Parashat HaShavua - Lech Lecha
Towards the beginning of this week’s reading of Lech Lecha, not long after Avram (soon to be Avraham) arrives in the Land of Canaan, God instructs him to “Rise, walk in the land, to its length and breadth, for I will give it to you / קוּם הִתְהַלֵּךְ בָּאָרֶץ לְאָרְכָּהּ וּלְרָחְבָּ֑הּ כִּי לְךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה” (Gen. 13:17). From the plain meaning of this verse, God wants Avram to familiarize himself with all the land that his ancestors will dwell in, and also perhaps to stake his claim to the land by virtue of a physical tour.
According to Rabbenu Bachya (Bachya ben Asher, Spain 1255-1340), however, the meaning is different: Avram’s journey here is not physical, it is intellectual and spiritual. Rabbenu Bachya finds support for this idea in other places the word “hit’halech / walk הִתְהַלֵּךְ” is used. For example, “God walked with Noach / אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹחַ” (Gen. 6:9), which we know under the circumstances there clearly did not mean walking the land. And twice we are told “Chanoch walked with God / וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ חֲנוֹךְ אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים,” up to the point where Chanoch “was no more, because the Lord took him / וְאֵינֶנּוּ כִּי לָקַח אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים,” a fate seemingly better than death. (Gen. 5:22/24) Thus the connotation is one of spirituality and partnership with God rather than taking a physical journey.
But doesn’t it still seem more compelling based on the plain language in our context that Avram’s journey was physical? Not entirely! Because in the verse immediately following God’s instruction to tour, “Avram pitched his tents, and he came and dwelled in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there / וַיֶּֽאֱהַ֣ל אַבְרָ֗ם וַיָּבֹ֛א וַיֵּ֛שֶׁב בְּאֵֽלֹנֵ֥י מַמְרֵ֖א אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּחֶבְר֑וֹן וַיִּֽבֶן־שָׁ֥ם מִזְבֵּ֖חַ לַֽיהֹוָֽה.” (Gen. 13:18) This is not a man on the move!
Rather, according to Rabbenu Bachya, Avram at this moment is being told to wander intellectually and spiritually. God actually gets this idea, he says, from Avram himself: Avram previously showed a desire to explore more than necessary when “Avram traveled, continually traveling southward / וַיִּסַּ֣ע אַבְרָ֔ם הָל֥וֹךְ וְנָס֖וֹעַ הַנֶּֽגְבָּה,” (Gen. 12:9), a place that Rabbenu Bachya associates primarily with spiritual significance (as those who have traveled to the Negev can attest).
Moreover, Avram’s extensive physical exploration of the land at the outset, before he heads south, reinforces the notion that now when he is being told to get up and walk the land the meaning is different.
It is worth quoting the closing words of Rabbenu Bachya’s interpretation, which I think can be instructive for us today:
״ההלוך הזה הוא תנועת הנפש השכלית והשקט הגוף…, כי דרישת החכמות צריך תנועת הנפש השכלית והשקט הגוף, בהפך מצרכי הגוף שהם צריכים נענוע הגוף והשקט הנפש…
This travel was a spiritual journey with physical stillness…, because seeking wisdom requires spiritual movement and physical stillness, the opposite of the body’s need for physical motion with spiritual stillness.”
May we, like Avram, strive in our lives for spiritual journey; may we have the courage to take those initial steps, and along the way receive support for the learning and growth we seek.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studied Head
Rabbinic Advisor