Drasha
While the Torah, until now, has been cosmological in focus– telling us stories of how our universe came to be, albeit sometimes through the eyes of individual characters– Parashat Lech Lecha represents a tangible shift in the narrative. Parshat Lekh Lekha focuses on one individual– Avram– and the challenges and successes he and his family face. While it’s true that there is a larger story of Avram being a torchbearer for monotheism and faith in God, many of the details in our Parshah have nothing to do with that. It seems like the animating engine in our Parshah is the development of Avram’s life, and not the grander tale of God’s plans for Avram, as we hear about Avram’s financial difficulties, political faux pas in Egypt, and personal family drama between him and his nephew.
Of course, the rabbis also notice this surprising narrative shift to granularity, as we learn seemingly trivial details of Avram’s journey. Perhaps that’s why the Midrash Tanchumah in our Parshah introduces the following idea:
“Rabbi Yehoshua of Sichnin said : God gave a sign to Abraham that everything that befell him would happen to his children: God chose Avraham from all his family ... likewise, He chose his (Abraham’s) children from all the 70 nations… Avraham vanquished four kings and likewise Israel will strike fear into other kings and their kingdoms.... God went out and fought Abraham’s enemies, likewise He will act similarly with his Children.”
This Midrash is but one example of the rabbinic concept of Maaseh Avot Siman LeBanim, the actions of the forebearers are indicative for their descendants. The rabbis address the relevance of these surprising background stories of Avram’s life by asserting that these seemingly trivial stories of Keeping Up with the Ivriim family drama are actually eternally significant. They are not merely background or historical context about our ancestor Avraham, but rather, they are somehow indicative and relevant throughout time, even to the present....CONTINUE HERE
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