LECH LECHA 1990

In the Torah portion Lecha Lecha we learn how G-d says to Abraham, "Lecha Lecha - Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, from the house of your father to the land which I will show you."  Abraham was commanded to leave Mesopotamia where he grew up and to go to a land which G-d would show him.  Abraham was not a bedouin.  Archeological evidence has shown that Ur was a sumptuous city, where people of Abraham's class lived in mansions of 13 or 14 rooms.  They even had indoor plumbing.  Abraham was commanded to leave the comforts of his home and to go to a destination which G-d would show him.  Some of the rabbis say that Abraham already knew his destination was Canaan because his father in the previous Torah portion had already begun that journey.  He had taken his family from Ur Kasteem and taken them to Chorem, and they were on their way to the land of Canaan when Tirach, Abraham's father, stopped.  Abraham was to leave the civilization he knew and go to a land which he did not know.  G-d would show him in this land what it was that he was to do in order to fulfill his role as G-d's partner in creation.  After all, Abraham was a very famous man in Mesopotamia.  He had stood up, according to the Medrash, to Nimrod.  He had even been thrown into the fiery furnace but had been saved by a miracle.  Abraham was to sacrifice all this and to go to the land which G-d would show him.  How would he know what this land would be unless he already had an inkling of what it was?  He was to go to this land in order to promulgate and promote the ideas that G-d wanted to be known throughout the whole world.  If he would only be confined to Mesopotamia his ideas would not spread as fast.
Later on in next week's Torah portion we also have the expression "Lech Lecha". G-d says, "Take, please, your son, your only one, the one you love, Yitzchak, and you should go to the land of Moriah and you will elevate him there on one of the mountains which I will tell you."  This, of course, is the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, that Abraham here is commanded to take his son.  In the beginning Abraham does not know which son.  After all, Ishmael was also his son.  "Your only one." Well, they are both "only ones" from their mother, "that you    love".  You love them both.  Then G-d says "Yitzchak", "and you should go to the    land of Moriah".  Here the land is delineated in the Torah.  Here we find the land mentioned.  Why is the land mentioned here and the land is not mentioned in Lecha Lecha when G-d says, "Go to the land which I will show you"?  Why is the land Moriah mentioned here?  The rabbis say that in this case Abraham was to go for his son.  He was to elevatehis son.  In the first instance he was to go for himself, but here he was to go for his son in order that he could elevate his son.  He was to go to the land of Moriah.  We all know that Moriah is the name of the temple mount.  On this mount the temple was later to be built.  Moriah also has another meaning in Hebrew. Moriah also means "to instruct".  Moriah also comes from the word "to fear" or  "to be in awe".  Finally, of course, the whole concept of Moriah stands for dedication,for devotion.  G-d said that there is only one way that you can keep your children as Jews, and that is if you will give them these three qualities.  When it comes to Abraham wandering to another land there may be different paths to achieve G-d's purposes.  We all know that we go out in life and we do not know what life has in store for us.  We do know, though, that if we have a good foundation that no matter what life throws our way we will be able to cope with it and will be able to promulgate and to live the ideas of the Torah no matter where we are and how we are living.  But when it comes to children there are certain things that we need in order for our children to remain Jewish and for our children to continue to live according to the ideals of the Torah.  Abraham was commanded to lift up his son, to take him to Moriah.  He had to give his son three different qualities. He had to give his son the quality of honesty and integrity; he had to give his son the ability to learn Torah, the ability not to just be subservient but one who would be willing to stand up to be G-d's junior partner in creation; and also he had to give his son the ability to sacrifice for Judaism.  Abraham, up to this time, had failed.  He had failed when it came to his own family.  He failed to provide a successor to himself, to make sure the Jewish ideals would perpetuate themselves in the world.  In the beginning Abraham thought that Lot, his nephew, would be able to promulgate and perpetuate his ideals, but this was not to be. Lot, the rabbis say, looked almost exactly like Abraham.  Lot was very punctilious about certain types of religious principles, but Lot was a crook.  He did not have the integrity and honesty which is needed in order to further Jewish ideals. Lot chose to live in the land of Sodom where he could make a lot of money.  Lot was willing to cheat and steal other people’s pastures on the flimsy excuse that eventually Abraham was going to inherit the land of Canaan anyway, and since he was Abraham's heir it was really his from now.  Lot was a man who had divided religion from honesty.  Religion is religion and business is business.  He was not a suitable heir for Abraham.  In fact, we know that in Jewish life one who is a G-d-fearing man is not necessarily one who puts a tallis on and davens all day.  That person can be a G-d-fearing man, but we know that the definition of G-d-fearing in Judaism is when you have the power to do something and you do not use that power even though nobody can call you to account.  You will never be caught.  For example, you are King Farouk in Egypt and you can have anything you want, any woman you want, anybody’s property, and you do not take it.  Or, for example, you are a major professor and you know that the student is depending on you for his Ph.D. and you do not make him babysit for you or do your lawn for free.  You do not take advantage of the power that you have.  Unfortunately, there are many people who take advantage of other people when they feel they can get away with it.  This is a quality which is abhorrent to Judaism, and if Abraham was to be able to perpetuate his own ideals then he would have to imbue Yitzchak with this ideal of honesty, this idea of G-d-fearing.
That is why, of course, the rabbis say that the second Lech Lecha is even more important than the first Lech Lecha.  The first Lech Lecha was addressed to Abraham, about Abraham spreading his ideals, but when Abraham would die, would these ideals still continue?  Not unless he would give his child these principles.  After it became clear that Lot could not be his heir, Abraham then thought Eliezer would be his heir but Eliezer was subservient.  He believed in blind obedience. In Judaism we do not believe, as other religions do, in blind obedience.  We feel we have to understand something.  We have to learn.  We have to internalize the lessons of the Torah because if we do not do it we will not be able to eventually keep its commandments.  Some people are suited to just blindly obey but most people cannot do that.  We have to understand how the Torah connects us to G-d and to man.  We cannot understand all the reasons, we cannot fathom all the depth and we know that our observance is not dependent on our understanding completely everything about the mitzahs, but unless we understand them, unless we want to do what we ought to do we will soon cease being Jews.  Eliezer was a servant.  He had no initiative, no imagination.  We know that in Judaism the question is more important than the answer, and we all know that circumstances change, and unless we understand the mitzvahs completely we will not understand how to apply them in different circumstances.  We cannot be without initiative.  We cannot be without understanding. Therefore, the study of Torah is the most important thing.  The rabbis say if you study Torah then you want to do the mitzvahs and that you will do more and more mitzvahs, but if you do not understand what is going on you will quickly drop them.  That, unfortunately, is what happened to American Jewry when they neglected the study of Torah.  So Abraham had to make sure that his child was imbued with the love of studying Torah.
The third quality, of course, was the willingness to sacrifice for ideals.  Abraham, after it became clear to him that Eliezer would not be his heir, then thought that maybe Ishmael would be his heir.  After all, that was his blood kin, his son.  His genes were in him, but Ishmael was a man who would not accept any responsibility.
He was a man who was not dedicated enough to sacrifice his time and his money and his efforts to achieve Jewish ideals.  Unfortunately, in America today we find almost the same thing.  Except for people being willing to write a check they are not willing to do anything else to perpetuate Judaism.  They are not willing to sacrifice their Friday night dance, their shopping activities on Shabbos in order to preserve Judaism.  They are not willing to live it in all its ramifications.
Everything else intervenes, and unless you are willing to give your child the example of dedication and self-sacrifice for the pursuit of Jewish ideals Judaism cannot exist.  So Abraham was told to elevate his son and take him to Moriah. When it comes to our children there are three things that we have to give them, and if we do not give them these three things then Judaism cannot survive.  We have to give them the idea of integrity and honesty, the idea of devotion the study of Torah, and the idea of sacrificing for Jewish principles and ideals. Unless they have these things Judaism cannot perpetuate itself.  That is why Jewish education is so important, both formal education in day schools and informal education in youth groups.  We must imbue our children with these values if we want Judaism to survive.  It is true that Abraham was told "Lech Lecha" and it was considered a great merit that he went for himself to the land which G-d would show him, but that is not the most important Lech Lecha.  The most important Lech Lecha is to make sure that your children are elevated, that your children have these basic principles of honesty, responsibility, and learning of Torah if Judaism is to survive. I am reminded of the story they tell about several ex-convicts who were talking among themselves about their prison experience.  One said to the other, "You know, the highlight of my prison experience was when the warden's daughter married a convict."  The other said, "Yes, and I remember the warden was not too pleased by it."  The other said, "Yes, that's right because his daughter eloped."  Unfortunately, many people feel that Judaism is a prison.  They do not realize the joy of Jewish living.  They do not understand the joy of Shabbos, the joy of observing the holiday. They do not understand the joy of the family celebrations.  Judaism is not a prison.  It is a wonderful thing, and if we will only practice ourselves and hand it over to our children, and we hand it over to our children when we do so with honesty, with study of Torah, and with the example of self-sacrifice.  May we all do so so that our children can continue to be Jews so the Mashiach will come.  Amen.