Torah Stories By Hannah Parasha  Lech Lecha

In this week’s story, HaShem said to Abram: “Go away from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you And curse him that curses you; And all the families of the earth

Shall bless themselves by you.”

Abraham went as HaShem had commanded him, and Lot went with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.  Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had made, and the people that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the Land of Canaan.  When they arrived in the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the plain of Moreh.  The Canaanites were then in the land.

HaShem appeared to Abram and said: “I will assign this land to your offspring.”  And he built an altar there to HaShem who had appeared to him.  From there he moved onto the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to HaShem and called on HaShem by name. Then Abram journeyed slowly, step by step, to the Negeb. 

There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.  As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.  If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘she is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live.  Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.” 

When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was.  Pharaoh’s courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh’s palace.  And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses and camels. 

But HaShem afflicted Pharaoh and his household with mighty plagues because of Sarai, the wife of Abram.  Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me! Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife; take her and go!” And Pharaoh put men in charge of him, and they sent him off with his wife and all that he possessed.

From Egypt, Abram went up into the Negeb, with his wife and all that he possessed, together with Lot.  Abram was very rich in cattle, silver and gold.  He travelled in stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai, the site of the altar that he had built there at first; and there Abram called on HaShem by name. 

Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support them staying together; for their possessions were so many that they could not remain together.  And there was quarrelling between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle.  – The Canaanites and the Perizites were then dwelling in the land. – Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no fighting between you and me, between my herdsmen and yours, for we are family.  Is the whole land not here before you? Let us separate: If you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.”  Lot looked around, and saw how well the plain of the Jordan was watered, all of it – this was before HaShem had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah – all the way to Zoar, like the garden of HaShem, like the land of Egypt.  So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward.  Thus they parted from each other; Abram remained in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the plain, pitching his tents near Sodom.  Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked sinners against HaShem. 

And HaShem said to Abram after Lot had left him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west, for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever.  I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, then your offspring too can be counted.  Get up, walk about the land, through its length and its breadth, for I give it to you.”  And Abram moved his tent, and came to stay at the plains of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and built an altar there to HaShem. 

Now, when King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elan, and King Tidal of Goiim made war on King Bera of Sodom, King Bersha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the King of Bela, which is Zoar, all these kings they fought against joined forces at the Valley of Siddim, now the Dead Sea.  Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.  In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim at Ashterot-karmain, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim at Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran, which is Kadesh, and subdued all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-Tamar.  Then the five kings went forward and engaged the four kings in battle in the valley of Siddim.

The Valley of Siddim was domed with bitumen pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, in their flight, threw themselves into them, while the rest escaped to the hill country.  The invaders took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their possessions, and went their way.  They also took Lot, (who had settled in Sodom) the son of Abram’s brother, and his possessions, and went away.

Someone who escaped brought the news to Abram the Hebrew.  When Abram heard that Lot had been taken captive, he took all his slaves and people born into his household, three hundred and eighteen in all, and went in chase as far as Dan.  At night, he and his servants set out against them and defeated them; and he chased after them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.  He brought back all the possessions; he also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, and the women and the rest of the people.

When he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of  Shaveh, which is the Valley of the King.  And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of G-d Most High.  He blessed him saying,

                             “Blessed be Abram of G-d Most High,

                             Creator of heaven and earth.

                             And blessed be God Most High,

                             Who delivered your foes into your hand.”

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the possessions for yourself.”  But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear to HaShem, G-d Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’ For me, nothing but what my servants have raised up; as for the share of the men who went with me – Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre – let them take their share.”

Some time later, the word of HaShem came to Abram in a vision. He said,

                             “Fear not, Abram,

                             I am a shield to you;

                             Your reward shall be very great.”

But Abram said, “Oh HaShem G-d, what can You give me, seeing that I shall die childless, and the one in charge of my household is Dammesek Eliezer!” Abram said further, “Since you have granted me no offspring, my steward will be my heir.”  The word of HaShem came to him in reply, “That one shall not be your heir; none but your very own son shall be your heir.”  He took him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”  And He added: “So shall your offspring be.” And because he put his trust in HaShem, He reckoned it to his merit.

Then He said to him, “I am HaShem who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to assign this land to you as a possession.” And he said, “Oh HaShem G-d, how shall I know that I am to possess it?” He answered, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young bird.” He brought Him all these and cut them in two, placing each half opposite the other; but he did not cut up the bird.  Birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.  As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and a great dread came down on him.  And He said to Abram, “know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I will execute judgement on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth.  As for you,

                             You shall go to your fathers in peace;

                             You shall be buried at a ripe old age.

And they shall return here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

When the sun set and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven, and a flaming torch which passed between those pieces.  On that day HaShem made a covenant with Abram saying, “To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.  She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.  And Sarai said to Abram, “Look, HaShem has kept me from bearing. Consort with my maid; perhaps I shall have a son through her.” And Abram listened to Sarai’s request.  So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian – after Abram had stayed in the land of Canaan ten years – and gave her to her husband Abram as a concubine.  He cohabited with Hagar and she conceived; and when she saw that she conceived, her mistress was lowered in her esteem.  And Sarai said to Abram, “The wrong done me is your fault! I myself put my maid in your bosom; now that she sees that she is pregnant, I am lowered in her esteem. HaShem decide between you and me!” Abram said to Sarai, “Your maid is in your hands. Deal with her as you think right.”  Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from her. 

An angel of HaShem found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, and said, “Hager, slave of Sarai, Where have you come from, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”

And the angel of HaShem said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit to her harsh treatment.” And the angel of HaShem said to her,

                             “I will greatly increase your offspring,

                             And they shall be too many to count.”

The angel of HaShem said to her further,

                             “Behold, you are with child

                             And shall bear a son;

                             You shall call him Ishmael,

                             Because HaShem has listened to your suffering.

                             He shall be a wild man;

                             His hand against everyone,

                             And everyone’s hand against him;

                             He shall live in the presence of all his family.”

And she called HaShem who spoke to her, “You are El-roi,” by which she meant, “Have I not gone on seeing after He saw me!” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it is between Kadesh and Bered.  – Hagar gave birth to a son to Abram, and Abram gave the son the name Ishmael.  Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, his son.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, HaShem appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai.  Walk in My ways and be blameless.  I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous.”

Abram threw himself on his face; and G-d spoke to him further, “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You shall be father of a multitude of nations.  And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fertile, and make nations of you; and kings shall come forth from you.  I will maintain My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the ages, to be G-d to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding. I will be their G-d.”

G-d further said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant. Such shall be the covenant between Me and you and your offspring to follow which you shall keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.  You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you.  And throughout the generations, every male among you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days.  As for the home-born slave and the one bought from an outsider who is not of your offspring, they must be circumcised, home-born and purchased alike.  Thus shall My covenant be marked in your flesh as an everlasting pact.  And if any male who is uncircumcised fails to circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

And G-d said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah.  I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall come forth from her.”  Abraham threw himself on his face and laughed, as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah give birth to a child at ninety?” And Abraham said to G-d, “Oh that Ishmael might live by your favour!”  G-d said, “Nevertheless, Sarah your wife shall give birth to a son, and you shall name him Yitzchak; and I will maintain My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring to come.  As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and exceedingly numerous.  He shall be father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation.  But my covenant I will maintain with Yitzchak, whom Sarah shall give birth to this time next year.” And when He was finished speaking with him, G-d was gone from Abraham. 

Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all his home-born slaves and all those he had bought, every male in Abraham’s household, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, as G-d had commanded him.  Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Thus Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on that very day; and all his household, his home-born slaves and those that had been bought from outsiders, were circumcised with him.