As a child, one of the most exciting ideas to learn is that every person has a unique fingerprint. Even when we are young, our psyche ponders our place in the world, our role in the universe, and learning that our fingerprints are completely our own – even if one is an identical twin – is an affirmation to our uniqueness. Fingerprints are a physical expression of an important fact, that each one of us has a unique neshama.
The essence of human life is that we are a combination of
goof and neshama, the physical and the spiritual, and this, perhaps, has
significance when one reads Bereishis 13:1. “And Avram went up from Mitzrayim -
he and his wife and all that was to him - and with Lot, to the Negev/South.” The
grammar in this pasuk leaves much to question for its seeming redundancy. Avram
went up – he and his wife. Why does the pasuk add the pronoun hoo/he, when it
already states his action? Why are Avram and Lot named, but not Sarai?
Each one of these people had a journey that impacted them on
every level. Avram came to Mitzrayim and became a man of great wealth and influence.
There in what was considered the epitome of civilization in the ancient world,
Avram gained material wealth and associated power. For most people, being so
well treated and honored by Pharoah would be seen as the epitome of success.
But Avram was able to look beyond the material gains of Mitzrayim and recognize
that returning to Eretz Canaan was the truly upward path. Avram, when leaving
Mitzrayim, took both his physical self and his spiritual self.
Hoo v'eeshto – He and his wife. Why isn’t Sarai named. Certainly,
their journey to Mitzrayim impacted her more than anyone else. She was physically
taken to Pharoah, held captive and unsolicitedly wooed. But for Sarai, there
was no attraction to life in Mitzrayim. There was no risk of her losing track
of who she was and what her purpose was. According to Bereishis Rabba, Avram
put her in a box to protect her on their way into Mitzrayim, and while that may
not have kept her from the soldiers’ notice, she went down to Mitzrayim
spiritually protected. Thus when they went up she was the same partner she had
always been; she was the match to Avram’s “hoo.”
Lot, on the other hand, left Mitzrayim with his name and his
wealth. He didn’t change for the better not did he adhere to principles. Lot
went with Avram when Avram went up because he had to, but he, his deeper essence,
did not ascend. Lot just followed.
Parshas Lech Lecha is a parsha very much about being and
journeying. Who we are and where we are matter, as does where we are heading.
And all of that can be understood on the two distinct plains of existence. We
may live in a place that is spiritually unhealthy, but we ourselves do not have
to become spiritually unhealthy. It is easy to be like Lot and lose yourself to
physical comfort and material enrichment. It is inspirational to look to Sarai
and know that even in times of mortal danger one can maintain one’s spiritual
dominance. But it is to Avram that klal Yisrael looks to demonstrate how we
must emulate our ancestors. He accepted success but always remembered the
importance of his relationship with Hashem. He did not shun wealth, but later,
when he saw how wealth effected his nephew, he was able to prioritize proper
conduct over material ease.
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