Lech-Lecha

📜 The Story

God spoke to Abram and said, 'Go from your land, your birthplace, and your father's house, to the land that I will show you.' God promised to make him into a great nation and to bless him. Abram was seventy five years old, and he took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, along with all their belongings, and set out for the land of Canaan.

When they arrived in Canaan, God appeared to Abram again and promised that this land would belong to his descendants. In Egypt, Pharaoh nearly took Sarai into his house thinking she was Abram's sister, but God brought plagues upon Pharaoh's household, and Pharaoh sent Abram and Sarai away safely with great wealth.

Abram and Lot had so much livestock and property that their herdsmen quarreled, so they decided to separate. Lot chose the plain near Sodom, while Abram stayed in Canaan. When the kings of the region went to war and Lot was captured, Abram gathered 318 of his men and rescued Lot and his possessions.

God made a covenant with Abram called the 'Covenant Between the Pieces,' promising again that his descendants would inherit the land. Sarai, who had not had children, gave her servant Hagar to Abram as a wife, and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. When Abram was ninety nine, God changed his name to Abraham and Sarai's name to Sarah, and commanded him regarding the mitzvah of brit milah, circumcision, for himself and every male in his household.

God promised Abraham and Sarah that within a year they would have a son, Isaac, despite their old age. Abraham circumcised himself and every male in his household that very day, fulfilling the command immediately. So ends Parshat Lech Lecha, the beginning of a journey of faith and devotion that continues for generations.