Weekly Torah Portion

In this week’s Torah portion, our forefather Avraham is tested by Hashem when he is instructed to leave his home to an unknown destination. The verse lists the descriptions Hashem uses in his command:

Leave your land, your birthplace, your father’s house, and go. . .”

Why is there a need for each additional description of what Avraham will be leaving behind? Rashi (R’ Shlomo Yitzchaki of France) explains that Avraham was going to be rewarded for each and every measure of suffering his leaving would entail. The leaving of his land is a difficulty, the fact that it is his birthplace adds to the challenge, and the necessity of leaving his father’s home compounds the challenge further.

But Avraham was the first person to “discover Hashem” and yet his father, an idol worshipper, reported his own son to the king for the crime of disrespecting idol worship, which lead to the unsuccessful attempt at executing Avraham in a fiery furnace. Was this a place that a righteous person such as Avraham was supposed to be sad about leaving?

We can learn from this, that even the greatest people, are, ultimately, people; human beings with feelings and challenges. Avraham, with all of his righteousness, still felt enough attachment to his (very unholy) home and family that led to him experiencing a difficulty in leaving.

When we look at incredible stories of our ancestors we can remind ourselves that they too went through difficult times, they also had real attachments to places and people and had real thoughts and feelings. And the courage that they showed in facing their fears and difficulties and triumphing is forever part of our DNA and the DNA of our children. We can feel good knowing that its ok if things are hard; we have it in our genes to persevere and overcome!

Wishing you a beautiful Shabbos & Shabbat Shalom!

Sourced from the Shmuz by Rabbi Bentzion Shafier