Parsha Talk Lech Lecha 2026 5787

Rabbi Eliot Malomet, Rabbi Barry Chesler, Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky

Parashat Lekh Lekha [Genesis 12:1-17:27] seems to have something for everyone. There is God’s command to Avram [renamed Avraham later in the parashah] to leave his homeland for the land that God will show him, which will turn out to be Canaan, with the promise of becoming a great nation. There is the descent into Egypt because of a famine, with Sarai, at Avram’s request, posing as his sister rather than as his wife. There is the ascent into Canaan once again, with the rivalry between Avram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds necessitating a separation of the uncle and nephew. There is the war of the kings, the kidnaping of Lot, and his rescue by Avram and his 318 retainers. There is the Covenant of the Pieces with God’s strange announcement to Avram that he will die peacefully in bed but that his descendants will be slaves in Egypt for 4 generations [it is hard to see how this would comfort Avram in any way]. There is the introduction of Hagar the Egyptian who will give birth to Avram’s first child, his son Ishmael, which will lead to the bansihment of Hagar at Sarai’s request, when Hagar’s pregancy leads her to think more lightly of Sarai. And finally there is the renaming of Avram to Avraham and Sarai to Sarah and the command to circumcise all the males. Circumcision becomes the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and some of his descendants. After Avraham, Ishmael, and all the males of the household are circumcised, the ritual will continue on the 8th day of a baby boy’s life. As you can see, there was a lot to talk about! Shabbat Shalom!!