Parashat Lech Lecha
Rabbi’s Drosh
With the increase in the time spent in the home with the COVID19 pandemic lockdowns, there has been a lot of research and discussion about the impact that the family home environment has on a child’s wellbeing, character and development.
How much are we shaped by the home we come from?
How much influence do our parents and family have on the decisions we make later in life?
There is a powerful story about the man who travels to a village and meets the town beggar. He asks him “How did you become a beggar?“ and the beggar explains, “My father was the town beggar - what choice did I have?“. After a short time in the village, the traveller then meets the town’s mayor. He is impressed with his leadership and asks him, “How did you become the leader of this village?“, the Mayor answered, “Well, you see, my father was the town beggar - so what choice did I have?“.
In this week’s Parasha we read about Avraham (at the time his name was Avram) breaking his father’s idols.
Our forefather Avraham came from a house of Idol worship and yet was able to become the forerunner of Monotheism, having a huge impact not just on us as the Jewish people, but for billions of people across time and throughout the world.
Hence this is why Avraham is called Avraham the “Ivri“ or as we say in English “The Hebrew“. The word Ivri means “from the other side“. He was brave enough to stand up against the world of paganism that he was born into. This was why Hashem chose him as the one to found the Jewish people.
In many ways we are products of our environments, but in which direction we go (the town beggar or the town mayor) is often a matter of the way we respond to those environments.
The inspiring Holocaust hero Janusz Korczak, who famously cared for orphans before and during the Shoah and went with his children to the gas chambers, summed it up beautifully. He said, “It is humanity’s good fortune that we cannot force children to submit to their caregivers’ influences”. Never has this been more true than in the case of Avraham Avinu! Instead of following in the family tradition of Idol worship, he chose the “other side” and became arguably the most influential man of all time!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Friedler