Dear TBZ community:
This week’s
parsha
,
Lech Lecha
, always speaks to me. Having lived in four different countries, I have known all that comes with leaving behind what is familiar — family, friends, and connections — and moving into foreign worlds, yet worlds where new possibilities await.
In
Lech Lech
a Abraham and Sarah are the first to go on such a journey. They are our first sojourners, the first immigrants in our shared story. They are the first to take a dangerous journey looking to find blessing, to find safety, to find a hopeful future where God is familiar, not foreign.
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃
God said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃
I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great,
And you shall be a blessing.
Fast forward at the end of the
parasha
, as Sarai and Abram, have settled in the land, Abram and Sarai are blessed with a new name. We read on
chapter 17, verse 5
:
וְלֹא־יִקָּרֵ֥א ע֛וֹד אֶת־שִׁמְךָ֖ אַבְרָ֑ם וְהָיָ֤ה שִׁמְךָ֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם כִּ֛י אַב־הֲמ֥וֹן גּוֹיִ֖ם נְתַתִּֽיךָ׃
And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations.
לֹא־תִקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמָ֖הּ שָׂרָ֑י כִּ֥י שָׂרָ֖ה שְׁמָֽהּ׃ וּבֵרַכְתִּ֣י אֹתָ֔הּ
“As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her;
Abram and Sarai receive one letter addition to their name. The letter
hey
ה, God’s name. God’s presence becomes part of who they are and who they are to become. Abraham אַבְרָהָ֔ם and Sarah שָׂרָ֖ה are blessed by being recognized as creatures of God, as holders of the Divine Presence.
In my work through
BIJAN
(Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network), I visited a young Nicaraguan man, who was being held in detention while applying for asylum. He had come to this country to escape horrible danger in his own country. While we talked, God and God’s name, came up a lot in our conversations (We talked about
Dios--
Spanish for God).
Each time we met, he spoke of his gratitude for all the help he had received along his journey and during his detention. He would say that God was helping him and that God was with him. He blessed those who had helped him with a request that God would bless them. (
Que Dios los bendiga
). By offering his blessing, he was blessing me and others with God’s name, the letter ה.
The blessing God gave to Abraham and Sarah, is a reminder about our capacity to hold God’s name within our own. We take God’s name and God’s blessing. And this young man’s story and his blessing reminds that each of us has the capacity to offer the blessing of God’s name.
My invitation to all of us is to read
Lech Lecha
as an imperative to carry the weight of God’s name and presence within us so that we can be a blessing in the world.
May this Shabbat bring blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we be receivers of God’s name and be a blessing to those around us.
May we have a joyful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
