Lech Lecha
As we move into the Jewish month of Cheshvan, with its regularity and routines, we
might pause to appreciate its mundanity. After a month of intense holidays full of
prayers, meals, and rituals, it is time to settle into the more gentle rhythms of a new
year. Time seems to stretch out and we might breathe into a welcome stillness.
Into that pull toward rest though, the Sefat Emet enters and reminds us of the key
phrase of this week’s Torah portion: Lech lecha. Keep on moving! Indeed, as we’ll see,
the Rebbe sees the imperative to stay in motion as the very foundation of the spiritual
life.
The portion of Lech Lecha records the beginning of Abraham’s relationship with God.
ּומ ֵ ֵּ֣בית אָ ִביך אֶ ל־הָ ָ ָ֖א ֶרץ אֲ ֶ ָ֥שר אַ ְר ֶ ּֽאךָ׃
ִ ָּ֖ומ ּֽמֹולַ ְד ְתך
ִ ְָ֥ך־לךָ֛ מֵ אַ ְרצְ ך
ְ ֶֹּ֤וַיאמֶ ר ה֙ אֶ ל־אַ ְב ָ ָ֔רם ל
God said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the
land that I will show you.” (Gen. 12:1)
Readers of these words have long wondered, Why Abraham? Why was Abraham the
chosen one of God? And why was lech lecha, going forth, God’s opening charge to him?
What about it might ground the spiritual journey ahead?
The Sefat Emet engages these questions by way of a midrash in Breishit Rabbah 39:1
"God said to Abram, 'Go forth from your land…'" (Genesis 12:1) Rabbi Yitzchak
opened: "Listen, daughter, look, and incline your ear, and forget your people and
your father's house" (Psalms 45:11). Rabbi Yitzchak said: This may be compared
to a man who was traveling from place to place when he saw a castle aglow [bira
doleket]. He said, "Is it possible that this castle lacks a person to look after it?"
The owner of the building looked at him and said to him, “I am the master of the
castle." What happened with Abraham our ancestor was similar. He said, “Is it
possible that this universe lacks a person to look after it?" The Holy Blessed One
looked at him and said to him, “I am the Master of the Universe.”
1|Sefat Emet on the Parshah —Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler
© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2021
Before taking up the castle, the Sefat Emet’s first interest lies in the opening verse of
this midrash. Psalms 45:11 states:
ּובית אָ ִ ּֽביְך׃
ָ֥ ֵ י־בת ּּ֭ו ְר ִאי וְהַ ִ ֵּ֣טי אׇ זְ נֵ ְֵ֑ך ו ְִשכְ ִ ָ֥חי ַ֝עַ ֵּ֗ ֵמְך
ֵּ֣ ַ ִִש ְמע
Take heed [or hear], lass, and note, incline your ear: forget your people and your
father’s house.
He notes that the verbs seem out of order. One would expect that “inclining one’s ear,”
or turning one’s attention to something, would happen before hearing, not after. What
could it mean to first hear and only then to actively listen?
This question is left hanging as the Rebbe brings us back to the Torah portion at hand.
He notes that our opening verse also contains some curious wording. What should
Abraham/we make of God’s directing him not to a specific place but to a land that he
will be shown (in 3 days time!)? Why such obfuscation?
Insofar as we take the Abrahamic journey as a paradigm for our own spiritual journeys,
the Sefat Emet proposes that the ambiguity of God’s call is essential to the nature of
that call.
This is the issue: It is more pleasant to the Holy One that the people of Israel
have the will and desire to draw near and apprehend God’s Torah than [it is for
them to] know the Divine, because it is the [human] will that enables one to
draw near and to apprehend. It is certain that this [longing] is more important
before the Blessed One.
God wants us to want. The Holy One wants us to search, to explore, to pursue holiness,
but not to attain it or know it. Ratzon (will) and teshukah (desire/eros) drive a person to
keep seeking out the object of their desire. They keep alive the hunger and the passion,
and they keep at bay possession. Yediah (knowing) is the enemy of growth. It is an
arrival that signals the end of the journey. But the spiritual journey ought never to be
over. Hence God’s very first words to Abraham are “lech lecha”-- not only begin the
journey, but keep on walking.
For the Rebbe, this is both a theological statement--that God cannot be known--and an
educational program--to act as one who does not know. Similar to the concept of
beginner’s mind, the Sefat Emet teaches that it is only in not knowing that we come
closer to knowing.
It is the way of Israel that through their longing to understand and to listen to
the voice of God, they merit to hear.
2|Sefat Emet on the Parshah —Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler
© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2021
There is a spiritual pedagogy here: Train yourself to deepen your sense of not knowing.
Pay attention to mystery. Open yourself to wonder. Lean into longing. The closer you
feel to God, the more work you must do to keep the (right amount of) distance. For
knowledge of divinity is always and necessarily asymptotic, just out of range.
The Rebbe returns to the opening midrash regarding the castle aglow. It is unclear
whether the castle is on fire and burning down or lit up with flickering flames. But the
Sefat Emet is not interested in the castle. He is interested in the fire itself--that wild and
powerful element that is ever in motion. What Abraham figuratively encountered was
dynamism, unpredictability, energy, heat. It was the opposite of menucha, rest. He had
thought that the world inclined toward stasis, but God met him with movement. It was
to be his first lesson in spiritual living:
[I]t is God’s desire that in this world there be only longing/exertion (yegiah) and
no rest (menucha).
Only walking. Lech Lecha.
This is the reason why God did not disclose the destination of Abraham’s initial journey.
And it is the reason why after we hear something we must “incline our ears” again (a la
Psalms 49:11). Again and again and again. To walk a spiritual path is not to seek a final
knowable destination, but to savor the slow journey into the unknown.
Bifnim / Personal Reflections
1. Consider the role that longing plays in your life? Do you find it pleasant,
unpleasant, or something else? Is it positive, negative, neutral?
2. Think about relationships with people, places, or things that contain mystery for
you. How do you relate to them? How do you maintain or shrink the mystery?
Do you notice a desire to do one or the other? In particular, consider
relationships that might have a long history for you--a friendship, a marriage, a
relationship with a sacred place. What, if anything, do you notice about what
nurtures or sustains an enduring sense of longing toward them?
3. Peace and calm, menucha, seem to be so elusive and so craved by many of us. In
your own experience, what does menucha feel like? What role, if any, does
disequilibrium or distance play in nurturing, sustaining, or challenging your sense
of peace and calm? Have you found that you can be both in motion and at ease
simultaneously? Do you want to be?
B’Avodah/In Practice
In the spirit of continuously walking, this week consider practicing a walking meditation.
3|Sefat Emet on the Parshah —Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler
© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2021
Stand still in the more-than-human world. Focus on receiving your breath. You might
listen for the subtle sound of breathing, notice the rising and falling of the belly and
chest, or focus on the sensation of air passing through the nostrils. When thoughts arise,
gently let them go and return to the breath.
After a minute, leave half your attention on the breath and place the other half on the
bottoms of your feet. Feel the pressure of your body on the earth; notice the constant
adjustments your muscles make to maintain balance.
After another minute, shift your focus once again. Place 25 percent of your awareness
on your breath, another 25 percent on the soles of your feet, and 50 percent on the
world around you. Begin to walk, taking in all the sounds and sights of the land you are
traversing, keeping your attention shifting to these three areas.
When your mind wanders and focus fades, try not to get angry at yourself. This happens
to everyone, no matter how experienced at meditative walking. Gently return your
attention to the breath and the soles of your feet, then look, listen and continue on.
As a final exercise, set an intention on walking to a particular destination--which could
be just a few feet away, or could be much further. As you walk toward the destination,
try to notice what, if any, sensations of longing, distance, closeness, and drawing-near
arise in you. What, if anything, do you observe about these sensations or your mind-
heart’s response to them?
After you conclude, note to yourself one or two words that describe your emotional
state.
4|Sefat Emet on the Parshah —Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler
© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2021
