parshat Lech Lecha

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.

Our parasha opens with a description of Avraham’s “aliya” – “… and Avram was 75 years-old when he left Charan” (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 p’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).

The Torah shows us the challenges of Avraham And Sarah. In spite of all of these troubling details and incidents as recorded for us in the parsha, there is a tenor and tone of optimism and fulfilled purpose that permeates the entire parsha.