parshat Lech Lecha

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Shutterstock"Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"
Avraham feared that the nation of Israel would sin and thereby lose the Land of Israel, so he asked, "Whereby shall I know?" How can I know that the Nation of Israel will merit having the land of Israel?
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    Four Dimensions of the Journey
    The multi-layered command "Lech lecha โ€“ go forth" contains the seeds of Abrahamโ€™s ultimate vocation. The complete lesson Next lesson >>
  • โ€œThe Canaanites Were Then in the Landโ€
    Hashemโ€™s command to Avraham with which our parashah begins is listed as one of the ten tests that Avraham was asked to pass (Avot 5:3), and some say that it even included two tests (Avot Dโ€™Rabbi Natan 33). We will try to explain the difficulty of the task, which made it so highly regarded. The first sub-section of the parashah ends as follows: โ€œAvram passed through the Land to the place of Shechem, to Elon Moreh, and the Canaanites were then in the Landโ€ (Bereishit 12:6). Why is it significant that the Canaanites were in the Land at this time, and why does the Torah stress the word โ€œthenโ€?
  • A Chinuch Primer
    In parshas Lech Lecha, the Torah (Bereishis 14:14) refers to the chanichav, the people trained by Avraham Avinu to believe in Hashem and observe His mitzvos.
  • Not a Place to Worry about Time
    Our parasha opens with a description of Avrahamโ€™s โ€œaliyaโ€ โ€“ โ€œโ€ฆ and Avram was 75 years-old when he left Charanโ€ (Bereishit 12:4). Despite this pasuk, Chazal had no problem in positing that the Brit Bein Habetarim, which appears in the Torah three perakim later, took place when Avraham was 70 years-old (i.e., five years earlier). One cannot even explain that that brit took place when Avraham was in Charan or Ur Kasdim because the pโ€™sukim hint three times that it was done in the Land that would be given to Avraham and his descendants as an inheritance (see Bereishit 15: 7,16,18).
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