Dear Chevre (Friends):
“Lekh lekha! Go forth from your native land, from your birthplace, from the house of your parents, to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) First and foremost, Abraham was a wanderer. Abraham knew what he was leaving behind, but did he know where was he going? As Biblical scholar Aviva Zornberg notes, the indeterminacy of the journey is the most striking aspect of the command. Perhaps Canaan was not specified in God’s command because it was not Abraham’s final resting place. After all, throughout his life, Abraham was constantly on the move: back and forth among Shechem, Bethel, Hebron, and Be’er Sheva.
Self-transformation requires movement. The spiritual seeker never reaches the end of the road. As soon as one stops progressing, one stagnates and dies. Abraham’s eternal greatness lies in his ability and willingness to keep responding hineini, “I am ready,” to the call of God and to the call of his own inner urgings. In this, he endures as a model for us all. “Birth is a beginning and death a destination, but life itself is the journey—a sacred pilgrimage.” (Alvin Fine) May each one of us be blessed on our sacred pilgrimages.
Rabbi Brian
rabbi.brian.besser@gmail.com
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