The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Lech Lecha

The Rebbe says:

1. Our Sages tell us that Avraham Avinu (Abraham our father) had ten tests.

The first test clearly stated in the Torah is in this weeks Torah portion ;
“Vayomer Hashem El Avram Lech Licha May’artzecha Oo’me’mo’laditecha Oo’me’bais Avicha El Ha’aretz Asher Areka – Hashem said to Avram ‘Go (further) away- for your (own benefit)- from your land, your birthplace and your father’s house, to the land which I will show you’ ”.

2. The Rebbe now points out something interesting:

Even though this is the first test which is clearly stated in the Torah, this is not the first of Avraham Avinu’s ten tests; the first test was in Ur Kasdim when Avraham was thrown into the fire pit by Nimrod .

Therefore, since the Torah chose to tell us this test clearly, while it only said the first test through a Remez (an illusion found within the text), the Torah must be teaching us something.

Possibly, the Torah is teaching us that the test of leaving ones land, birthplace, and fathers house, is in every single Jew.

3. The Rebbe now starts explaining what this means:

With regards to the soul coming down into this physical world, into a body, we find that there are two ways of looking at it:

On one hand, the Mishnah says that the Soul lives against its will; before the Soul comes down into this world it experiences Hashem at the most purest levels of Holiness- it is carved out of Hashem’s Throne of Glory , therefore, it is obviously a big disappointment for the Soul when it is forced to descend into this physical and coarse world.

However on the other hand we know that “The downfall is needed for the elevation” ; the Soul can reach heights while being in this world that it was not able to achieve while basking in Hashem’s glory.

In other words, the same disappointment for the Soul to come down into this world is also its greatest joy; through the soul being apart of Hashem’s greatest pleasure- to have a dwelling place in this physical world- it can now experience Hashem in a way that it could not have on its own.

4. The Rebbe now explains how this is all hinted at in the first verse of this week’s Torah portion:

The first verse of this week’s Torah portion hints at both of these extremes; first it describes the journey of the soul coming down to this world and then it describes what the Soul must do once it is here.

A): First let us understand how the verse describes the Soul’s journey to this world:

The verse first says “Lech Licha – leave”. This is the stage where the Soul is told to leave.

Then the verse says “May’artzecha Oo’me’mo’laditecha Oo’me’bais avicha – from your land, your birthplace and your father’s house”. Here the verse describes where the Soul comes from:

The word “May’artzecha – from your land” has in it the word “Ratza – desire”; the verse tells us that the Soul comes from the place of Hashem’s desire (Ratzon Ha’Elyon).

Then it says “Oo’me’mo’laditecha Oo’me’bais avicha – from your birthplace and from your fathers house”. Here the verse is describing the Soul as it starts descending the levels in the Seder Hishtalshilus (the order of creation):

“Oo’me’mo’laditecha Oo’me’bais avicha – from your birthplace and from your father’s house” refers to the levels (Sefirot) of Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah (understanding) which are called the “father and mother” because they give birth to the emotions .
[Translators addition: To illustrate this point let’s bring an example: If you think about how nice a certain person is to you, a good feeling towards that person is born].

The verse then finishes off and says “El Ha’aretz Asher Areka – to the land which I will show you”. This means that the soul must leave its place of pure Holiness and go to this physical world which hides Hashem’s presence because specifically through being in this world can it accomplish the greatest things.

B): Now, once the Soul comes down to this world, the verse explains to us what must be done to make this world a proper dwelling place for Hashem:

The verse first says “Lech Licha – leave”.

The verse immediately tells us where we must leave from- “May’artzecha – from your land”: As we said earlier, “May’artzecha” has in it the word “Ratza- desire”, therefore the verse is telling us that we must escape the clutches of the Yetzer Harah (the evil inclination) and its lustful desires.

Then the verse says “Oo’me’mo’laditecha – from your birthplace ”: Our birthplace is this world, and the verse is telling us not to follow our natural instincts and modes of thinking

Then it says “Oo’me’bais avicha – and from your father’s house”: The verse is telling us that we must not be constricted to our habits and training of our youth, we must seek to grow out of them and change any bad education that we may have had.

And finally, the verse finishes off by telling us where to direct our energy: “El Ha’aretz Asher Areka – to the land which I will show you”- to the synagogue and Torah institution where the Yetzer Tov (good inclination) rules over the bad inclination.

Taken from Likutei Sichos Chelek Aleph. Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg.