Life is
filled with crossroads. When we come to these crossroads, do we imagine that
when choosing left or right, even if the two paths veer only slightly
differently from one another, do we realize that as we continue in a direction,
our choices eventually bring us to totally different places.
Think about
the crossroads of your own life ?
Do I go to
this School or that
Do I marry
him or him
Do I go into
this business or that
Do we live
here or there
Each of
those decisions sets us into a direction which brings us to other crossroads
and other directions.
Think of two
lines on a piece of paper which start out together, then one veers one way and
the other, the opposite way. Can they meet again? Maybe? Or they go off the
paper never to see each other again.
One may
represent what we could have been had we taken certain crossroads and another
the road we actually take.
We can
rarely be aware of the absolute consequences of each of those decisions at the
time we face them. Sometimes we think nothing of it, but that decision changed
everything.
In the
television series Star Trek there was something called the prime directive
warning not to interfere in the development of a planet. We see this also in
science fiction with time travel often called a temporal prime directive. The
idea is that one small amount of interference, one seemingly inconsequential
meddling and redirection can potentially shift an entire society or world into
a different path.
In our
world, Maamad Har Sinai – the revelation at Mount Sinai was Hashem shifting the
world and its reverberations are still being felt.
Moses tells
us
אֶֽת־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים
הָאֵ֡לֶּה דִּבֶּר֩ הֹ’ אֶל־כׇּל־קְהַלְכֶ֜ם
בָּהָ֗ר מִתּ֤וֹךְ הָאֵשׁ֙ הֶֽעָנָ֣ן וְהָֽעֲרָפֶ֔ל ק֥וֹל גָּד֖וֹל וְלֹ֣א יָסָ֑ף
Rashi: We
render this in the Targum by ולא פסק “and He did not cease”, — as the Gemarah
writes in Sanhedrin: for His voice is strong and goes on continuously
In this
perasha which features the first words from Hashem to Abraham, advice was given
relating to the path we take in life
Lech Lecha
On Saturday
evening when some went out for seuda shelishi, a few of us began discussing two
statements brought by the Zohar which some can suggest might be among the key
instructions on living life and dealing with the crossroads we face.
I saw a
beautiful statement from Rav Yakov Nagen
He writes:
My teachers taught me that the first four parshiot of the book of Bereshit,
“Bereshit,” “Noach,” “Lech Lecha” and “Vayera,” are a summarized guide to
spiritual enlightenment. From one’s initial phase, “Bereshit,” one must come to
a place of “Noach,” a place of calm and tranquility.
From there
he can continue to “Lech Lecha,” the phase of journey. The double language of
“Lech Lecha,” “go unto yourself,” teaches that the journey is a journey inward,
and through this process a person comes to “Vayera elav Hashem,” the revelation
of G-d, enlightenment.
This week,
parshat Lech Lecha, we will study the aspect of the journey itself.
The Zohar
HaKadosh in one place explains that the double language of “lech lecha” calls
on a person to embark on a journey into himself: “lech lecha unto yourself…to
know and to fix yourself” (Lech Lecha 67b-68a).
In an
awesome teaching in Orot HaKodesh, Rav Kook explains that when a person arrives
at an understanding of himself, he discovers Hashem
Rav Kook
explained that The sin of Adam HaRishon was that he became disconnected from
his true self. He conceded to the
snake’s advice, lost his self-ness, and was thus unable to give a clear answer
to [Hashem’s] question “Ayeka?” “Where are you?” for he did not know his own
soul, for his true self was lost from him…
Rav Kook
makes a bold and awesome statement – when we seek and find the “I” of
ourselves, recalling that we are all made BeSelem Elokim, in the image of G-d
and I can add that Hashem blew into man and each of us our soul which is a part
of Hashem, then we will discover that within me there is a Ani Hashem, “I am G-d;”. Part of the goal in life is to
discover that G-d is present within each of us.
But before
we can get there, we need to get ourselves on the correct path? How can we help
ourselves make the correct decisions in life?
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר
ה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥
וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃
Hashem said
to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the
land that I will show you.
Our Rabbis
teach us – see Maor Eynayim and Degel Machaneh - the Torah is eternal and is
relevant and applicable to every individual in every period of time.
Rav Pinchas
Friedman – The Shvilei Pinchas and our teacher who much of the learning is
based on tells us
It is,
therefore, incumbent upon us to examine how this heavenly directive to Avram: “Go
for yourself from your land,” applies to all individuals in all
generations. Additionally, what vital lesson must we learn from this divine
directive?
The Zohar
Chodosh (Midrash HaNe’elam, Lech Lecho 30b) that these pesukim apply to every neshamah
that descends from the heavenly realm of the world of the neshamot to this
world — to clothe itself in a physical body: — this neshamah that is to act as
a father figure to educate the physical body. Hashem instructs the neshamah to
leave its heavenly abode and to enter a particular body. When the Torah states
that Avram went, this refers to the journey of the neshamah from its place on
high to its designated body. The neshamah follows Hashem’s instructions just as
Avram did — entering the body that it was commanded to guide and teach.
Let us
address HKB”H’s statement to Avram and to all of the neshomos that come into
this world: אל הארץ אשר אראך” “ -- to the land that I will show you.
Moreover,
what was HKB”H’s reason for not revealing the ultimate destination from the
onset? Rashi provides an answer to this question: , “אשר אראך לא גלה לו הארץ
מיד כדי לחבבה בעיניו, ולתת לו שכר על כל דיבור ודיבור” — to endear it to
him, and to reward him for each and every statement about the land. Rashi’s
source is the Midrash (B.R. 39, 9) which adds: “אל הארץ אשר אראך, ולמה לא גלה
לו כדי — לחבבה בעיניו, וליתן לו שכר על כל פסיעה ופסיעה” to reward
him for each and every step he takes toward the land.
We can
ask: Even had HKB”H revealed the land to Avram, he
still would have deserved to be rewarded for each and every step of his journey
to an unfamiliar land. After all, he only undertook this journey, because he
possessed incredible faith in Hashem and because Hashem commanded him to do so.
So, what additional reward or benefit accrued to Avraham by HKB”H not revealing
the destination from the get go?
” אל הארץ
אשר אראך “ — to the
land that I will show you — contains a valuable message concerning the way
to properly serve Hashem.
It is
worthwhile for every Jew to review this message over and over again throughout
his life. If we examine man’s lifelong journey in this world, from the moment
of his birth and his very first breath, until his neshamah departs from his
body and returns to HKB”H, we find that the entire journey is shrouded in
mystery.
No human
being has a clue what is in store for him in this world. Will his journey be
smooth and straightforward or will it be complicated and full of obstacles?
Will the course be steady and even-keel or full of ups and downs? A human being
is incapable of solving this great mystery from the very onset.
Where will
he be required to spend his life? What ordeals and experiences will he have to
endure? What mission has HKB”H given him to fulfill in this lifetime?
Yet, it is
essential for all Torah-observant Jews to remember that the key to unraveling
these mysteries and uncertainties was already revealed by HKB”H to Avraham
Avinu, the first Jew in the world. Avraham was confronted by a world full of
idol-worship, he shattered all of the idols in his father Terach’s house and
merited to reveal the presence, oneness and ways of HKB”H in this world.
Behold! With
HKB”H’s very first revelation to Avram, He confronts Avram with the following provocative
directive: “לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך' --
Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s
house to the land that I will show you. With these words, HKB”H provided Avram
with the secret code to unravel and solve all of life’s mysteries and
uncertainties.
What is that
code?
What are the
magic words?
These four
words -- “אל הארץ אשר אראך” -- to the land that I will show you — are
the key! In other words, do not imagine that I will reveal to you from the very
beginning where you are destined to go and what challenges you will have to
overcome.
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