Lech Lecha

In this parsha

God commands Abram to leave his homeland and father's house for a land He will show him, promising to make of him a great nation. Abram travels to Canaan with his wife Sarai and nephew Lot; famine sends him briefly to Egypt. After parting from Lot, he rescues him from the captor kings and is blessed by Malchizedek. In the Covenant Between the Parts, God foretells his descendants' exile and their inheritance of the land. Hagar bears Ishmael. Finally God renames him Abraham, promises a son through Sarah, and commands the circumcision of his household.

Themes

• Bittul and hearing the call
• Milah reveals inner light
• Rising above nature
• Constant ascent and renewal
• Avraham's imprint in every Jew
• Emunah and the hidden light

Must-read teachings

1. 1Two levels of hearing and bittulIn the Midrash: "Listen, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear" (Tehillim 45:11) — like the parable of a palace lit up (alight), etc. The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrashic image of a person who sees a "lit palace" and concludes there …תרל"ה
2. 2The Avos as foundation for the generationsOn the pasuk "And I will make you into a great nation" — this is what we mean when we say "the God of Avraham." The Sefas Emes connects the promise made to Avraham with the way Klal Yisrael invokes Hashem as "Elokei Avraham" in davening — A…תר"נ
3. 3Avos imprint Godliness in every Jew"And I shall make you a great nation" — this is what we say, "the God of Avraham…"; "and you shall be a blessing" — with you we seal (the berachah). The promise to Avraham is expressed in the first berachah of Shemoneh Esrei, which opens wi…תרמ"ח
4. 4Avraham and the avodah of constant ascentIn the Midrash: "Hear, O daughter…" (Tehillim 45:11). For until Avraham Avinu there were two thousand years of tohu (chaos), which were sustained only by Hashem's chesed (kindness), as the Sages said: the twenty-six repetitions of "His kind…תרמ"ה
5. 5The bris milah binds creationIn the Midrash: "Listen, daughter…" (Tehillim 45:11) — for the Holy One chose Avraham Avinu and took him out from the general body of the world, and Avraham Avinu desired to draw the entire world close to Him, Blessed is He. And although No…תרנ"א
6. 6Milah uncovers the hidden lightIt is brought in the Midrash: Avraham said to Hashem, "If milah (circumcision) is so beloved, why was it not given to Adam HaRishon?" The Sefas Emes opens with a Midrash in which Avraham Avinu questions why the precious mitzvah of milah was…תרנ"ז
7. 7Serving Hashem within nature to rise above itIn the Midrash: "Listen, daughter, and see, and incline your ear" (Tehillim 45:11), etc. The Sefas Emes opens with this pasuk that Chazal apply to Avraham, who was called upon to leave behind his land and his father's house in order to hear…תרמ"ו
8. 8Ahavah rabbah, the hidden light above creationIn the Midrash: "We have a little sister" (Shir HaShirim 8:8) — this refers to Avraham, who "stitched together" (icha) the whole world to Hashem. The Midrash reads the word for "sister" as related to "stitching" — Avraham took a fractured w…תרס"ה