Lech L’cha (Genesis 12:1−17:27)

Parsha Lech L’cha Torah Summary:

Abram, Sarai, and Lot go to Canaan. (12:1-9) Famine takes them to Egypt, where Abram identifies Sarai as his sister in order to save his life. (12:10-20) Abram and Lot separate. Lot is taken captive, and Abram rescues him. (13:1-14:24) Abram has a son, Ishmael, with his Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. (16:1-16) God establishes a covenant with Abram. The sign of this covenant is circumcision on the eighth day following a male baby’s birth. (17:1-27) “Adonai had said to Abram, ‘Go from … to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation’”; Adonai’s first calling to our first Ancestor is to become a great Nation! Since the time of Abraham, the Jew has always related personhood to peoplehood. We are part of a people; for Jews, participation in sacred community is the path to ultimate meaning. Abram, Sarai, and Lot go to Canaan. (12:1-9) Famine takes them to Egypt, where Abram identifies Sarai as his sister in order to save his life. (12:10-20) Abram and Lot separate. Lot is taken captive, and Abram rescues him. (13:1-14:24) Abram has a son, Ishmael, with his Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. (16:1-16) God establishes a covenant with Abram. The sign of this covenant is circumcision on the eighth day following a male baby’s birth. (17:1-27) “Adonai had said to Abram, ‘Go from … to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation’”; Adonai’s first calling to our first Ancestor is to become a great Nation! Since the time of Abraham, the Jew has always related personhood to peoplehood. We are part of a people; for Jews, participation in sacred community is the path to ultimate meaning.