Lekh Lekha

Found 14 Search results

  1. Avraham and the Command of the Akeida

    Rabbi Alex Israel | 33 minutes

    The Story of Akeidat Yitzhak (The Binding of Isaac) has been a troubling one for many. This shiur examines various approaches to the significance, challenge, and purpose of the command given to Avraham, comparing and contrasting this challenge with other ones Avraham faces. Avraham’s character and approach to Divine service and morality is brought into sharper focus.

  2. Why is Avraham Commanded to Continue What he had Started?

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  3. Something from Nothing: Who is Avraham?

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  4. Rav Hirsch and the Netziv on Lekh Lekha: Avraham's Response to God's Command

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  5. Two Lekh Lekhas, the Akeida, and Avraham's First Mitzva

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  6. Lekh Lekha - Go Forth and Make Changes

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  7. Go For You - For Your Benefit and Goodness

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  8. What is the Challenge of Lekh Lekha?

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  9. Cursing the Cursers or Showing Them the Light?

    Reuven Weiser

  10. Lekh Lekha: Promptness vs. Pragmatism

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  11. Lekh Lekha: Sequencing Avraham's Prophecies

    Rabbi David Silverberg

    תאריך פרסום: 2006 | | 35 minutes

    In the Covenant Between the Parts, God tells Avraham that his descendants will be oppressed and enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years. In Shemot, however, the Torah relates that Bnei Yisrael were in Egypt for 430 years! How can we account for this discrepancy? Rashi and other commentators offer explanations, and also provide different readings of the sequencing of Avraham's journeys and prophecies.

  12. Avraham's Aliya, Our Aliya, and the Chagim

    Rabbi Jonathan Snowbell | 18 minutes

    We see from last week’s parsha that Avraham has picked up and headed for Canaan, even before receiving a commandment from God.

    This parasha is full of messages about belief, trust in God, and Aliyah -  in the midst of Avraham's immigration which is full of question marks.

    There is a commandment but also a pull toward Eretz Yisrael. For Avraham and for contemporary olim (immigrants), there is no initial promise that everything is going to work out - we have to wait for the next part of the parasha where God will give us the promise. The idea of hope during a time of many unknowns also relates to Rosh Hodesh, a time of optimism and looking forward to the middle of the month when the moon is in full view, and when many of our festivals are celebrated, symbolizing God's manifestation to Israel after periods of seeming obscurity - periods to cultivate optimism.

     

  13. The Second Lekh Lekha

    Rabbi Jonathan Snowbell | 16 minutes

    This parasha contains the second "Lekh Lekha" story - God once again commands Avraham to go forth on a mission. But is Rashi's comment on the first "Lekh Lekha" (in Chapter 12), that it means "go for your benefit and goodness" still relevant in Vayera? In Parashat Lekh Lekha, Avraham was commanded to go and sacrifice his past, leaving his birthplace for a new land. Here, Avraham is being commanded to go and sacrifice his future. Unlike Parashat Lekh Lekha, there are no promises here - just a commandment. As we explore this second "Lekh Lekha" and examine the parallels to the first "Lekh Lekha," we gain insight into Avraham's commitment.

  14. Survival and Fulfilment: Thoughts on Yom HaAtzma'ut

    Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein

    Avraham's aliya began in the same way as did Herzl's Zionist movement.  His starting point is not the attraction and the vision of the land of Israel, but rather escape from Ur-Kasdim.  But while Avraham is in Haran, he is commanded "to do what he had intended to do, to go to the land of Canaan."

    The command of "Lekh Lekha" turns the framework of fate into a framework of destiny; it turns the place that was meant to serve as a place of refuge into God's inheritance.

    Yom HaAtzma’ut restores for us with full force and depth the consciousness that here, in God's inheritance, we can fulfill visions, but also exist; we can realize dreams but also live.

     

    Adapted by Yair Yaniv  and translated by David Strauss