The command of “lekh lekha” is one which is issued to each and every one of us, and extends far beyond the issue of geographic location. We are bidden throughout our lives to “go forth,” to advance, to move forward, to progress, to grow.
Parashat Lekh-Lekha opens with God’s famous call to Avraham to relocate: “Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s home, to the land that I will show you.” Several commentators noted the verbosity of this command, calling upon Avraham to leave his “land,” “birthplace” and “father’s home.” One explanation is that God here acknowledges the multifaceted challenge entailed in leaving one’s homeland. As the Radak comments:
“From your land” – for it is difficult for a person to leave the land where he has lived for many years, all the more so if he had been born there, and this is why it says, “and from your birthplace”; and even more so to leave the house of his father and family to go to a land he had not previously known…
In His command to Avraham, God makes it clear to the patriarch that this mission will not be an easy one, that Avraham will have to break the natural bonds that connect one to his familiar surroundings and to his past. He essentially tells Avraham straight on that this will be a difficult challenge, but he must accept it nonetheless.
The command of “lekh lekha” is one which is issued to each and every one of us, and extends far beyond the issue of geographic location. We are bidden throughout our lives to “go forth,” to advance, to move forward, to progress, to grow. And the biggest impediment to personal growth is the lure of “your land, your birthplace, and your father’s home.” We tend to feel comfortable and ease right where we are, in our current situation, and feel inhibited by the prospect of change. And just as God did not reveal to Avraham where He was leading him, making his future even more uncertain, similarly, personal growth requires us to live in a way we have not lived before and is thus strange and unknown. Change demands the courage to “go forth” to somewhere uncertain, to take leave of our comfort zone to a different zone with which we have not yet been fully acquainted. God’s very first call to our nation’s founder was “lekh lekha” not only because of the vital role of Eretz Yisrael in our national mission, but also to instruct that this mission is defined, in part, by the notion of “lekh lekha,” the courage and strength to move forward and advance.
Several verses later, we read that shortly after Avraham’s arrival in Canaan the region is struck by a severe drought, prompting the patriarch to temporarily relocate in Egypt (12:10). The Gemara in Bava Kama (60b) cites this episode as the Biblical source for the adage, “If there is hunger in the city, scatter your feet.” At first glance, it might seem unnecessary, and perhaps even bizarre, to find it necessary to invoke a Scriptural source advising relocation when there is an insufficient food supply in one’s current location. Possibly, the Gemara here addresses the all-too-common phenomenon of people remaining in undesirable conditions out of fear for the unknown, due to the comfort of familiarity and inertia. Indeed, we occasionally need to be reminded to take the initiative to improve ourselves and our condition, not to fall into the malaise of a lethargic status quo. Our “land, birthplace and father’s home” – our familiar surroundings and context – pull us like a magnet and discourage growth and change. We learn from our patriarch Avraham to “scatter our feet,” to always be prepared to make necessary changes in our lives and within ourselves to improve, to grow, and to fulfill our personal potential to its very fullest.