Parashat Lech-Lecha

Love, Food, and Stuffed Animals: Avram’s Journey

This week our first-grade meforshim (Torah commentators) were surprised to hear that the Torah doesn’t give us any details of Avram’s childhood that would explain why he was chosen by God to be the very first Jew. The only thing the Torah lists is the genealogical lineage of Avram. First graders shared some of their own ideas about Avram’s childhood. One student suggested, “Maybe he was a very good person” and another student added that maybe God chose Avram because God knew that “Avram only believed in one God.” The Midrash in Bereshit Rabbah 39:2 also asks why God chose Avram in the first place. The Midrash compares Avram to a fragrance that comes from plants of genus Myhrrhis (fragrant herbs). At first the Midrash describes Avram as a container of myrrh that is sealed with a tight lid. But once the container is moved, the lid shifts and the fragrances begin to spread upwards. So too, by God telling Avram “Lech lecha,” “Go forth” (Bereshit 12:1) in this week’s parashah, Avram’s aroma — and by extension, Judaism — would soon spread from place to place.

First-grade students also wondered what this experience of moving from one place to another was like for Avram. One student shared that Avram “doesn’t know what being a Jew is yet.” Another student suggested that Avram was “feeling a little nervous because he’s never been to this place; maybe it’s going to be scary.” 

While Avram might not have known exactly what he was getting into, it is clear that God knew that Avram was the right person for the job of being the first Jew. And if Avram packed as well as our first graders suggest, he would have had plenty of “food, tents, clothing, valuables, water, camels, stuffed animals, and love” for his journey to the place that God would show him.  

Shabbat Shalom.