Leave Everything You Know

<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" LINK="#000000" VLINK="#000000" ALINK="#000000"> <CENTER><TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=20% VALIGN="TOP"> <A NAME="top"> <P> <B><a href="http://betmish.org/text/lddrash.html">Text-Only Version</a></B> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/index.html">Home</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/whatsnew.html">What's New</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/calendar.html#July8">Coming Events</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/drashot.html">D'rashot</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/do.html">What We Do</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/who.html">Who We Are</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/contact.html">Contact Us</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/faq.html">Frequently Asked Questions</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/archives.html">Archives</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/links.html">Links</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/member.html">Membership</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/credits.html">Credits</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/addbook.html">Guest book</A></B></BIG> </FONT></TD> <TD ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="80%> <CENTER>    <table border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align="center"> <a href="http://betmish.org/index.html" target="_top"><IMG border=0 src="http://betmish.org/images/banner2.gif" align=center height="104" width="512" hspace=5 alt="Bet Mishpachah banner"></a> </td> <td align="left"> <font size="-5"><a href="http://betmish.org/child/descriptions/banner.html">Banner<br>Description</a></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center"> <p><font size="-1"><i>Washington, DC's Egalitarian Synagogue</i><br> <i>Embracing a Diversity of Sexual and Gender Identities</i></font> </p> <p> <b><font face="Arial"><font size="+1">Rabbi Bob Saks<br> </font></font></b><br> <font face="Arial"><font size="-1"><i>Founded in 1975 by Members of the GLBT Community<font color="white" size="-4"> </font></i></font></font></p> </td> <td align="left"> <font size="-4" color="white"> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <H1 align=center>Leave Everything You Know</h1> <CENTER>Ruth Potts <BR>Lech l'cha <BR> </CENTER> <UL> <p>We ended last week's <i>sedra</i> with the genealogy of the ten generations from Noach to Avraham. This week's parsha, <i>Lech l'cha</i>, takes us from Avram's departure from the land of his father to parts unknown, through the birth of Ishmael and the conflicts between Sarai and Hagar, all the way to the covenant between God and the great nation Avram is to father, symbolized by the <i>b'rit mila</i>, the circumcision of all males. This is the covenant that God holds the people to and the covenant that Avraham holds God to, the foundation of trust that allows Avraham to take risks, to follow his heart, to make his life a blessing, as well as to challenge God on the destruction of Sodom and Gemora as we will read next week.</p> <p>The parsha begins with the words, <i>Va-yomeir Adonai el Avram. Lech l'cha mei-artz'cha, umi-moladt'cha umi-beit avicha el ha-aretz asher ar-echa. V'e-escha l'goy gadol, veh'yei b'racha</i>. "Leave everything you know, the security of your homeland, your family, your house, and trust me to lead you some place you've never been before. And I will make you famous; you will be a blessing.</p> <p>Now, would this be incentive for any of <u>you</u> to turn your life upside down, pack up your entire family and set out for who knows where? Would you trust the voice of something you couldn't even see? Tradition implies external motivation, <i>Va-yomeir Adonai el Avram</i>, "and Adonai said to Avram". But what if Adonai is internal and the voice Avram hears is his own restlessness, his discontent with the status quo? <i>Lech l'cha</i> becomes a personal spiritual quest, some midlife crisis. Does that change the picture? Does one man's spirituality justify uprooting his entire family and leading them into the wilderness? Did any of them have any say in what happened? Can one individual's vision of a different kind of life not only energize the immediate family, but all those around them?</p> <p>Adin Steinsaltz, the modern Talmud commentator, contends that Sarai was an equal partner in this adventure. When referring to all those who went down to Canaan, the text says, "all the souls they <u>gathered</u> in Haran", indicating a following of converts, <i>gerim</i>. Sarai converted the women while Avram converted the men. Her importance and central role are reinforced by the fact that she is the only woman in the <i>torah</i> to whom God speaks directly. And she too, goes through a transition. The covenant is not only with Avraham, not only with the males. God not only changes Avram's name to Avraham, but Sarai's name to Sara and promises her a son who will continue the covenant. Our heritage comes not only from Avraham, but perhaps more importantly, from Sara. Were it only Avraham's covenant, why would lineage through his first born son, Ishamel, not be sufficient? It is not merely a biological partnership that creates the nation, but a spiritual one as well. Avaraham and Sara set out o n their journey <u>together</u>, to a place <u>they</u> did not know. Something called them, drove them to look beyond their comfortable digs in Ur and Haran where they were secure and wealthy and head off not knowing where they'd end up. Not knowing, but being willing to act, to take the risk, and ultimately planting the seeds of <i>Am Yisroel</i>, the nation of Israel.</p> <p>But it is 25 years between the leaving home and the birth of Yitzchak. Change comes slowly, in stages, and often with backsliding. Life is a journey, a tour on a parkway. Up hills, around curves, not always being able to see what's ahead, sometimes coasting down the mountain, sometimes needing to downshift to get up the next hill. The lesson of Avraham and Sara is one of commitment and perseverance, remaining true to the vision and true to oneself. Whether Adonai is internal or external, a key factor in obtaining inner peace, reaching a spiritual center is trust, being able to visualize the future and then trusting that it will happen. Letting go of the strings, the control, and just being in the process; trusting that process, the continual movement to new possibilities, new visions. In discussing where Avraham is in the process, Rami Shapiro says, "To be truly for God, to be fully a blessing, Abram must stand free of past and future and attend to the unconditioned present. Without knowing what was or will be he must be willing to accept what is." Accepting what is, being in the present so we can <u>hear</u> the words. We have to dislodge the complacency, the routine. Open ourselves to the still, small voice. What comfortable place are we in from which we need to venture? What risks are we willing to take to act on the voices we hear in the silence? Then as we set out for places unknown, unimagined challenges, we must remember to trust ourselves and our visions.</p> <p>What are we waiting for?</p> <p><i>L'chi Lach</i>, Debbie Freidman's song based on this parsha, is on side 2 of your handout. We will sing the whole song through once and then repeat the first verse.</p></ul> </TD></TR></TABLE></CENTER> <P><HR> <p align="center"><FONT face=Arial><small><small><b>For a description of any of the graphics on this page, click on the D next to the graphic. <BR>For more information, contact our office at <a href="mailto:office@betmishpachah.org?SUBJECT=Request for Information from Web Site">office@betmishpachah.org</a><br> Send comments about this site to <a href="mailto:webweaver@betmishpachah.org?SUBJECT=Comments About Web Site">webweaver@betmishpachah.org</a>.<br> Copyright 1996 - 2008 Bet Mishpachah.</b></small></small></FONT> <CENTER><font face=Arial size="-1" color="#999999"><small><small><P><b>This page last modified on Sunday, May 18, 2003 at 08:02 PM EDT.</b></small></small></font> </CENTER> </body>