This
has been an unusually crazy, anxiety ridden week. In the macro sense, there has
been an election. As painful, as frequently embarrassing that the campaign has
been, the President elect has merely taken the first step, the first step of
governing a highly divided, suspicious and angry people with very deep
divisions in terms of social values, economic values, and vision for the
country. In the micro sense, my father had knee replacement surgery late last
week, however there have been several complications (nothing to do with his new
knee) that have forced him back into the hospital. Interestingly enough my
father voted prior to this knee replacement surgery, however my mother had to
leave her husband’s side and run out and vote. My father had anticipated that a
week after the surgery, he would be standing, and even taking a few steps.
Instead he is lying in bed, dealing with several a post-operative complications
that has made the recovery, that much slower and that much more difficult. In
both situations, a country and an individual, it seems that both will have to
learn to walk again.
This
week's Parsha is Lech Lecha. In it, God commands Abram to leave his father, his
homeland and everything he has ever known and go to a place where God will show
him later. Abram does. He heads down towards Egypt because of a famine.
Eventually, Abram leaves Egypt with money, flocks, servants, and wealth. Lot,
Abram's nephew, and Abram decide to part ways since each their respective
flocks not only become intermingled but their hired hands fight among each
other. Abram then fights against several kings in an attempt to protect Lot.
Then his wife Sarai, who is barren, tells Abram to make Hagar (the maidservant)
the surrogate mother. Abram listens and Hagar has a son named Ishmael. She runs
away and then returns. God tells Abram a prophecy. Abram will become the father
of a great nation, and that nation will become enslaved for several centuries
and then will return to the land that God promised Abram. Then God instructs Abram
to circumcise himself, his son Ishmael and all the males of his household. All
these events are linked together by the theme of "Lech Lecha" of
going, of traveling.
The Zohar, the rabbinic book of
mysticism, comments upon the first verse
"Lech Lecha Mei'Artzecha uMimoladtcha, U'mibeit Avicha El Ha'Aretz Acher
Areka- Go for yourself from your
land, from your relatives, and from your father's house to the land that I will
show you (Gen 12:1). Instead of a physical journey, the Zohar explains that
Abram was commanded to embark upon a spiritual journey. The soul, while
residing in the World to Come, exists in close proximity to God. Because of the
spiritual clarity and intensity revealed there, no free will and no chance for
spiritual growth and advancement can occur. Like the angels, the soul in the
World to Come is called an Omaid, a
standee. In this World however, we know that a person has Free Will. This means
that we all have the opportunity to advance spiritually as long as we remain in
this World. The soul in this world is call a Holiach, a walker, someone who goes, much like Abram went.
Like Abram, we are all commanded to
Lech Lecha. Abram walked and traveled, and so did Lot. Yet Abram epitomized the
individual who retained his integrity and ideals despite the difficulties of
life, and despite the growing cynicism brought on by age. Abram managed to
remember that God is the end and everything else is merely a means to that end.
However all the wealth and all the prosperity are not ends in and of itself. We
are all commanded to leave our homes, our birthplaces and face the world. We
are all commanded to face the challenges of this World and retain our
integrity, our ideals and our sense of purpose. That goes for individuals who
have to learn to walk following knee replacement surgery as well as entire
nations who have to learn to walk together under the new leadership of a
President-Elect. The challenge is to enter the physical and material world and
retain the priorities consistent with the world from where our Neshamah, our soul came, the spiritual
world. For my father, he will have to keep his goals for recovery squarely
before him, maintain his sense of humor and do the work. For the United States,
it will require an inspired inclusive vision embodying the Constitution with a
goal towards a future so that no one is left behind.
Peace,
Yitz
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