What a powerful and intense portion we have this week. This is the moment when we begin the particular story of Judaism. Up until this point (Genesis 1-11), we were given the Biblical authors’ description of creation and the stories that previewed the birth of the Jewish story. With Genesis 12, we meet the transition to our story. Avram is called to “go forth”, he is “called” to go to a place he does not know, he is told that his people will be numerous, that God will be with them and that they shall be a “blessing”. Along the way in this portion Avram will sojourn to Egypt due to a famine (a theme that we will see again), have his and Sarai’s name changed (again a theme we shall see again) and formalize a sign of this covenant with God via the ritual of circumcision. As the portion ends, we meet the beginnings of the story of Sarah and Hagar and Ishmael, the issue of infertility (again a theme we shall see again) and set the stage for the familial dramas that will emerge in following weeks.
There are many commentaries on this portion. Abraham, as Avram, receives his call right after his father dies. How many people we know, even some of us, have been caregivers for a long period of time and when that mitzvah ends, we become, in a sense, free to pursue other segments of life. How many people need or use a major life event as a trigger to “go forth” and explore ideas, issues and passions? How many of us, as we grow older, come to realize that time is shorter now and we cannot, or will not put off things we always wished to do.
Note that Abraham, when he receives his call at the beginning of the portion, is 75. (12:4) Regardless of whether you believe these words to be literally true of symbolic, we can take a lesson from this. Judaism reminds us that we are never too old to grow and learn, to hope to explore new ideas and experiences. Indeed, let me suggest that this portion is a portion that speaks to us of a message of transition. When we turn 75, or so, we often come to realize that things are changing, our perspectives, our bodies, our relationships and more. The reality of our own mortality often becomes very present. It is easy to “rest” and gradually to retreat from the world, to exist rather than to live. But I think that a message from the portion is that we are always given the invitation in Judaism to go forward, to explore the future, for that is where we will go. Transitions and change are part of the human condition and become ever more real as we age. I think that this desire for us to see meaning and purpose in these transitions mat be symbolized by the idea of the Covenant. This is a reminder that we are part of something greater than our own self, and that we are being called to “go forward in life and go into our own self, to explore how we can be a blessing to ourselves, our families and the world. As we begin to contemplate our own legacy, we come to understand that our legacy is what we have chosen to do in our life.
This shabbat, ask yourself how we can be that blessing promised in Genesis 12? How do we wish to live in that land we do not know: our own future and what shall be our foundation?
Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Richard F Address
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and began his rabbinic career in Los Angeles congregations. He also served as a part time rabbi for Beth Hillel in Carmel, NJ while regional director and, after his URJ tenure, served as senior rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ from 2011-2014.
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