"Lekh Lekha" - Go for Yourself

 7 Marcheshvan 5785
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Lekh Lekha

...Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, wrote that “we are receiving very disturbing reports of extreme violence against Israelis and Jews on the streets of Holland. There is a pogrom currently taking place in Europe in 2024.” (Source) [Video report]

As of 11 am in Israel THIS IS STILL A BREAKING STORY.  Clear and irrefutable evidence has been exhibited to prove this was not a spontaneous event but a planned attack.  Seven Israelis are still unaccounted for.  God forbid that hostages would be taken abroad!!!

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"And Hashem said to Avram: 'Lech-lecha from your land, from your birthplace and from your father's house towards the land that I will show you.'" (Bereishit 12:1)

Notice that the command to leave occurs in three stages, each one more difficult than the one before: 1) your country; 2) your city and state; 3) the house on the street where you grew up. Each step tugs a little harder on your heart as you anticipate the leave-taking, also knowing that it is good-bye forever - only looking forward into the future, never looking back to the past. 

But, there is a comforting promise hidden in the first two words - lekh lekha. It can be read as go for yourself.  It can be understood as go for your own good, for your ultimate good.  There is no place more nourishing (Land of milk...) or sweeter for the soul (and honey); no place better suited for you to accomplish your mission in life than Eretz Yisrael.  Lekh lekha - do it, says Hashem.  But don't do it for Me.  Do it for yourself.  Even if it might not always feel like it, it's the best thing - the most important thing - you could ever do.  

It's your privilege and your destiny!!

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~