Who’s Calling

By Rabbi Joshua (receptively known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

God speaks to Avraham and tells him, “Go from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Bereishis 12:1). The command, “go,” is written in a seemingly redundant way, “lech lecha,” literally, go for yourself, rather than simply “lech” – go. While Ramban says that this is simply a stylistic form of the phrase, Rashi says that the word “lecha” – for yourself – is meant to indicate to Avraham that the move will be to his benefit, in a number of ways. Rav Kaminetzky, in his work, “The Essence of Simplicity,” suggests that the word “lecha” means, “by yourself,” and that the command was for Avraham to go to the land by himself, leaving the rest of his family. At first, Avraham took Lot along with him, but God did not appear to him in Cana’an until Lot separated from him.

There is another approach to explaining the word “lecha,” that goes back to the commentary of Rav Moshe Alshich and is found later in the works of the Sefas Emes and the Beis Yisroel. According to this explanation, “lecha” means “to yourself.” The tests that Avraham were presented with, of which leaving his home was one, were meant to guide him to bring out his inner potential, his true self, and, in so doing, develop a relationship with God.

The Sefas Emes says that actually, the call that went out to Avraham was addressed to a wider audience, but only Avraham heeded the call, and sought to connect with God. Ramban, in explaining the tests that Avraham was given, says that God knew that Avraham could meet these challenges, but He wanted to bring his potential into actuality. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveitchik, zt”l, explained this to mean that Avraham needed to prove to himself the capabilities that he had and thereby understand himself.

Interestingly, after the test of the bris milah, that Avraham underwent at the advanced age of ninety-nine, the Torah says “And God rose from above Avraham.” Seforno, somewhat cryptically, says that this expression is the opposite of the expression that we find in connection with Kayin, where we are told “And Kayin went out from before God.” Kayin, who lied to excuse himself from the murder of his brother, and tried to retain God’s protection despite his deed, is described by the rabbis as leaving in a state of, so to speak, “stealing God’s conscience.” In contrast, when God departed from Avraham after the test of the bris milah, Avraham had a deeper connection to his true self, and a deeper relationship with God.