Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat Lech-LechaRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Lech-Lecha · לך לך · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:06Parashat Lech Lecha. This week's parasha has 126 pesukim,0:10and these are the parashiyot of Abraham Avinu and his trials.0:15Parashat Lech Lecha, next week Parashah Vayera, and the following week0:19on Parashat Chayei Sarah. This week's parasha was divided into five parts.0:23The first part, the Torah tells us about Abraham Avinu, who's still named Avram at this time,0:28leaving Haran and going to Eretz0:31Yisrael. The second part of the parashah, the Torah tells us about the split, the division between Lot and his uncle and0:39brother-in-law, Avraham Avinu. Third part of the parashah, the Torah tells us about the war of the four kings versus the five kings.0:44The fourth part of the parashah, the Torah tells us about the story, the incident between Sarah and Hagar.0:49And finally, the parashah concludes with the mitzvah of brit milah and how it took place.0:54And like we just said, the mitzvah of brit milah is in this week's parashah, making it the only mitzvah in this week's1:02parashah, and it's a mitzvat aseh number two in Sefer HaChinuch: no1:08mitzvot lo ta'aseh. Let's get to the parashah in depth.1:10Torah tells us in the first part of the parashah about Abraham Avinu leaving Haran, going to Eretz1:15Yisrael. First, the Torah tells us Hashem told1:17Avram, Lech lecha. I want you to leave your land, your birthplace, and I want you to go all the way to where the land I'm going to show you.1:27And the Torah tells us that, basically, the Chachamim explain that Hashem told Abraham1:32Avinu, You have to leave everything behind. Everything that you've done till now, leave it behind.1:35Where am I going, Hashem? Hashem doesn't tell him.1:38He tells him, Follow me, go, and I'll tell you where to go.1:42And Hashem promises him that you will have seven blessings if you leave.1:46If you look in the parashah, these are tremendous blessings.1:49The Torah tells us that Abraham Avinu was promised to become a great nation.1:52His name will become big. People will be blessed around him, and so on and so forth.1:57And then Avram picks up, tartazas. He takes Sarah, he takes Lot, and he takes all the nefesh.2:03What's the nefesh? What's the souls that he took with him?2:05Chachamim explain that Avraham Avinu had many students,2:08and his students were taken with him along the journey, leaving Haran,2:13also leaving their families behind, and they went all the way to Eretz Yisrael with him.2:19And when Avraham Avinu was traveling to Eretz Yisrael,2:22on the way it says that he stopped by a place called Shechem,2:25which over there Avraham Avinu sensed through ruach hakodesh2:27something is going to happen to his future descendants, and he stopped there to pray.2:31Once Avraham Avinu reaches Eretz Yisrael, tartazas that there was a hunger.2:34But this hunger was unique because it was only specifically in Eretz Yisrael.2:38Now, at the time Eretz Yisrael was known only as Eretz2:41Canaan, and Avraham Avinu now has his whole entourage with him and all his followers with him.2:45They're all relying on him. He told them that he had a prophecy from God,2:49that he's going to have a great blessing if he moves,2:51and this is the land that Hashem has taken us to, and there's no food, there's a hunger.2:55Avraham Avinu therefore was forced to go down to Egypt.2:59The trial was if Avraham Avinu is going to complain or not,3:02and of course Avraham Avinu did not complain.3:05He continued, he took his people with him, and they went down to Mitzrayim.3:09And when they get to Mitzrayim, the first thing the Egyptians notice is that Sarah Imenu was hiding.3:17And at the time, again, Sarah was not called Sarah; she was called Sarai.3:20And Sarai was the most beautiful woman.3:23In fact, the Gemara says she was one of the most beautiful women ever created,3:26and she was taken away from Avraham, and they said she belongs only to the king.3:32And once she was given to the king, Avraham Avinu didn't know what to do, and he was besides himself.3:37So Avraham was praying the whole evening, and he was feeling very, very bad.3:41But Hashem protected Sarai,3:43and He sent her a malach, He sent her an angel to make sure that nothing comes to her.3:48And on Sarai's command, she commanded— The angel3:54protector, and the house of Paro was stricken with a certain disease that prevented any avirah from happening.4:00Meanwhile, Avraham Avinu was given tremendous amount of4:04gifts because he was told—he told them that he is the brother of Sarai,4:09and therefore they gave him a lot of gifts.4:11Eventually, when they found out that really Sarai was the wife of4:15Avraham Avinu, Paro told them, Take your wife and leave right away.4:18And here, take all these gifts and take all the money.4:20In fact, the Midrash says he even gave his own daughter.4:22From all the miracles that he experienced, that he saw happen to Avraham and Sarai,4:26he said, Better that my daughter should not be a princess in my4:29house and let her be as a maidservant, let her be a shifchah in the house of4:36Avraham. And who was that daughter? None other than Hagar, which we'll talk about later on in parashah.4:40We move on now to the second part of this week's parashah.4:42Torah tells us that there was a split between Avraham Avinu and Lot,4:45and how did this happen?4:46Because Lot also became wealthy from this whole trip.4:50Lot was there, and he also had a lot of money.4:53He ended up having a lot of sheep and a lot of flocks,4:56and because of that, Torah tells us something happened.4:59What happened is that Lot's farmers started shepherding their animals,5:04feeding their animals on other people's land.5:06Now this was a big problem.5:08The land didn't belong to Avraham Avinu yet.5:11It belonged to Canaan. It belonged to the5:14non-Jews. But the shepherds of Lot said, No.5:17Since God promised Avraham that He's going to give him the land,5:19and at this moment Avraham doesn't have any descendants,5:22the closest relative that Avraham has is Lot,5:25so therefore this land technically belongs to us.5:27We believe more than you guys.5:29We believe more than the farmers of5:31Avraham Avinu. And of course this was not so.5:33This was stealing,5:34and therefore Avraham Avinu was scared of chilul Hashem.5:37Since Lot looked very identical to Avraham Avinu, who's his nephew,5:42so therefore Avraham Avinu didn't want a chilul Hashem.5:44Here he is teaching everybody about God,5:47and his own nephew, who looks like him, is going around and stealing.5:51So therefore Avraham Avinu told him, Listen,5:52this is not going to work like this.5:54But we have to split.5:56You tell me where you want to go,5:58and I'll go the other way,5:59or if you go, I'll stay.6:00But you should know, I'm always by your side.6:01If you need me, I'm there for you,6:03and I'm come to help you.6:05And Lot looks up,6:06and Lot... Knows about this land called6:10Sedom. Sedom and6:12Amora, Tzevoyim, over there there was land that was very, very rich.6:14It was very fertile.6:15It was the wealthiest land.6:17However, the Torah tells us that the wealth didn't come for free;6:19it came with a big price.6:21The people of Sedom were known to be sinners.6:24In fact, the Torah highlights it very clearly.6:27When Lot was looking at Eretz Sedom, he saw that they were big sinners.6:31Still, Lot chose to go there.6:33He chose his wealth over his spiritual self,6:37and he moved all his possessions to the land of6:41Sedom. Right afterwards, the Torah tells us that Avraham Avinu began again to speak to Hashem,6:47because Hashem didn't want to speak to him until Lot separated from6:50him. Now we move on to the third part of this week's6:52parsha. The Torah tells us about the war between the four kings and five kings.6:57You should know this is the first world war recorded by the Torah in history.7:03Now, if you look at some Midrashim and say the Hadorot,7:05it brings other wars that happened in the past.7:07However, over here in the Torah, this is the first world war that's recorded.7:10A little background to the war:7:11what happened is there were five kings,7:13and these were the five kings who were in the— it says in the7:17Torah, these were the five kings of Sedom and Amora where Lot lived.7:21And for twelve years, the five kings were serving the four kings,7:24and eventually they decide to rebel.7:26And they rebelled for thirteen years.7:27They decided, We don't want to be subject to these four kings.7:30And what happened is that the war broke out.7:32And who was the leader of the four kings?7:35None other than Nimrod.7:37Now, you won't find Nimrod in the7:38parasha; you'll find the name Amrafel, and7:40Chachamim tell us that's really Nimrod.7:42And why did he decide all of a sudden, after thirteen years, to go and fight?7:45Because he got news that Avraham Avinu lived in7:48Sedom. Now, even though Avraham didn't live in Sedom, it was really Lot,7:50but since Lot looked like7:52Avraham, Nimrod wanted to take revenge from the embarrassment they had7:55when he threw Avraham in the fire and he still came out alive.7:57So he felt that he could take advantage of it right now.8:01who go to war, and he'll capture none other than Avraham. And when he went to war, the four kings defeated the five kings, and they were able to capture Sedom and Amora and all the five cities,8:10and they were able to take them and kidnap all the people there, including Lot and his family.8:14But of course, it wasn't Lot, it wasn't Avraham, it was only Lot. And what happened is, the news got back to8:22Avraham, and it was told to Avraham that Lot was captured. And again, Avraham Avinu was scared of a chilul Hashem,8:27that people might say that Avraham was really captured and God didn't protect him.8:31So Avraham decided to go and save his nephew, and at the same time to make sure that there's no chilul Hashem.8:37Avraham goes and he takes with him 318 soldiers. And who were these soldiers?8:42These were his students in the yeshiva that he had to take with him; he had nobody else.8:46And Rachamim tells us really these 318 were really Eliezer, because Eliezer is gematria of 318.8:52And he goes and he fights the king of Sedom—excuse me—he fights Nimrod to save the king of the kingdom of Sedom,9:01and he saves everybody, and he brings them back to where they were.9:05Afterwards, it tells us Avraham Avinu has a meeting with Malki Tzedek, who is really Shem ben Noach, and the king of9:11Sedom. By Malki Tzedek, Malki Tzedek tells him, Thank you very much, hazak u'baruch, don't feel bad.9:17Even though these are some of my descendants, don't feel bad that you killed them.9:21And the king of Sedom was full of gratitude, and he was ready to offer Avraham Avinu all the wealth of the countries,9:27but Avraham Avinu refused. He just wanted to take the small young children in order that he should educate them in the ways of the Torah and the ways of Hashem.9:34Afterwards, Avraham Avinu got nervous. He said, You know, maybe I used up my merits in this war,9:38because it was miraculous how I won. He would take dirt and throw it, and it would turn into arrows,9:44and that's how he won. Hashem comes to Avraham Avinu in a dream, and He makes a pact with9:50Avraham Avinu, and He promises him that his merits did not only— Stay where they are, but they increased,9:56and Avraham Avinu was promised again that he's going to have a child,9:59and that child will be the one that he's going to start a nation from, which will be a nation so great it will be as great as the stars.10:06And then there was a pact that was done between Avraham Avinu and Hashem, where animals were divided10:12and a fire representing the presence of God goes between the animals,10:16and Avraham also walks between the animals, making an eternal pact between Avraham and HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Avraham's children, and Hashem.10:24We move on now to the fourth part of this week's parasha, Sarah and10:29Hagar. The Torah tells us that Sarah realized that she didn't have any children10:32and she wanted to have a zechut to have children,10:35so she felt that if I would give my maidservant and student Hagar to10:40Avraham Avinu, maybe in that merit that I brought somebody in, at least Avraham would have children, maybe I'll also have children.10:45And she came to Avraham, she convinced him to marry Hagar.10:48Once Avraham married Hagar, Hagar got pregnant. Hagar, unfortunately, took it the wrong way.10:54When she got pregnant מידי, she felt that I'm a bigger tzaddeket, I'm more righteous than10:58Sarah Imenu. Look, she was married all these years and nothing happened. She didn't get pregnant, and I got pregnant immediately.11:03Must be she's really a show and she's not really a tzaddeket on the inside.11:07And out of that, she started disrespecting11:10Sarah Imenu. Sarah Imenu, in order to put her in the right place, had to be a little bit stricter with her.11:18Hagar didn't like the treatment of Sarah, and she decided to run away.11:21When she ran away, she had a miscarriage,11:25and on the way when she ran away, she was met by four angels,11:30and she was told that she will have children,11:32and she will have a child, and from this child will have a great nation whose name will be11:37Yishmael. And she was told to go back to11:41Sarah, and even though she's being oppressed, to accept it,11:44because that is how it's supposed to be.11:47And Hagar therefore returns, and she does get pregnant again, and she has a child named11:54Yishmael. And from there, we move on to the last part of this week's parasha,11:57the Torah tells us about the mitzvah of brit milah.11:59Hashem comes to Avraham and He tells him,12:02Avraham, I want you to become complete in front of Me.12:04I want you to become a perfect man, physically and spiritually.12:07How is that so?12:08First of all, we're going to change your name.12:10Your name will not be Avram; you'll become Avraham.12:12And Sarai, your wife, will not be Sarai; she will be12:17Sarah. And the mitzvah that I'm giving you is a brit milah,12:19to circumcise yourself.12:21And this way, you circumcise yourself; it's packed in your body between Me and you and your children forever.12:29And this is the command I give you, Avraham.12:31Avraham at that age—you got to keep in mind—Avraham Avinu was 99 years old at this age.12:37Avraham Avinu, the Gemara tells us, goes and consults with his three good friends, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre,12:43and he was given the advice by Mamre to go ahead with it,12:46even though Aner and Eshkol advised him not to do it for good reasons that they felt was good reasons. Still,12:52Avraham Avinu went ahead, and even though the majority voted that he shouldn't do it,12:56he went ahead because it was God's command,12:58and he fulfilled the mitzvah of brit milah not only on himself,13:01but on his son Yishmael, who was around 13 at the time,13:04and also on all of his household, his servants,13:09and that's how the Torah concludes.13:10There was a grand brit milah where everybody took part in it:13:15Avraham, Yishmael his son, and of course Eliezer, and all the servants of Avraham13:20Avinu. And we move on now to the last lesson of the13:24parasha. Torah tells us in the beginning,13:28Vayomer Hashem el Avram, Lech lecha me'artzecha u'mimoladtecha u'mibeit avicha el ha'aretz asher ar'eka. I want you to leave your land to the place that I'm going to tell you.13:33Leave your household, everything; go to the land I tell you.13:36And the Chachamim point out that the word Lech lecha is the gematria of 100,13:41numerical value of 100,13:43which the Chachamim explain that Hashem was alluding to Avraham13:47that all these blessings that he'll have, he'll have them eventually at 100.13:50And the real blessings of Avraham Avinu that he was really waiting for was to have a child,13:55the child13:56Yitzchak, and that's exactly when Yitzchak was born.13:58When Avraham Avinu was 100 years old, he had the child14:01Yitzchak, which from him came all the blessings Avraham Avinu really wanted.14:05What are we to learn from this?14:06This is a very important lesson.14:08We know that Avraham Avinu sacrificed a lot.14:10He went through a very difficult time.14:12In fact, like we mentioned in the beginning, Avraham Avinu was tested constantly, over and over.14:17There were ten main tests that the Chachamim highlight in Pirkei Avot.14:21But Avraham Avinu was constantly tested by Hashem, and very, very difficult14:25tests. Yet, the beginning of the reward that he was able to see in this world did not happen till many, many years later.14:30And that's a very important lesson for us to know.14:33We should not live our lives expecting reward immediately.14:38That's instant gratification.14:39We don't get that right away.14:40We have to understand, we're here to serve God.14:44We're here to serve Him as much as we can.14:46And as trials come our way, we have to keep in mind there's no such a thing as no reward.14:50God rewards everybody and everything.14:52He even rewards animals and creatures.14:54Everybody who deserves reward will get reward.14:56However, we have to understand the reward will eventually come.14:59We have to focus on our service,15:01and over time, eventually we'll realize and we'll see, we'll look back and see how all the reward Hashem will bless us with it.15:32Shabbat shalom.