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Sunday, October 18, 2026

Lech-Lecha 1

This class opens Parshas Lech Lecha and covers Bereshis 12:1–9: Hashem's command to Avram to leave, the blessings he is promised, his departure from Charan at seventy-five with Sarai, Lot and "the souls they made," and his arrival in Canaan, where he builds altars and heads south toward Mount Moriah. Two ideas keep coming back. The first is effort and follow-through: Avram sets out without knowing where he is going, he does not stop halfway the way his father Terach did, and he leaves purely because Hashem said so. The second is close reading: a singular "he who curses you," a doubled "with them," and the spelling of "his tent" each turn out to hold a lesson. Along the way we go through the sixteen blessings packed into Hashem's promise and the two separate journeys Avram made out of Charan.

The pesukim

Bereshis 12:1

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃

God said to Abram, "Go away from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you.

Hashem tells Avram (he is still Avram, because the letter heh has not yet been added to his name) to leave his land, his birthplace and his father's house in Charan and go "to the land that I will show you." Hashem does not tell him where he is going. If Avram had known the destination, the whole trip would have counted as one deed: you left and you arrived. Because he had no idea where he was headed or how long it would take, whether a month, ten years or seventy, every single step took extra effort and trust, and that gave Hashem grounds to reward him far more. A promised good that you cannot yet see also builds anticipation and excitement with every step.
Bereshis 12:2–3

וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃

I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you great. You shall become a blessing.

וַאֲבָֽרְכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר וְנִבְרְכ֣וּ בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָֽה׃

I will bless those who bless you, and he who curses you, I will curse. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."

Hashem promises Avram that He will make him a great nation, bless him and make his name great, and that he will be a blessing. He will bless those who bless Avram and curse the one who curses him, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through him. These blessings depend on Avram following through. His father Terach had set out from Ur Kasdim for Canaan and stopped halfway, in Charan, and never finished the journey. Hashem is telling Avram not to be like his father but to complete the mission. When a person starts something good he should see it through, because that is when the great blessings come. And when a person makes an effort to change and improve himself, Hashem helps him.
Bereshis 12:4

וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ אַבְרָ֗ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ אִתּ֖וֹ ל֑וֹט וְאַבְרָ֗ם בֶּן־חָמֵ֤שׁ שָׁנִים֙ וְשִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה בְּצֵאת֖וֹ מֵחָרָֽן׃

Abram went as God had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Charan.

Avram went as Hashem had told him, and Lot went with him. Avram was seventy-five when he left Charan, and this was his second and final departure. The words "as Hashem had directed him" show that his only motive was Hashem's word. He was not going for the wealth, the fame or any of the other blessings he had been promised. The same words can also be read as "while Hashem was speaking to him," meaning he did not delay: no shopping list and no preparations. The moment Hashem said go, he got up and left, even if he was in the middle of his coffee with a pizza in the oven.
Bereshis 12:5

וַיִּקַּ֣ח אַבְרָם֩ אֶת־שָׂרַ֨י אִשְׁתּ֜וֹ וְאֶת־ל֣וֹט בֶּן־אָחִ֗יו וְאֶת־כׇּל־רְכוּשָׁם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר רָכָ֔שׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֣וּ בְחָרָ֑ן וַיֵּצְא֗וּ לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אַ֥רְצָה כְּנָֽעַן׃

Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all their belongings, as well as the people they had gathered, and they left, heading toward Canaan. When they came to Canaan,

Avram took Sarai, his nephew Lot, all their belongings and "the souls they had made in Charan," and they set out for Canaan. "The souls they made" are the people they had brought to believe in Hashem. From the age of fifty-two Avram taught people that there is one Creator: he taught the men and Sarai taught the women, and many came close. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 99b) says that someone who teaches another person Torah is considered as if he had made him, so these students are called the souls they made. Avram and Sarai left Charan with a large caravan, and the merit of these students protected Avram throughout his travels. When a person brings others to do good, their good deeds attach to him and never leave him.
Bereshis 12:6

וַיַּעֲבֹ֤ר אַבְרָם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ עַ֚ד מְק֣וֹם שְׁכֶ֔ם עַ֖ד אֵל֣וֹן מוֹרֶ֑ה וְהַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֖י אָ֥ז בָּאָֽרֶץ׃

Abram traveled through the land as far as the area of Shechem, coming to the Plain of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land.

Avram passed through the land as far as Shechem, to Elon Moreh, and the verse adds that "the Canaanite was then in the land." There are two explanations of that phrase. In the first, Noach's sons divided the world after the Flood and this land was Shem's portion, but Canaan conquered it shortly before Avram arrived, so "then" marks something new: the Canaanites had only just taken over. In the second, the land really was destined for Canaan, the son of Cham, until Avram arrived. At that moment the destiny passed to Avram and his descendants, so the Canaanites were still living there but the land already belonged to Avram.
Bereshis 12:7–8

וַיֵּרָ֤א יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לְזַ֨רְעֲךָ֔ אֶתֵּ֖ן אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את וַיִּ֤בֶן שָׁם֙ מִזְבֵּ֔חַ לַיהֹוָ֖ה הַנִּרְאֶ֥ה אֵלָֽיו׃

God appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring." [Abram] built an altar there to God who had appeared to him.

וַיַּעְתֵּ֨ק מִשָּׁ֜ם הָהָ֗רָה מִקֶּ֛דֶם לְבֵֽית־אֵ֖ל וַיֵּ֣ט אׇהֳלֹ֑ה בֵּֽית־אֵ֤ל מִיָּם֙ וְהָעַ֣י מִקֶּ֔דֶם וַיִּֽבֶן־שָׁ֤ם מִזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּשֵׁ֥ם יְהֹוָֽה׃

From there, [Abram] moved on to the mountains east of Bethel. He set up his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai ( to the east. He built an altar there and called in God's name.

Hashem appeared to Avram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring," and Avram built an altar to Hashem who had appeared to him. He then moved on to the mountain east of Beis El, pitched his tent with Beis El to the west and Ai to the east, built another altar and called out in Hashem's name. "Appeared" is something new. Until now Avram's contact with Hashem came through ruach hakodesh, a kind of divine inspiration, but once he entered the Holy Land he saw Hashem far more clearly. His first response was gratitude: he built an altar to thank Hashem for the promise that his descendants would have this land.
Bereshis 12:9

וַיִּסַּ֣ע אַבְרָ֔ם הָל֥וֹךְ וְנָס֖וֹעַ הַנֶּֽגְבָּה׃

Abram then continued on his way, moving steadily toward the south.

Avram kept traveling, moving steadily south. He had entered the land from the north and was heading for Yerushalayim and Mount Moriah, where the Beis HaMikdash would one day stand and where Adam and Noach had built their altars. At each stop along the way he stayed about a month before moving on.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

  • When you start something good, finish it; Terach stopped halfway in Charan, and the blessings came to the one who followed through.
  • Doing a mitzvah without knowing where it leads turns every step into its own act of trust and its own reward.
  • Do what Hashem asks because He asked, and do it right away.
  • Bring people close with gentle words, never force; when you lead others to good, their good deeds stay attached to you forever.
  • Wherever you settle, set up a place to learn Torah first, and honor your wife before yourself.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

Where Avram's story stood before Lech Lecha

  • Avram, son of Terach, was born in the year 1948 counting from Creation. He began searching for his Creator at three and reached a full understanding of Hashem at forty-eight or fifty-two.
  • He tried to prove to his father, who sold idols, that idols are worthless. He also defied Nimrod, who wanted the world to treat him as a god.
  • Nimrod threw Avram into a furnace in Ur Kasdim. Avram walked around inside it for three days and came out unharmed.
  • His brother Haran had decided that if Avram survived he would side with Avram, and if not he would side with Nimrod. Faith that just backs whoever is winning is not faith, and Haran was burned in the flames.

Haran and Aharon: the same letters, with an aleph

  • The letters of Haran (heh, resh, nun) are all "middle" numbers: heh is in the middle of the ones, resh in the middle of the hundreds and nun in the middle of the tens. Haran was a middle man, a swing voter who would go with whichever side looked stronger.
  • What he was missing is the aleph, whose value is one and which stands for Hashem, the One.
  • There is an idea that Aharon is a reincarnation (gilgul) of Haran. His name has the same letters plus the aleph: the same soul, now with complete faith in Hashem.

Four reasons Hashem told Avram to leave

  • First, Avram was not living pleasantly in Charan. The idol worshippers there hated him for calling their idols worthless, and some made friends with him only to harm him.
  • They would not accept even the furnace miracle. Crowds saw him walk unharmed in the fire while eight of Nimrod's men were burned trying to pull him out, yet people said he was just a powerful magician.
  • Second, his father worshipped idols. Anything used for idol worship, even the money from selling an idol, is forbidden to benefit from, so "leave your father's house" means do not take anything from it.
  • Third, Avram had made Hashem's greatness known, so Hashem wanted the world to know Avram's greatness. The Midrash says that until then he was like perfume sealed in a small vial and hidden in a cemetery, where nobody could smell it or even find it. He was also like a precious stone whose value no one recognizes.
  • Fourth, Avram and Sarai were both born unable to have children. In the Land of Israel they would miraculously merit them.

A new place, a new destiny, and a hint of a son at one hundred

  • The Talmud in Rosh Hashanah lists things that can change a person's destiny for the better: giving charity, crying out to Hashem, changing one's name and changing one's deeds. Some add a fifth, changing one's place: "change your place, change your mazel."
  • Avram was moving to a new place, and that move would bring him new blessing.
  • The words Lech Lecha are spelled the same way twice: lamed (30) and chaf (20), which make 50 each, 100 in all. It hints that Avram will have a son when he is one hundred.

Avram's two journeys out of Charan

  • Avram's servant Eliezer warned him that Nimrod had sent men to kill him, so Avram hid in the yeshiva of Noach and Shem.
  • He sent word to his father: even though you are Nimrod's second in command, he will kill you without a second thought because of me, so get out. Terach and Lot left Bavel for Charan.
  • After three years Hashem told Avram to leave. On this first journey he wandered through the land, the war of the kings broke out, and at seventy he made the bris bein habesarim, the covenant between the divided animals. Both events come later in the parsha.
  • He then returned to Charan, and the road miraculously shrank so that he got there quickly. He stayed five years, and at seventy-five Hashem told him to leave again. This is the departure the verses describe, and this time he was told to bless his family because he would never see them again.
  • Why did he go back at all? The Me'am Loez brings that Hashem told him to go back and visit his father. The Rosh (Yevamos 64a) holds that he had been slow to leave the first time, went back when he should not have, and was punished for returning.

Did Terach repent? The doubled "with them"

  • Terach saw with his own eyes that Avram survived the furnace.
  • Bereshis 11:31 says that Terach took Avram, Lot and Sarai, and then adds "vayeitzu itam," "they went out with them." Once it says he took them, "with them" seems unnecessary.
  • The extra words hint that Terach and Lot, who were both wicked, were drawn after Avram and separated themselves from the evil people around them.
  • Whether they later went back to their old ways is not clear from the verse.

What each promise in verses 2–3 means

  • "I will make your name great" means fame. "I will bless you" means wealth.
  • "You shall be a blessing" means that despite his great wealth, the evil eye would have no power over him or his belongings. It also means he would be a source of blessing: guests from all over the world would come to his house, and spending so much on them would never make him poor, because Hashem placed the source of blessing in his hand. People would love and respect him.
  • Look at the wording: "I will bless those who bless you" is plural, but "he who curses you I will curse" is singular.
  • The masses will bless Avram, and the single curser is one specific person, Nimrod. Hashem is telling Avram not to fear him because Hashem will take care of him.

The sixteen blessings, part one: a nation, a body and a name

  • Noach became the father of seventy nations because his job was to repopulate the world. Avram's job was to show the world that Hashem created it, which is the purpose of creation, so he becomes the father of one great nation, Israel: quality over quantity. The Midrash says the world was created for Avram's sake.
  • He received a new body: his and Sarai's reproductive organs would be regenerated so they could have children.
  • Travel usually costs three things: couples on the move rarely have children, money runs out on unexpected expenses and hardships, and in a new place nobody knows your name. Hashem promised Avram he would lose none of the three.
  • His reputation would keep growing, as a king's does. Kings from east and west came to ask his advice. He minted his own coin, accepted everywhere; only four people ever struck such coins: Avraham, Yehoshua, King David and Mordechai. One side of his coin showed an old man and woman, Avram and Sarah. The other showed a young man and woman, Yitzchak and Rivka, because the old couple had a child and in a sense became young again.
  • He is mentioned every time a Jew prays: the first blessing of the Amidah, the silent standing prayer, ends "Magen Avraham," Shield of Avraham.

The other three coins: Yehoshua, David and Mordechai

  • Yehoshua's coin had a bull on one side and a giant aurochs, the re'em, on the other. He came from the tribe of Yosef, which was as powerful as these two creatures, as Moshe said in his blessing to Yosef: "His firstborn ox is his glory, and his horns are the horns of a re'em" (Devarim 33:17).
  • King David's coin had a shepherd's crook and pouch on one side and a tower, the fortress he built, on the other. A shepherd boy had risen to be king, and even as king he did not hide where he started.
  • Mordechai's coin had sackcloth and ashes on one side and a gold crown on the other. He began in sackcloth when Haman issued his decree, and ended as viceroy to Achashverosh.
  • Avraham, Yehoshua and Mordechai were commoners, so minting a coin was remarkable for them. David was a king, so what was remarkable about his? His coins were accepted in other countries too, while a country's coins are usually good only at home.

The sixteen blessings, part two: powers and honors

  • People control only 243 of their 248 limbs. You cannot choose not to see while your eyes are open, and you cannot shut your ears without your fingers. Avram could switch off his sight or his hearing at will. The name Avram adds up to 243, and adding the heh to make Avraham brings it to 248.
  • The letter heh itself was an honor, because it appears twice in Hashem's four-letter name.
  • Anyone who did business with him was blessed: whether they bought from him or sold to him, even people who had only started talking business with him.
  • Sick people he prayed for or visited were healed, even if they only saw him through a window. The Talmud (Bava Basra 16b) says he wore a stone around his neck that healed anyone sick who looked at it. When he died, Hashem placed it in the sun, which is why people feel better when the sun rises. In his merit, ships caught in storms arrived safely, and no woman in his time was barren except his own wife, because a prisoner cannot free himself and a man's wife is like himself, so someone else had to pray for her.
  • Until then only Hashem could bless. Now Avram could bless others too. People would also bless each other by his name, "may you be like Avraham," meaning may you lack nothing. Rain and dew come in his merit. And the Talmud (Yevamos 63a) reads "all the families of the earth will be blessed through you" to mean that the other nations receive good only for the sake of Israel.
  • He is one of only three forefathers. Hashem calls him "Avraham ohavi," My friend, in Yeshayahu. He is called Hashem's partner in creation, because the world was made so that Hashem's greatness would be known, and Avram made it known.

Why Avram let Lot come along

  • Lot was the son of Avram's brother Haran. Haran also had two daughters: Sarai, who married Avram, and another who married Avram's brother Nachor. So Lot was Sarai's brother.
  • Lot was not a good man, so why wasn't Avram afraid of his influence? The Kesef Nivchar teaches that a person who reaches seventy-five as a tzaddik will no longer be drawn to sin. Avram was seventy-five, so he was safe, and perhaps Lot would improve by being near him.
  • The Zohar brings that Avram saw through prophecy that King David, and through him the Mashiach, would come from Lot. Lot's son was Moav, and from Moav came Ruth, King David's great-grandmother.

How Avram knew to head for Canaan

  • In Aram Naharayim he saw people eating, drinking and partying, and he said he did not want his portion among them.
  • From a high point on the border of Canaan he saw people who were wealthy yet still worked hard and skillfully at their trades. He wanted his portion in that land.
  • He reasoned that the land Hashem was giving him had to be one where his descendants would not be strangers. Noach had cursed Canaan to be a slave to his brothers, and Avram descends from Shem, so the Canaanites could keep no claim against Avram's family.
  • Canaan had also been the family's goal from the start when they left Ur Kasdim, and Hashem never told him not to go there.

"Taking" a person means persuading

  • Whenever the Torah says someone "took" a person, as when a man "takes" a wife, it means with gentle words. You cannot take a human being by force; you convince him until he chooses to come of his own free will.
  • Leaving family and her hometown must have been hard for Sarai. Avram did not force her. He spoke to her kindly and explained that the people of Charan were wicked and it was not good to live among them, and she agreed to go.

An altar between Beis El and Ai, and whose tent he pitched

  • Ai is one of the first cities Israel would fight for in the days of Yehoshua, where they would suffer because of the sin of Achan. Avram foresaw this in prophecy and built an altar there to pray that his descendants would come through it. Whenever the Jewish people suffered, they recalled Avram's merit and their prayers were answered.
  • The word for "his tent" is pronounced ohalo but spelled with a heh at the end, which reads as "her tent." Wherever Avram went, he set up Sarai's tent first and then his own.
  • The Talmud (Chullin 84b) teaches that a man should honor his wife beyond his own standard, even giving her better clothing than he wears himself. A wife, for her part, should not demand more than her husband can afford.
  • The tent can also mean a tent of Torah. Wherever Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov went, they first set up a place to learn. A digital nomad sets up his Starlink and laptop so the business keeps running; Avram's Starlink was a place of Torah, and that was his main occupation.
  • "He called in the name of Hashem": after his clearer vision of Hashem, he had the inner confidence to proclaim Hashem's existence loudly for the whole world to hear.
Review questions
  1. Why didn't Hashem tell Avram where he was going, and how did that increase his reward?
  2. What are the four reasons Hashem wanted Avram to leave Charan?
  3. In verse 3, why is "those who bless you" plural but "he who curses you" singular, and who is the one who curses?
  4. How do the names Avram and Avraham relate to the blessing of controlling all 248 limbs?
  5. Why wasn't Avram afraid that Lot would be a bad influence on him?
  6. What does the spelling of "his tent" in verse 8 teach?
Sources
  • Me'am Loez — the running commentary on the parsha, including the opinion that Hashem sent Avram back to Charan to visit Terach
  • Rosh, Yevamos 64a — Avram went back to Charan on his own and was punished for it
  • Midrash (Tanchuma; Bereshis Rabbah 39:2) — Avram as perfume in a sealed vial
  • Bereshis Rabbah 12:9 — the world was created for Avraham's sake
  • Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16b — the things that change a person's destiny, and "some say" changing place
  • Talmud, Bava Basra 16b — kings came to Avraham's door; his healing stone, placed in the sun after his death
  • Talmud, Bava Kamma 97b — Avraham's coin: an old couple on one side, a young couple on the other
  • Talmud, Nedarim 32b — Avram is 243, Avraham is 248
  • Talmud, Yevamos 63a — all the families of the earth are blessed for Israel's sake
  • Yeshayahu 41:8 — Hashem calls Avraham "My friend"
  • Kesef Nivchar — a tzaddik at seventy-five is no longer drawn to sin
  • Zohar — Avram foresaw King David and Mashiach descending from Lot
  • Talmud, Avodah Zarah 9a — Avram began teaching at fifty-two
  • Talmud, Sanhedrin 99b — teaching someone Torah is as if you made him
  • Rashi on Bereshis 12:8 — the altar at Ai, a prayer for Achan's sin; "her tent" first
  • Talmud, Chullin 84b — honoring one's wife beyond one's own standard
  • The Living Torah — the map of Avram's route between Beis El and Ai