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Lech Lecha 5784
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
In the Torah portion of Lech Lecha, we encounter the father of the Jewish nation, our patriarch Abraham. After G-d said to Abraham, “Go forth from your land… to the land that I will show you,” Abraham embarked on a journey to the unknown. During his journey, he arrived in the land of Canaan and there, when he reached the city of Shechem, G-d appeared to him and said, “To your descendants, I will give this land.” Abraham understood that he had arrived at the desired destination, the land he was meant to reach, and he requested to settle in the land of Canaan. However, the famine that befell the land of Canaan, dependent on blessed rains, forced Abraham, along with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, to descend to Egypt, where Sarah was saved miraculously from the hands of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt.
Upon returning from Egypt, Abraham was “very heavily burdened with livestock, with silver, and with gold,” together with Sarah and Lot, who also had “flocks, herds, and tents.” A conflict arose between the shepherds of Abraham and Lot, which ultimately led to Abraham’s and Lot’s separation. Lot chose to dwell in Sodom, located near the Dead Sea, and the scripture emphasizes that the people of Sodom were “very wicked and sinful before the Lord.” On the other hand, Abraham stayed on the mountain and traveled between the cities of Bet-el and Hebron.
At this point in the story, we read of another divine revelation to Abraham:
“The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him: ‘Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.'”
(Genesis 13,14-17)
This promise extends far beyond the previous assurance given to Abraham, which was summed up in the words “to your descendants, I will give this land.” It emphasizes both the complete giving of the land to Abraham and his descendants and the multiplication of his offspring, at a time when no child had yet been born to him. Why did Abraham merit this promise now?
We must pay attention to the emphasis that this promise was given “after Lot had parted from him.” There seems to be a connection between Lot’s separation from Abraham and this promise. The sages of the Midrash indeed recognized this and explained that Lot’s separation is what qualified Abraham for this impressive promise. To understand the significance of Abraham’s separation from Lot, we need to revisit the conflict between the shepherds of Lot and Abraham. What was it they fought over?
Rashi, the great Torah commentator, reveals the background behind the shepherds’ conflict. Lot’s shepherds habitually grazed the livestock in fields that did not belong to them. They also claimed that, ostensibly, according to the divine promise to Abraham regarding the land, the entire land inherently belonged to Lot, the nephew, since Abraham had no children of his own. So, according to Lot’s shepherds, the entire land potentially belonged to Lot and they had the right to control it. In contrast, Abraham’s shepherds asserted that the divine promise was still in the future tense and had not yet been fulfilled. Therefore, the Canaanites were the current residents of the land, and they felt they had no right to graze livestock on their fields.
It becomes evident that the tension between Abraham and Lot was not a matter of petty disagreement. It was a fundamental dispute about how one should handle someone else’s property. While Abraham showed caution not to infringe upon the property of others, despite the divine promise concerning the land, Lot was less careful. In fact, Lot chose to dwell at the end of the story with the corrupt people of Sodom.
Lot’s separation from Abraham clarified the distinction between right and wrong. Abraham passed the test, was not swept up by Lot’s attitude, and preferred to separate from his only relative just in order to avoid harming someone else’s property. Abraham’s behavior reflected righteousness, conscientiousness, humility, and his willingness to maintain the highest ethical standards, even while he anticipated receiving the land as a divine promise. G-d does not give the land to someone who is not worthy of receiving it. Abraham proved by his acts and values that he merits receiving the land with integrity.
