In an age in which people tend to seek instant gratification, it is striking to consider this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha. The portion opens with God telling Abraham “Lech Lecha me’artzecha… Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, from your father’s home to the land which I will show you.” And in return God promises that Abraham will be blessed with lots of land and many offspring. I used to read this and think how simple it was for Abraham. He followed God and everything else was just taken care of for him. He basked in the promises from God, acquiring land and become the leader of the Jewish people. But, now I know that the reality of his experience is quite different.
No sooner had Abraham received these promises and set out to realize them when he also encountered discouraging obstacles . God promises land, telling him to look in all directions and this will be the land that he and his offspring will be given to grow and flourish on for all times. What does he find when he arrives at the land? Something very different. The land is occupied and famine prevent his remaining there. Moreover, the Torah portion foretells of the pending slavery in Egypt that will befall Abraham’s descendants centuries later.
Likewise, God promises Abraham that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Yet, Sarah and Abraham struggle with infertility and only give birth in very old age. We can imagine how difficult this must have been for Abraham, particularly since the promise of offspring is repeated in Torah so many times.
For some, these obstacles would have destroyed any sense of hope or faith. Abraham had to realize pretty quickly that he would not see the complete fulfillment of his dreams for they would come not in his lifetime. The land would not flourish as his homeland, and he would not live to see the realization of the many to whom he was to father. Instead, he had to envision the multitude of offspring in his only son Isaac, and yet live each moment as if the promises made to him had indeed been fulfilled, holding on to the his faith that God would indeed deliver on his promises.
Imagining and having hope in the future despite present reality requires a great amount of faith and perseverence. We, like Abraham, will encounter obstacles, and we must find the strength to lift ourselves up and continue towards our goals and dreams. Often, we are unaware of the seeds we may have planted or the root that they may form. We may never know the reality of our successes in our world or the depth of our influence on those who will come after us. The story of Abraham challenges us to look beyond the reality of our present (whatever it may be), and have faith that our hopes and dreams will come to fruition in the future - leaving their mark on those who come after us.
Shabbat Shalom.