The Ongoing Processes of Creation

The Ongoing Processes of Creation

Oct 27, 2001 By Lauren Eichler Berkun | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Parashat Lekh L’kha is the story of God’s covenant with Abraham and, by extension, with all future Israelite generations. The climax of this story is the mitzvah of circumcision. Few mitzvot in our tradition have elicited the enduring commitment and unwavering observance of the majority of our people as has the ritual of circumcision. Few mitzvot have yielded the intensity of emotion and fascination which pervades any brit milah.

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Torah: A Canon Without Closure

Torah: A Canon Without Closure

Oct 31, 1998 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Our parasha opens like a thunderclap on a clear day. Since No·ah, the voice of God had not been heard by human ear. For ten generations the Torah records not a single instance of communication. Then, without forewarning, God explodes into Abraham’s life: “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you (Genesis 12:1).” The course of history was about to be rerouted.

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Abraham’s Struggle to See

Abraham’s Struggle to See

Oct 23, 1999 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Visual perception figures prominently in the week’s parasha, Parashat Lekh L’kha . Indeed, the verb ‘to see’, re’eh, repeats itself time and again – declaring its presence as the leitwort (‘leading word’ — a concept central to Martin Buber’s writings on the Bible) of the Abraham narrative. God commands Abraham to go forth “from your father’s house to the land that I will let you see” (Gen. 12:1); Abraham is concerned for his life “when the Egyptians see” Sarah (Gen. 12:12); and after the division of land between Lot and Abraham, God says to Abraham “Pray, lift up your eyes and see from the place where you are, to the north, to the Negev, to the east, and to the Sea” (Gen. 13:14). And although the Torah is silent on the particulars of God’s election of Abraham, many commentators credit Abraham’s keen sense of observation for pointing him in the ‘right’ direction. As will become evident through traditional and modern commentaries alike, this visual perception is at once Abraham’s greatest strength and most profound weakness.

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The Mitzvah of Circumcision

The Mitzvah of Circumcision

Nov 11, 2000 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Parashat Lekh L’kha is the story of God’s covenant with Abraham and, by extension, with all future Israelite generations. The climax of this story is the mitzvah of circumcision. Few mitzvot in our tradition have elicited the enduring commitment and unwavering observance of the majority of our people as has the ritual of circumcision. Few mitzvot have yielded the intensity of emotion and fascination which pervades any brit milah.

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Where Is God’s Awesomeness?

Where Is God’s Awesomeness?

Oct 19, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

The Tanakh is the quarry from which the siddur was constructed. Long passages and individual phrases were lifted to create the verbal prayer that became the hallmark of the synagogue. Best known are the three paragraphs of the Shema taken from the books of Deuteronomy and Numbers and the many psalms from the Psalter. This week’s parashah contributed only a single word to this edifice, but one of unique centrality and resonance.

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Abraham: Knight of Many Faiths

Abraham: Knight of Many Faiths

Oct 23, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

It is hard to reconcile the glaring gap between promise and fulfillment in the story of Abraham.

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Between Humility and Grandeur

Between Humility and Grandeur

Nov 9, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Judaism is a religion of polarities. An in-depth view of reality requires a stereoscope. No single lens can do justice to any aspect of the complexity of our experience of the world.

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Appreciating Our Blessings

Appreciating Our Blessings

Nov 3, 2006 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Imagine the following request: leave your home, your family, everything that you know and cherish and go — completely walk away from the world of your ancestors.

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