I am a bit intimidated giving this drash. First because it comes after Paula’s incredible drash of last week. Second because there is such an abundance of material in this parsha that it is difficult to decide on a topic. These early parshiyot in Bereshit are so full of material for a drash that I think Paula and Johanna should establish a rule that if you give a drash on the early parts of Bereshit you also have to volunteer for a drash in Vayikra.
From the very beginning of the parsha we encounter some problems in the text and as usual they were recognized going back to the earliest commentators.
Perhaps most importantly we can find in the text no reason for Avram’s election. We are not even given a hint of anything that would make him exceptional by comparison the text in last week’s parsha gave a reason for Noach’s selection : he was eesh tzadik .
To fill in the blanks (I guess in Hollywood one would say to give us the backstory) many midrashim exist, all with the objective of demonstrating that before his election Abraham showed that he recognized the existence of only one God.
Although there is nothing in the text in Bereshit, there is a text in Joshua that the commentators built upon:
Joshua said …Thus says the Lord God of Israel. Your ancestors lived of old beyond the Euphrates, Terah the father of Abraham and of Nahor and they served other Gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the river and led them through all of the land of Canaan.
From here came the idea that Abraham rebelled against his father who was an idolator and not just an idolator but a priest or a maker of idols. And with such close contact with idolatry Abraham came to see its falsenss.
One of the best known that of Abraham’s father being an idolmaker and Abraham breaking the idols is so well known that I would venture to guess that if you were to ask many people whether the story is actually in the Bible they would say yes. There are many versions of this story in the midrashic literature. There are also many midrashim indicating that from early childhood Abraham had a unique perception that there must be a single God governing the universe:
The very first words of the parsha “lech lecha are problematic and inspired commentators. The etz hayim translates it as “go forth” ( a footnote gives the literal translation as “betake yourself” if that makes things any clearer. Everett Fox’s translation is go you forth which is a bit better. But it seems to me it can also be read as “go to you”.
Clearly the rest of the line focuses on an external transformation Abraham is told to go from his land, from his birthplace and from his father’s house. The pshat of text is that Abraham must make a clean break from his past in order to found the people Israel Avraham will benefit from making this breakn as Rashi states lehanatcha ooletovatcha for your good and for your benefit there (in eretz yisrael) I will make you a great nation. And many have noted that in order to move forward in life there often must be a break from our roots.
Aviva Zornberg sees the physical and the spiritual changes as bound to each other, she writes that the call of Lech Lecha is an urging to self transformation at base that is the meaning of a change of name a change of place
But many commentators seized upon the strange pairing of the words lech lecha and interpreted it based on a translation which would be something like “go to yourself”.
This line of interpretation focuses on the need for looking within. Numerous commentators have moved along these lines:
The Mei Hashiloach a chassidic commentary is cited in the Etz Hayyim as stating
"Go forth to your authentic self, to learn what you meant to be”
Another commentary:
Lech lecha: Evey Jew must go to himself, to his roots because that is his purpose
And a third;
Lech lecha – to yourself. A person is not required to go beyond his capabilities but he is required to achieve what he is capable of achieving
The call to leave his land is seen as one of ten trials that Abraham will go through culminating in the Akedah. Abraham first is chosen and then tested. This order seems unusual and is certainly different than the usual order we find in myths. Usually the protagonist is first subjected to a series tests and then given his reward.