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אל תירא אברם אנכי מגן לך שכרך הרבה מאד

Fear not Avram, I am a shield for you; your reward is very great. (15:1)

In his He’Emanti Va’Adabeira, Horav Moshe Toledano, Shlita, cites the Peninei Ben Ish Chai, who quotes the Aderest Eliyahu that Hashem is mavtiach, assures/guarantees those who observe Hashem’s mitzvos, with great reward, commensurate with their performance. Chazal teach (Kiddushin 39b) s’char b’hai alma leka, “There is no (payment of) reward in this world.” In other words, mitzvah performance is rewarded in Olam Habba, the World to Come. The commentators wonder how this reward is reconciled with the pasuk in the Torah, B’yomo titein s’charo, “On that day shall you pay his hire” (Devarim 24:15). A day-laborer must be paid each…

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ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו ואת לוט בן אחיו... ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען

Avram took his wife Sarai and Lot, his brother’s son… and they left to go to the land of Canaan. (12:5)

Torah commentary is divided into four approaches. Each one delves progressively deeper into the esoteric background of a given situation, thereby lending the reader an unparalleled insight into the behind-the-scenes workings of occurrences which initially seem to mystify us. The fact that Avraham Avinu took his nephew, Lot, with him when he left for Canaan is one of those instances which baffle the reader. Lot was far from being a saint, which was evidenced later, when he chose to live in the plains of Sodom, despite the evil and corrupt nature of its inhabitants. Later on, when Lot separated from…

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לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך

“Go for yourself from your land, the land of your birthplace, and from your father’s home, to the land that I will show you.” (12:1)

The Degel Machane Efraim teaches that the Torah is eternal and not limited to one specific period in time. Every Jew can discover a response to life’s challenges in the Torah. Thus, the words, Lech lecha me’artzecha u’mimoladetecha u’mibeis avicha, applies to each one of us. The Zohar Hakadosh addresses this issue and explains that the words, Lech lecha me’artzecha, are stated by Hashem speaking to the neshamah, soul, which is viewed as being an av, father, to the guf, body, of a person. “Avram” would then represent the av, soul, which descends from ram, on high, Heaven above. Hashem…

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ויאמר ד' אל אברם לך לך מארצך

Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land. (12:1)

Chazal teach that, among the many practical issues that concerned Avraham Avinu regarding his departure from Charan, he also had a spiritual basis. In the previous parshah, the Torah records the death of Terach, father of Avraham – when, in fact, Terach died more than sixty years later. Chazal explain that Avraham was anxious about what people would say. His father was at a point in life that an able son would have been an advantage to him. For Avraham to abandon his father at this point in his life would open him up to public criticism, implying that he…

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