Dvar Torah on Parashat Lekh Lekha (Gen. 12:1 – 17:27) given on Friday evening 10/30/20
With this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Lekh Lekha, we leave behind the primeval stories of Creation and Flood. Now the Torah sharpens its focus. God calls Abraham to leave his homeland to go to a new land which God will show him. From here until the end of the Torah, the focus is on the development of the Jewish people – from family , to clan, to tribe, to nation.
It all starts with a call from God. In Genesis 12:1 God says to Abraham – Lekh Lekha – Go Forth!
And, as Debbie Friedman’s song suggest to us, that grammatically masculine command “Lekh Lekha” – “Go forth” to Abraham must surely have been matched by an analogous grammatically feminine command addressed to Sarah -- “Lekhi Lakh” – Go Forth!
But what should they do once they have gone forth? God says in the very next verse – “Veheyey bracha” – BE A BLESSING!
To me this language suggests something deeply immersive – not just to DO good but to BE good.
That’s sometimes a tall order – especially when we are physically exhausted, or emotionally drained, or psychologically stressed. And, when the daylight is getting scarce and the chills of approaching winter are approaching, it can be harder still.
How did our Biblical forbears Abraham and Sarah go about trying to be a blessing?
In Genesis 12:5, scripture tells us that they leave Charan and set out for Canaan with ‘Hanefesh asher asu vecharan.” Our Plaut Torah commentary translates the words “Hanefesh asher asu vecharan” as “the persons they had acquired in Charan.” – in other words, Abraham and Sarah’s household servants from when they lived in Charan. However, the words “hanefesh asher asu” can also – quite literally – be translated as “the souls which they made.” Some traditional commentators interpret this to mean that Abraham and Sarah brought others to the belief in one God.
In the words of Rashi’s commentary – the phrase “hanefesh asher asu v’Charan” can be interpreted to mean:
The souls which he had brought beneath the sheltering wings of the Shechinah. Abraham would convert the men and Sarah would convert the women and Scripture accounts it unto them as if they had made them (Genesis Rabbah 39:14).
Rashi's comment leads us to reflect on how our religious beliefs should influence our societal actions.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, zichronah livrachah, had a sign in her office at the United States Supreme Court with the words “Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof” – “Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue” --- a mitzvah that we find in our Torah.[1]
Her successor, Justice Amy Coney Barrett – though of a decidedly different judicial philosophy – is also informed by her religious background. In a speech to graduating law school students at Notre Dame Law School in 2006, she expressed the hope that they would
“always keep in mind that your legal career is but a means to an end, and […] that end is building the kingdom of God.” [2]
I know that there is an incredible amount of angst going on right now, not only about Justice Comey’s views on particular legal issues, but also about the process by which she was named to the Supreme Court seat previously held by Justice Ginsburg.
But don’t forget that the prayers of our own tradition call upon each and every one of us --- in the words of the Aleinu -- to see ourselves as part of a quest Letaken Olam bemalchut Shaddai --- “to repair the world under the kingdom of God.” And in the V’ahavta (Deuteronomy 6: 5-9) we are instructed to share the teachings of Judaism “when we lie down and when we rise up, when we are sitting at home and when we are walking on the way.” And, not to forget our charge from the Book of Isaiah to be “a light unto the nations.”[3]
How to go about doing this, whether you are a Ruth Bader Ginsburg or an Amy Coney Barrett or just a random individual making your way in the world --- that is the question.
I know that when I davven the words of the Aleinu that calls for “tikkun olam” (“repairing the world”) “bmalchut Shaddai” (“under the sovereign rule of God”) – I’m not thinking about actively proselytizing others, let alone discriminating against those who don’t share my religious beliefs. Rather, the tikkun olam I pray for is for a world in which we treat our fellow people as having been created in the image of God, where we care for our planet as stewards of creation --- “guarding the garden” as Torah teaches God commanded the first human beings. And for a world in which justice is doubled – TZEDEK, TZEDEK – which has been interpreted by various medieval Jewish commentators as referring to justice both in substance and in process.[4]
Jewish tradition welcomes and values debate – understanding that ultimate truth is beyond our comprehension and that vigorous but respectful disputation helps us approach truth and justice as best as we imperfect humans can manage it.
Let us hope and pray that all branches of government that emerge from the results of next week’s elections will lead to a more perfect union. Faith can be a positive motivation for pursuing justice and equity in the world whether you are a Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or an Amy Coney Barrett or anyone of us. But only if we maintain a sense of humility, and a respect for those whose traditions and outlook differ from our own.
Supreme Court sessions open with the clerk announcing : “God save the United States and this Honorable Court!"[5]
To that all I can add is “Keyn Yehi Ratzon”
May that indeed be God’s will.
Shabbat shalom.
© Rabbi David Steinberg
Cheshvan 5781/ October 2020
[1] Deut. 16:20
[2] https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/commencement_programs/13/
[3] See Isaiah 42:6
[4] See, e.g., Plaut Torah Commentary, 2d edition, p. 1312.
