What happened to Lot? What happened to the young man who seems
to have been an enthusiastic member of his uncle’s caravan when they left Haran?
What happened to he who was significant enough at that time to be listed among
those who joined Avram? The question is not about his actual end, which we read
about in next week’s parsha when he is led from Sodom by the angels and then
drinks himself to a stupor in the mountains with his daughters. The question is
about how Lot became, what some might say, a no-goodnick who makes the wrong
decisions. For this question, it is apropos that most of his story is recorded
in Parshas Lech Lecha, the parsha of journeying, for perhaps the record of his
journey reveals the change in his standing.
For some people, the impact of a journey is the travel. It
is the action and the changing and the doing. For others, the impact of the
journey is the places one goes and the people one meets. Two people can travel
together and be on completely different journeys, and this was Avram and Lot.
It is interesting to note that Lot began with wonderful
intentions. The Beis Halevi (as quoted in Sefer Talelei Oros by Rabbi Yissachar
Dov Rubin) explained why Bereishis 12:4 says that “Avram went…and Lot went with
him,” but Bereishis 12:5 says “And Avram took his wife Sarai and his nephew
Lot.” The Beis Halevi noted that when Lot initially asked to join Avram, Avram
tried to discourage him. “Only
afterwards, when Abraham saw that Lot was firm in his resolve did he ‘take his
nephew Lot with him.’ Only then did he welcome him into the inner circle of the
Jewish people.”
Lot’s location before the journey was with Avram in Haran. He
could see the beauty of a life focused on something greater than himself and so
he went with his uncle. It is telling, however, that the next time Lot is
mentioned it is after Mitzrayim, after dwelling in the cosmopolitan capital of
the world, the center of “culture” and wealth and all that goes with it. Once again, the story of Lot reflects where he
is coming from, which in this case was the court of Pharaoh.
What happens to Lot next is rather famous – his flocks begin
grazing on other people’s domains, Avram suggests that they separate, Lot heads
to Sodom and becomes a man of influence who is captured and held for ransom
during the war of the five kings and the four kings. This is Lot’s story, and
it becomes obvious that after Mitzrayim, Lot’s journey is no longer aligned
with Avram’s. His journey is no longer spiritually oriented, and this is,
fascinatingly, reflected in a comparison of Bereishis 12:5, when they leave
Haran, and Bereishis 13:1, when they leave Mitzrayim:
12:5 - Avram took his wife Sarai
and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the
persons that they had acquired in Haran
13:1 - From Egypt, Avram went up
into the Negev, with his wife and all that he possessed, together with Lot.
Note the variance between the two verses. When Avram and Lot
left Haran, they were together (with Sarai), and the possessions were
secondary. When they left Mitzrayim, Avram and Lot were separated by the
possessions. This not only represents the division that grew between them, but
Lot’s state of mind, his reluctance to leave.
In studying Parshas Lech Lecha, we most often focus on Avram’s
journey, because he is our forefather and Sefer Bereishis is a recording of the
development of the Jewish people. But within Lech Lecha there are many other
lessons for us to learn. “Go for yourself” - Go forward in your own personal
journey of growth, make active choices. While you journey, however, be aware of
where you go and with whom you spend time. It takes a person of spiritual
greatness, like Avram and Sarai, to dwell in the palace of Pharaoh and come out
unchanged, but we, Bnei Yisrael, carry-forth their spiritual inheritance, and
we can persevere.
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