Avraham Avinu, the first patriarch and father of the Jewish people, is introduced in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Lech Lecha.
God said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”1
The Rambam tells us that Avraham was a precocious child who, at a young age, began questioning where the world came from and who created it.2 As the result of this search for truth, Avraham eventually concluded that there was an infinite creator and found God. God reached out to Avraham and formed a relationship with him because Avraham had already searched for and found Him.
It’s puzzling, however, that the Torah Shebikhtav [written Torah] says nothing about Avraham’s distinctive characteristics or why God chose him to be the first patriarch. We rely exclusively on the Torah Shebal Peh [the oral tradition] to explain what made Avraham unique and worthy of God reaching out to him. If we were to only read the written Torah, it would seem that God spoke to Avraham out of the blue; that, randomly, God said to Abraham lech lecha [go forth for yourself].
The lack of discussion about Avraham’s unique characteristics becomes even starker when contrasted with how the Torah describes Noach. In last week’s Parsha, the Torah introduces Noach by immediately describing him as an “ish tzadik” [a righteous man].3 Yet, the Midrash tells us that Avraham was greater than Noach:
Et haelohim hithaleich Noach [With God walked Noah]. Rabbi Yehuda said: This may be compared to a chief that had two sons, one great and one small. He said to the small son, “Walk with me,” and he said to the big [son], “Go and walk before me.”4
It is all the more puzzling why the Torah seems to be intentionally hiding the fact that Avraham was uniquely worthy of being chosen by God, especially when contrasted to the Torah’s explicit explanations for why God chose even less worthy people. Why would the written Torah omit such a fundamental aspect of Avraham’s story?
I think we can begin to understand the answer to this question if we look deeper into the contrast between the Torah’s descriptions of Noach and Avraham. The Midrash points out that Noach walked beside God, et haelohim hithaleich Noach, whereas Avraham walked in front of God, hithaleich lifanai. Unlike Noach, Avraham embarked on a journey of independent self-development; he was focused on developing his individuality to its fullest, instead of remaining dependent on others, including God. Therefore, the Torah metaphorically describes him as a trailblazer who walked in front of God and had his own unique journey.
In last week’s post, Animal Farm, we discussed how Avraham’s discussion with Shem inspired him to emulate the Chesed [loving kindness] that Noach displayed and to build his life around chesed.
Avraham, however, took the understanding of chesed a step further. The ten nisyonot [challenges] that God sent Avraham taught Avraham that he needed to balance Chesed with Din [strict justice]. Din teaches us that to become a true individual one cannot be completely dependent on others. God demonstrated this lesson to Avraham with the test of Lech Lecha, where God tells him to leave his family and go forth for yourself - not for God, not for others, but lecha, for yourself.
This helps explain why the Torah does not specify Avraham’s special qualities but does tell us that Noach was a Tzadik. That characterization of Noach as a Tzadik defines him in the past tense: Noach’s previous deeds define him as a Tzadik, but this definition does not indicate that he will continue to progress and grow. In contrast, Avraham’s qualities could not be captured by summing up his past behavior, because his life’s mission was to continually develop his unique individuality. Therefore, the Torah does not sum Avraham up and simply states that he was a work in progress.
It is therefore very fitting that we should rely on the Torah Shebaal Peh to learn the story of Avraham and his true qualities because the Torah Shebaal Peh itself embodies this concept of continual growth and development, a quality that is difficult if not impossible to achieve with the written Torah alone.
וְהוֹדַעְתָּ֣ לָהֶ֗ם אֶת־הַדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ יֵ֣לְכוּ בָ֔הּ וְאֶת־הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר יַעֲשֽׂוּן [And make known to them the path they are to go on and the practices they are to follow]. It’s all about the journey.
Our parsha is therefore teaching us that, like Avraham, we shouldn’t look at our past deeds, good or bad, to determine who we are. Rather, we are always becoming, and at every moment in time, we can determine the path that we are currently on and the kind of person we want to become. Although God will reward us for past deeds, we cannot allow our individual histories to make us complacent about our future and cause us to stop striving to grow. We simply must not be stuck in the past, because every moment is a gift and a precious opportunity for growth.
We are now past the High Holiday season when we focused on self-reflection and introspection, and we’ve all resumed our daily activities. As the days pass and the seasons change, it can be tempting to savor our personal and spiritual accomplishments over the Holidays and call it a day. The Torah’s message to us this week is Lech Lecha [Go forth for yourself]. We must emulate Avraham and continually strive to fulfill our greatest potential. This journey of seeking to progress and improve by consistently developing our own unique traits allows us to make the very most out of our lives and cherish every moment of life as well.
Genesis, 12:1
Hilchot Avodat Kochavim, 1:3
Genesis, 6:9
Bereishit Rabbah, 30