LECH LECHA - Your true Identity

Seen in Tiberias. 

Photo: Miriam Woelke

B"H

A very basic explanation on Parashat Lech Lecha:

G - d is commanding Avraham to leave his home and aim to a land He (G - d) is going to show him.

"Lech Lecha - Go for yourself …" -

Here Rashi says: Go for your pleasure and for your benefit.

It can happen that a person lives in a certain place / environment which has a negative effect on him. This can be the place itself, his friends, his job or even his own family. Going out and moving to a different place may be of great help. Suddenly the same person may be able to grow spiritually or just enjoy the new location where he lives. The most popular example for Jews may be "making Aliyah to Israel". Moving to Israel on a permanent basis should be the final goal of every Jew. Following the footsteps of Avraham.

However, LECH LECHA can also mean that a person should go out in order to find his true inner personality. Revealing your true identity as a Jew.

Many times we are stuck in a certain place and there is just no way in order to develop one's own character. Other people are constantly influencing you and, in addition to that, you are caught in your own rat race. Living in Israel doesn't always mean spiritually without any break. Israelis are very much into their daily lives and worry about making a living. Avraham didn't have all those worries when he started traveling to Israel (then Canaan). No worries about finding a job, an apartment and how he is going to pay the bills. He just did what G - d had told him without asking for any reason.

When I say this, usually people start arguing that today everything is different and that life is not just a dream and a bunch of spirituality but rather a constant struggle. I made Aliyah more than ten years ago and I didn't leave Germany with all those worries. On the contrary, I was glad to leave Europe and start something new in Israel. Living among Jews and looking for new opportunities. In Israel we have a saying: Hashem Ya'asor - G - d will help". This doesn't mean sitting around and waiting for G - d to solve our personal problems but rather that we should take action and the rest depends on G - d.

G - d created each one of us with a special gift / talent and our task is to use our unique ability. There are times when we are only develop our true personality in a different environment. This was the case with Avraham. First of all, he had to come to Israel, as the fate of the entire Jewish nation depended on that particular move. Moreover, it is questionable whether Avraham could have lived his whole religious life with his father Terach and further family members.