SEDRA : Lech Lecha Hertz Chumash p. 45 Genesis Chap. 12 verse 1

This week's Sedra is generously sponsored by Bruce Joske.

SYNOPSIS:

The Divine call came to Avram to leave Charan for a land which G-d would show him. Avram journeyed toward the land of Canaan (Eretz Yisrael), taking with him his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all their possessions as well as their many followers in the ways of G-d. Avram reached the land of Canaan continuing on till he arrived at Shechem. Here G-d appeared to Avram in a vision and affirmed His promise that the land of Canaan would be the domain of his descendants. Avram built an Altar to G-d as thanksgiving for these happy tidings.

A severe famine in Canaan compelled Avram to travel to Egypt. Fearing that the Egyptians would be attracted to his wife, Sarai, and would murder him in order to take her, Avram asked Sarai to masquerade as his sister. On arrival in Egypt, Sarai's beauty was greatly admired and she was taken into Pharaoh's royal household. Consequently, Avram was showered with gifts of flocks, herds, and servants. However, Pharaoh and his household were smitten with mysterious illnesses and he sensed that something was wrong. He learned that Sarai was really Avram's wife and taking her had caused this punishment. Pharaoh plied Avram with gifts and required him to leave Egypt.

Avram and his wife, with their newly acquired possessions, returned to the city of Bethel in Canaan. Because both Avram and Lot had become very wealthy, there was not enough pasture land for the herds and flocks of both men. Quarrels erupted between their herdsmen. To avoid conflict, Avram suggested a separation offering his nephew the first choice of land in which to settle. Lot chose the fertile, well watered plain of Jordan and pitched his tents until the city of Sodom, infamous for the wickedness of its inhabitants. Avram settled in the Plains of Mamre, near Chevron, and was again promised by G-d that his descendants would be granted this land.

At this time, five rulers in the south of Canaan, including the kings of Sodom and Amorah, were in the midst of a revolt against Kedarlaomer, King of Elam, to whom they had paid tribute for twelve years. Kedarlaomer, in turn, with the aid of three of his neighbouring rulers vanquished the rebel kings. In the process they acquired all the possessions of Sodom and Amorah and captured much of the populace, among them Lot. Avram, hearing of his nephew's plight, led his household in battle against the victors and defeated them. He rescued Lot and his possessions, as well as the rest of the inhabitants of Sodom and their possessions. The King of Sodom on greeting Avram upon his victory and offered him all the spoils as a reward. Avram, however, refused any reward whatsoever for his efforts.

In spite of all his good fortune, Avram was greatly saddened by the lack of a son and heir from Sarai. G-d then took Avram outside and told him to gaze up at the sky and count the stars. "Surely you cannot count them" said G-d, "so many will your children be." G-d told Avram that He took him out of the land of Uhr Kasdim to give him this land as a possession to be inherited by his descendants. "Whereby shall I know that I will possess the land?" asked Avram. G-d then made a covenant with Avram, known as the Brit Ben HaBetarim (Covenant Between The Halves) informing him that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years, but they would emerge with great wealth.

Because of her persistent childlessness, Sarai suggested that Avram take her maid Hagar as a second wife. Hagar's resultant pregnancy and consequent disrespect to Sarai was a source of much anguish. Sarai complained to Avram who returned Hagar to Sarai's authority. Her harshness caused Hagar to flee. An angel of G-d appeared to Hagar and told her to return, promising that the son she would bear, Yishmael, would found a large nation.

When Avram was ninety nine years old, G-d renewed the covenant with him and changed his name to Avraham, meaning "father of a multitude of nations". G-d commanded Avraham to circumcise himself together with all the other males of his household. Since then every Jewish male child for all generations must be circumcised when he is eight days old as a sign of the eternal covenant between G-d and Avraham and his descendants. G-d also changed Sarai's name. She would be known as Sarah meaning "Princess." Avraham promptly attended to the great Mitzvah of "Brit Milah" circumcision for Yishmael, every male of his household and himself.

HAPHTORAH: HERTZ CHUMASH P. 60 Isaiah Chap 40 verse 27

The Haphtorah begins with: "Wherefore shall Jacob say G-d has forsaken me..." and concludes: "Fear not thou worm Jacob". The reference is to the awesome vision of Avraham in the `Covenant between the halves' predicting the enslavement of his descendants in Egypt and other tragedies his children would face. The aim is to encourage Israel in every generation not to be overwhelmed by the dangers it encounters and not to bemoan its status in the world.

TELL ME RABBI ........ THE WEDDING FAST

As part of the process of spiritual purification in preparation for the sacred act of Kidushin (Consecration), the bride and groom fast from sunrise on the day of their wedding, underscoring for them the solemnity of the occasion for which they are preparing. Marriage is the beginning of a totally new phase of life for the couple. It is therefore like Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at which time a new lease on life is also given, and all previous sins are forgiven. The couple include the "viduy" (Yom Kippur Confessional) in their prayers.

By fasting the couple remove themselves from the purely physical, as did Moses who fasted for forty days when he received the Torah. Similarly, when the Jews at Sinai "betrothed" themselves to G-d by accepting the Torah, they were oblivious to their physical needs and did not eat. Thus the couple relate the sacredness of their marriage to the sacred act of the giving of the Torah.

The fast is broken by the sipping of wine at the hupah, followed by the couple's first meal together in private immediately after their hupah.

"Shabbat Shalom" is generously sponsored by Rosetta and Nathan Baron