Saturday 9th November 2024 8th Cheshvan 5785
PARASHAT LECH L’CHAH
This week’s Torah portion opens with the Almighty speaking with our forefather Abraham. Abraham, whose original name was Abram, was born into an idol worshipping family. In fact, the family business was selling idols!
According to our sages, even at a young age Abram recognized the truth of a monotheistic God. Early on he repudiated the idolatrous behaviors of his family and culture and made it his mission to teach others about the one true God. The Almighty later changed Abram’s name to Abraham in recognition of his having taken on the responsibility of spreading his understanding and knowledge of God to the rest of the world. This is why Abraham is known as the first Jew.
“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. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you great. You shall become a blessing […] All the families of the earth will be blessed through you’” (Genesis 12:1-3).
In prior columns I touched upon some of the blessings that have come to the world via the remarkable contributions of the Jewish nation to the good and welfare of mankind. For example, over 23% of Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Jews – including several this year. A Nobel is awarded to those who, in the judgement of the Nobel committee, have provided “the greatest benefit to mankind.”
Considering the fact that the Jewish nation makes up only about a quarter of one percent of the total world population, Jewish awardees have won an outsized share of the awards – outperforming their population ratio by almost 100-1. (I find it noteworthy that the winners are always announced around the time that we read this week’s Torah portion, which includes: “All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”)
But the calamities of October 7th, 2023, and the resulting repercussions on the world stage brought to light a whole new level of contributions by the Jewish people. Even while fighting an existential war, Israel stands out for the incredibly moral way they have conducted it. Of course, the ever-present manifest antisemitism from all the usual quarters has resulted in withering criticism, but through it all Israel has stuck to her principles of eliminating terror and radical Islam, all the while endeavoring to maintaing the moral high ground.
Israel, like America, has a deeply divided political population, is at least dealing with their primary existential issue: war on three fronts. It was quite astonishing to see that, after the Biden administration repeatedly pushed for an illogical ceasefire and warned Israel not to enter Rafah (though she thankfully ignored them and killed Sinwar there), they then had the hubris to take credit for the intelligence behind the killing of Sinwar.
Politics aside, Israel remains a Jewish nation and the moral compass of the Jewish people has always been the Torah. In fact, to this very day, troops fighting on the battlefield are always accompanied by a holy Torah scroll. The Israel Defense Force keeps hundreds of Torah scrolls in warehouses and they regularly deploy them with their troops. The IDF is only army in the world that carries a physical manifestation of their conscience and moral compass with them on the battlefield.
According to the Talmud, when the world was created it underwent a transition from emptiness and desolation to a world of Torah, and that period began with Abraham. The source for this is found in this week’s Torah portion.
The Talmud states (Avodah Zara 9a), “The Academy of Eliyahu taught, ‘The world is destined to exist for six thousand years: The first two thousand were of desolation, the second two thousand were the years of Torah, and the third two thousand should have been the ‘days of the Messiah,’ but because of our numerous sins he has still not arrived.’”
The six thousand years is meant to parallel the six days of creation and, just like the Shabbat of creation, the seventh millennium will be a period of rest for the world (see Rashi ad loc).
The Talmud goes on to ask, “When did the two thousand years of Torah begin?” The Talmud answers that it begins with a verse from this week’s Torah portion, which discusses Abraham taking all his possessions and the members of his movement – those who were impacted by his teachings – and moving to the Land of Israel, “So Abram went as the Lord had spoken to him […] Abram took his wife Sarai (later to be renamed Sarah), Lot, his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had amassed including all the people that they had impacted.”
The “people” refers to those who chose to follow the path of Abraham by abandoning idol worship and serving the Almighty instead, and, according to the Talmud, this was the dawning the two-thousand-year era of Torah. If one calculates the years of the first twenty generations from the beginning of the Torah it is plainly clear that Abraham was born in the Jewish year of 1948.
According to the Talmud (ad loc) there is a rabbinic tradition that Abraham started teaching Torah at the age of 52. Thus, the dawning of the era of Torah began in the Hebrew year 2000.
It is, in my opinion, incredibly significant that the two thousand years of Torah do not begin when Abraham first started studying Torah, but instead they begin when he started teaching Torah and encouraging others to follow in the ways of the Almighty.
A few weeks ago, the Jewish nation began a new cycle of reading the 54 weekly Torah portions; this week’s portion is the third one in the cycle. I encourage everyone to make a weekly commitment to study Torah, and, at the very minimum, to try and commit to study the entirety of the Torah portion each week. In my opinion, the best book for beginners is The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. It is written quite brilliantly – an amazing combination of simplicity with deep scholarship – and is absolutely accessible to students of all ages and backgrounds.
I want to close by asking my readers all over the world to pray for the good and welfare of the Jewish state and that she maintains the moral clarity to do what must be done to guard her citizens. May Israel continue to be the tip of the spear in this fight against evil. Lastly, may the Almighty ease the suffering of all those affected by the repercussions of atrocities of October 7th. Amen.
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