Parshat Lekh L’kha

This week’s parashah, Lekh L’kha, begins with God’s call to Avram to leave his home so that he and his descendants can become a blessing. The Hebrew idiom, “Lekh l’kha — Get going,” literally means “Go for yourself.” Based on that, Rashi understood the words to mean that God was telling Avram to go for his own benefit.

Rashi’s comment seems strange, since, in the end, Avraham seems to benefit very little from the life-journey that he begins this Shabbat. It is a hard journey, full of trials — just as all journeys of growth and mitzvah are hard. Where is the benefit that, according to Rashi, God is promising?

Perhaps Rashi was trying to make a point about what really benefits us — what really makes us happy — as opposed to what we think will do so. So much of what we struggle to acquire fails to satisfy us. What makes life worth living, on the other hand, is to discover that we can be a blessing to others. God tells Avram that his journey will be for his own benefit, in that he will discover that as well.

To be part of a sacred community is to feel the joy of being present to support each other, and of working together to hear and respond to God’s call. May we, together, experience that joy.

• The New Shul’s Shabbat morning service is from 9 am to about 11:45 am. In accordance with the latest Covid guidance from the CDC, we require all those over the age of 2 to wear a mask while in our building.
• Childcare is available on Shabbat mornings from 10 am to noon.
• The kiddush this Shabbat, October 16, is sponsored by Ross Wilkoff and Pam Kaplan in memory of Ross’s mother.
• Weekday minyanim at The New Shul are on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm, and on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am. Kabbalat Shabbat is at 6 pm on Friday evenings, at our rabbis’ home (please contact us for directions).