from the teachings of the Rebbe
In the first verse of this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, G-d commanded Abraham, “Go out, from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.” G-d continues to tell Avraham that, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great.” This is the first command to the first Jew, therefore, there must be a message here for every Jewish person, for all time. What is the message?
There are two approaches to understanding this verse. The first is that it is referring to the journey of the soul, a descent from above to below. The soul is asked to leave its home in the highest spiritual realms, and make the descent into the lowest possible realm, the physical world. But it is here that it affects the most change and accomplishes its purpose, and the effect is so powerful, that it brings G-d’s blessing and becomes great. Meaning, that the soul is uplifted to higher spiritual realms, beyond where it was before its descent. In this way of understanding the verse, we are given a glimpse of our purpose, the goal of every Jew, to make this world into a better place, the way G-d wants it.
A place where G-d could call home. The second approach is more in line with the simple meaning of the verse. It refers to the ascent from below to above we must make every day from the lowly and mundane, from “your land, your birthplace, and your father’s house,” which in the context of the verse, refers to a place and an atmosphere of idol worship, “to the land that I will show you,” the land of Israel, a place of holiness.
This is especially poignant now after the Tishrei holidays, when we are thrust into the mundane. After the holidays, every Jew “goes out,” doing his mission to transform his part of the world into a dwelling place for G-d. It is through Torah, mitzvahs and living the life of a Jew that transforms this world, and we have the power to do it, we inherited it from our forefather Abraham. It is through this work that we complete Hashem’s command to Abraham, “Lech Lecha.”
Although these two explanations are opposites, the first a descent, and the second an ascent, they are both explanations of the same verse, and therefore simultaneously true. And we have to take both messages at the same time. That we have descended to effect this world, and we should try to change it from the bottom up. So “Lech Lecha,” is a call to every Jewish person, to do all you can to complete the mission and make this world into a home for Hashem.
It is through both of these approaches working simultaneously that we create an environment that the highest levels of G-dliness, even the levels that are beyond the world, to enter the world and become part of our lives. This is the key to the blessings found in Lech Lecha and the path to the ultimate blessing, the coming of Moshiach.
Adapted by Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz from the teachings of the Rebbe, yitzihurwitz.blogspot.com. Rabbi Hurwitz, who is battling ALS, and his wife Dina, are emissaries of the Rebbe in Temecula, Ca.
