Genesis 12:1-17:27 | Isaiah 40:27-41:16 | Luke 2:1-20

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Shabbat Lekh-Lekha
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Parashat Lekh Lekha

1. Genesis 12:5 reads: ve'et hannefesh asher asu  (literally "and the souls that they had made"). What lesson is the Torah teaching us by using such enigmatic language?

Nick Amic

There is a concept in Judaism ma‘aseh avot siman levanim "the deeds of the Patriarchs serve as a lesson for later generations." In other words God chooses to include minute details of the Patriarchs so that their actions might serve to teach us deep spiritual truths. The Midrash teaches us that:

Abraham would invite people into his home, feed them, show them love and bring them close to God, [and thus] convert them . . . This is to teach us that whoever brings a person under the wings of the Divine Presence, it is considered as if he has made him.

Sifre, Va'etchannan

We learn from Abraham the importance of chachnasat orchim "welcoming guests". Although this concept is of extreme importance, how does this act "make" a soul? To answer this question we look forward to next week's parasha for insight.

Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom your sister: pride, abundance of bread, and careless ease were hers and her daughters', and she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Ezekiel 16:49

Rashi comments further, "Sodom said, ‘Let's cause the habit of traveling to be forgotten from our land, for they come only to cause us loss'." Yeshua explains the spiritual reality behind giving lodging, a meal or a place to rest to visitors:

Then the King will say to those on his right hand, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in." Then the righteous will answer him, saying, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?" And the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."

Matthew 25:34-40

The danger of failing to deal kindly with others is that we say, "in my world your problems are yours, your life is yours and they don't exist in my life." This can become tantamount to saying "as far as I'm concerned, you don't exist in this world." When we become a society that has no concern for others we literally "undo" the people around us. Abraham and Sarah "made" a place for others; thus communicating to those they took in "you do exist in my life, you do exist in this world." By way of their hospitality they connected to Yeshua himself, as it says: "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56). To acknowledge to others that they exist to us communicates that they also exist to God, what higher mitzva can we do through such simple acts?

2. Before beginning to pray the Amida, it is traditional to take three steps backward and then three steps forward. What is a reason for doing so found in this week's Torah Portion?

Joshua Brumbach

In the opening words of this week's Torah portion, God speaks to Abraham, "Get yourself out of your land . . . and go to the place I will show you (Genesis 12:1)." At the age of seventy-five, Abraham left his home in modern day Iraq and traveled all the way to the land of modern day Israel. Included in the command to leave his homeland was also a promise that God would multiply Abraham's descendents and that they would inherit a new homeland. 

This must have come as quite a shock. At an age when Abraham should have been settling down and enjoying retirement, God basically exiles him from his place of comfort.  This is the place he had always known and the place where he speaks the language, knows the customs and knows all his neighbors.

Through an act of great faith, Abraham did it. He left all he had ever known and set out to a place he was not even sure of yet.  But he trusted God would be with him and would eventually reveal where this place would be. He trusted the calling. What makes this act of faith even more remarkable is the fact that Abraham also trusted God's promise of children. At the age of seventy-five, he must have finally given up on any hope of a child. Throughout the difficult years that followed - battles, wanderings, and expulsions - Abraham remained convinced that God would remain faithful to his promise. That is - until the day his faith gave out!

One day, at the age of ninety-nine - twenty-four long years later - God appeared again to Abraham and reemphasized the promise of blessing. That was enough! Abraham could not take it any longer! Abraham threw himself to the ground and scoffed, "Shall a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? And shall Sarah - a ninety-year-old woman - give birth?" (Genesis 17:17). By this point Abraham's faith was so weak that it took an additional appearance by God found in next week's parasha to finally convince him that he would indeed have a son (see Genesis 18:10-15).

In the end - in spite of all the trials - Abraham and Sarah did have a son. It took an exile to bring a blessing. So it is often with us.  We often need to be removed from our comfort zones in order to see spiritual fruit in our lives. 

When Jews stand before God at the beginning of the Amida, we take three steps back. We exile ourselves from God's presence. It is God's way of telling us, Lekh lekha "get yourself out of that place of comfort, that place of stagnancy."  So that in the end, when we take three steps forward, like Abraham, we will step into the place of destiny and blessing.   

Luke 2:1-20 - The Paradox of the Incarnation

Scott Nassau

Had God consulted with any reputable advertising firm concerning the most appropriate method of announcing the arrival of the Messiah, he would have certainly been advised to choose a different approach than the one described by both Matthew and Luke. Fortunately, as God says through Isaiah, the prophet, "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8). As with the rest of the Messiah's life, his arrival demonstrates his true nature and character.

He was not born into a wealthy family, or in a state-of-the-art hospital with the most sophisticated medical equipment and best-trained physicians. Instead, Miriam, Yeshua's mother, while she was nearly nine months pregnant, had to travel from Nazareth, which is in the northern part of Israel, south into the rocky terrain of Judea to Bethlehem, which is a few miles south of Jerusalem. This arduous journey likely took them nearly a week. Yet, when they arrived in Bethlehem, due to the escalated number of people in the village for the census, there was no lodging available for the travel weary husband and expectant mother. Instead, Miriam was forced to give birth to the deliverer of the world in a stable, originally intended to house livestock, not people, and place her newborn son into a rinsed-out feeding trough. Needless to say, Luke's description of the arrival of the Messiah is anything but expected.

While most of the village was unaware of this monumental event that would alter the course of history, God chose to reveal his accomplishment to a group of shepherds keeping watch over their flocks in the nearby fields. He did not announce the arrival of the Messiah to the elders in the gates of Jerusalem or to a group of priests serving him in the temple; instead, he chose shepherds, who were near the bottom of Israel's socio-economic structure, as the initial messengers of the Messiah's arrival (Luke 2:10-18).

Even though the significance of this event is lost in its nostalgic portrayal during the holiday season, the arrival of the Messiah on earth still has significant implications for our daily lives. Shaul says that our approach to life must be the same as the Messiah's (Philipians 2:5). Prior to the incarnation, Yeshua, as God, enjoyed perfect union with the Father (2:6). Despite his position, Yeshua chose to divest himself of the benefits of his position to take on human form (2:7). Yet, he did not simply become a human; he chose to take the position of a slave. In a world that honor and shame play predominant roles in determining societal status, slaves experience much disdain. Like Yeshua, we must be willing to suffer the same scorn and indignation from our society. We must approach life with the same humility as Yeshua. Our goal in life cannot be our own prestige, but honoring God with our conduct and character. 

NEXT WEEK'S READINGS - PARASHAT VAYEIRA

Genesis 18:1-22:24
2 Kings 4:1-37
Luke 2:21-40