I pass on and come before the Heavenly Court, I'm not worried that they will ask me why I wasn't as righteous as Abraham, Moshe or Rabbi Akiva. For, I am not Abraham nor Moshe nor Rabbi Akiva. G-d didn’t make me like them and doesn't expect me to be like them. What I am worried about is if they will ask me, 'Zusia, why weren't you Zusia... Why didn't you achieve and accomplish the best that you, Zusia, could have accomplished with the talent which G-d gave you? What will I answer?'"

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY