Parashat HaShavua - Lech Lecha
שִׂים שָׁלוֹם טוֹבָה וּבְרָכָה חֵן וָחֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים, עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל עַמֶּךָ.
Sim shalom tova u’veracha, chen va’chesed ve’rachamim, aleinu ve’al kol yisrael amecha.
Grant peace, goodness and blessing, grace, kindness and compassion on us and all your people Israel.
Thus begins the closing bracha in our Shacharit and Musaf Amidah. Of course, just this line alone warrants a full stop under the circumstances. Please God, grant us peace.
As the bracha continues, it offers us even more to consider during these times: “bless us, our Father – all of us as one – in the light of your countenance / בָּרְכֵנוּ אָבִינוּ כֻּלָּנוּ כְּאֶחָד בְּאוֹר פָּנֶיךָ.” Unity – achdut, literally oneness – has been a theme throughout these past three weeks within Israel and among Jews throughout the world.
Unity, however, does not mean uniformity, as this bracha subtly suggests when we ask God to bless us “as,” or “like,” one. We are not identical, and nevertheless united even with our differences. There is an additional explanation for this part of the bracha that connects with the parasha of Lech Lecha: when we ask to be blessed “as one,” we are actually referring to a specific person who we want our blessings to be like: Avraham. A singular individual, the one who set us on our path as Jews. And, in turn, God says that in whatever ways Avram is – and we are – blessed or cursed has implications for the world around us: “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you / וַאֲבָרְכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר, וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה.” (Gen. 12:3) May our blessings soon be what reverberate throughout the world again.
Thinking back to the conclusion of last week’s parasha, wouldn’t it have been more efficient for God to just adopt the builders of the Tower of Babel, instead of Avram? After all, they were already united around a single purpose and speaking a single language: “The Lord said, ‘they are one people, and they all have one language / וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֗ה הֵ֣ן עַ֤ם אֶחָד֙ וְשָׂפָ֤ה אַחַת֙ לְכֻלָּ֔ם.” (Gen. 11:6) However, did the opposite of adopting them: “The Lord scattered them from there upon the face of the entire earth / וַיָּ֨פֶץ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֹתָ֛ם מִשָּׁ֖ם עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כָל־הָאָ֑רֶץ.” (Gen. 11:8) What was the problem? Why wait for Avram to come along?
I think a possible answer to this question can be found in an untitled poem by Yehudah Amichai that echoes the bracha of Sim Shalom. He writes: “We are all of us the children of Avraham / But we are also the grandchildren of Terach, father of Avraham / אֲנַחְנוּ כֻּלָּנוּ בְּנִי אַבְרָהָם / אֲבָל אֲנַחְנוּ גַּם הַנְּכָדִים שֶׁל תֶּרַח, אָבִי אַבְרָהָם.” He goes on to say that just as Avraham turned the page on his father’s idolatrous traditions, so too should we perhaps turn the page on Avraham’s traditions. While I obviously do not agree with this sentiment, it does bring us perhaps to an intriguing answer to why God chose Avram rather than the builders of the Tower of Babel. God desired not a monolithic people, but a monotheistic people with texture, with different backgrounds and ideas. God wanted a people who are the children of Avraham and the grandchildren of Terach. Our unity, our identity, is not born of uniformity.
Today, the 12th of Cheshvan, marks the yahrzeit of Yitzchak Rabin z”l. His assassination is a constant reminder to us to respect differences and resolve our disagreements – even our most difficult and passionate ones – through dialogue and the democratic process. And today, at a time of war, the Jewish people are being reminded that even when we disagree, we still must share a fundamental commitment to each other; we must care about and for one another. A united Jewish people can overcome events even as tragic and difficult as what happened on October 7, and continue to happen. May God grant peace, goodness and blessing, grace, kindness and compassion on us and all your people Israel.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head
Rabbinic Advisor