A Bima-Ready D’var Torah Every Week
8 Cheshvan 5780
Parashat Lech L'cha
It's Never Too Late
Torah Portion: Genesis 12:1-17:27
Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 40:27-41:16
Shalom!
This week's Taste of Torah comes from our archives and was written by Rabbi Jeremy Simons.
Before there was Emeril, Anthony Bourdain, or Rachael Ray, there was Julia Child. Julia Child was perhaps the first celebrity chef when she appeared on a Boston PBS-affiliate on February 11, 1963 and introduced her American audience to French cuisine. She would go on to host many more programs, winning awards and becoming a household name. What many people don’t know is, Mrs. Child was 36 before she ever even ate French food and 50 by the time she published her first cookbook. For the first half of her life, Julia Child had no idea of her great culinary talents. It appears that her first experience with French cuisine triggered something within her that would ultimately change her life.
In this week’s parasha, God instructs Abram to go forth (lech-l’cha) from his native land of Haran to an unknown destination. By answering the call, Abram becomes the father of a nation and a hero to the Jewish people. Along the way, God challenges Abram to ten tests designed to prove his loyalty and bravery. At the start of this epic journey, we know hardly anything about who Abram was or what made him worthy of being chosen.
The Torah actually adds to the mystery by its treatment of Noah in the previous parasha. The opening lines of his eponymous Torah portion explain, “Noah was a righteous man, he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). Contrast this glowing introduction to Abram’s and there’s no contest: Abram is simply introduced as the son of Terah.
Commentators have long wondered why God chose Abram, hence the famous midrash about Abram’s youthful rebellion in his father’s idol shop.[i] Without the Torah providing the backstory for Abram’s election, the rabbinic sages imagined a biography that included the discovery of monotheism and rejection of idolatry. These stories help us understand Abram’s background and the reasons God chose him to lead our people.
On the other hand, by their very existence, these rabbinic stories further emphasize the omissions in the actual Torah text. Jewish thinkers found the midrashic stories unsatisfying and offered alternative rationales. Rabbi Yonatan suggests God knew something that we, the readers, do not; he compares God to a potter who “does not test cracked jars which cannot be struck without breaking…similarly God does not try the wicked but [rather] the righteous.”[ii] In other words, God knew Abram was destined for greatness even before the selection. Yet still, we are left to wonder why the text makes no mention of this fact, especially in light of the praise heaped upon Noah.
We often imagine prophecy as a divine voice booming forth from the heavens. But maybe the call wasn’t so dramatic—or at least not so Hollywood. In his introduction to his book The Prophets, Abraham Joshua Heschel writes that we must understand a prophet as “a person, not a microphone.”[iii] Humans who converse with God are more than divinely-programmed mouthpieces. Rather, “the marks of the personal element are to be traced, not outside the prophet’s act, but within it.”[iv] God’s elect must be receptive to the call—ready for the call—in order to hear it.
Imagine that, instead of Abram responding to a call from the heavens, he heard instead a still, small voice inside himself. Imagine that voice helped Abram understand that he had the potential to change his life and ultimately change the world. And finally, imagine that it was not just Abram who had the ability to access such a voice; instead it was Abram who ultimately took the time to listen and to respond. And for that, Abram’s place among the righteous is assured.
Abram was 75 years old when he first responded to God’s call. From this we learn that it is never too late to change our lives. Our callings may not be as dramatic as Abram’s, however we all have the ability to bring Godliness into this world. May we take the time this Shabbat to listen to our own still, small voice and help make this world a better place.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Aaron A. Rozovsky
Director of Rabbinical Services
[i] Gen. R. 38:13
[ii] Gen. R. 32:3
[iii] Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets, x.
[iv] Heschel, ix.
© 2019 Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life
This week's Taste of Torah comes from our archives and was written by Rabbi Jeremy Simons.
Before there was Emeril, Anthony Bourdain, or Rachael Ray, there was Julia Child. Julia Child was perhaps the first celebrity chef when she appeared on a Boston PBS-affiliate on February 11, 1963 and introduced her American audience to French cuisine. She would go on to host many more programs, winning awards and becoming a household name. What many people don’t know is, Mrs. Child was 36 before she ever even ate French food and 50 by the time she published her first cookbook. For the first half of her life, Julia Child had no idea of her great culinary talents. It appears that her first experience with French cuisine triggered something within her that would ultimately change her life.
In this week’s parasha, God instructs Abram to go forth (lech-l’cha) from his native land of Haran to an unknown destination. By answering the call, Abram becomes the father of a nation and a hero to the Jewish people. Along the way, God challenges Abram to ten tests designed to prove his loyalty and bravery. At the start of this epic journey, we know hardly anything about who Abram was or what made him worthy of being chosen.
The Torah actually adds to the mystery by its treatment of Noah in the previous parasha. The opening lines of his eponymous Torah portion explain, “Noah was a righteous man, he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). Contrast this glowing introduction to Abram’s and there’s no contest: Abram is simply introduced as the son of Terah.
Commentators have long wondered why God chose Abram, hence the famous midrash about Abram’s youthful rebellion in his father’s idol shop.[i] Without the Torah providing the backstory for Abram’s election, the rabbinic sages imagined a biography that included the discovery of monotheism and rejection of idolatry. These stories help us understand Abram’s background and the reasons God chose him to lead our people.
On the other hand, by their very existence, these rabbinic stories further emphasize the omissions in the actual Torah text. Jewish thinkers found the midrashic stories unsatisfying and offered alternative rationales. Rabbi Yonatan suggests God knew something that we, the readers, do not; he compares God to a potter who “does not test cracked jars which cannot be struck without breaking…similarly God does not try the wicked but [rather] the righteous.”[ii] In other words, God knew Abram was destined for greatness even before the selection. Yet still, we are left to wonder why the text makes no mention of this fact, especially in light of the praise heaped upon Noah.
We often imagine prophecy as a divine voice booming forth from the heavens. But maybe the call wasn’t so dramatic—or at least not so Hollywood. In his introduction to his book The Prophets, Abraham Joshua Heschel writes that we must understand a prophet as “a person, not a microphone.”[iii] Humans who converse with God are more than divinely-programmed mouthpieces. Rather, “the marks of the personal element are to be traced, not outside the prophet’s act, but within it.”[iv] God’s elect must be receptive to the call—ready for the call—in order to hear it.
Imagine that, instead of Abram responding to a call from the heavens, he heard instead a still, small voice inside himself. Imagine that voice helped Abram understand that he had the potential to change his life and ultimately change the world. And finally, imagine that it was not just Abram who had the ability to access such a voice; instead it was Abram who ultimately took the time to listen and to respond. And for that, Abram’s place among the righteous is assured.
Abram was 75 years old when he first responded to God’s call. From this we learn that it is never too late to change our lives. Our callings may not be as dramatic as Abram’s, however we all have the ability to bring Godliness into this world. May we take the time this Shabbat to listen to our own still, small voice and help make this world a better place.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Aaron A. Rozovsky
Director of Rabbinical Services
[i] Gen. R. 38:13
[ii] Gen. R. 32:3
[iii] Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets, x.
[iv] Heschel, ix.
© 2019 Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life
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