Lech L’Cha
These words, Lech L’Cha, spoken to Abram (Abraham) in Chapter 12 of the Book of Genesis, were the first words of my Torah Portion for my Bar Mitzvah, 56 years ago. As I celebrate my 69th Birthday, I am reminded of how appropriate these words are for and to me. This is the beginning of Abram’s journey in his second career and what a journey it is/was. I can relate to life being a journey and I can testify to how interesting a journey life can be:)
“GO FOR YOU/GO TO YOU”, I capitalize them because this is a command from God to Abram. I am thinking about these words and what God meant by them and how I/we interpret and use this command. Living life on God’s terms, as God asks us to do, means that the selfish way of interpreting and using this command is not what God meant. I have been a person who lived a false interpretation of this command. I went only to and for myself. Everyone else was secondary to me getting what I wanted and believed I was entitled to. I played a lot of games in my earlier days to get what I wanted/desired and it left me lonely, bereft and unsatisfied. We see many people today going for and to themselves only and thinking that everyone else should serve them as well. I have found this to be true in my personal and professional life and, truth be told, I have committed this ‘sin’ myself- even in my recovery. None of us are perfect and we all need to look at the ways we have bastardized this command to Abram and the rest of us. We see it in our leaders, their followers and yet, there are many people unwilling to call bullshit, bullshit and buy into the lies of self-centeredness and narcissism of others so they don’t have to look at their own. This week and this year, let us all let go of our self-centeredness a little more (or a lot depending) and begin to live for and with other people. Let us recognize that all people are important and help those in need rather than exploit them for our own gain- the “just because we can” way of living.
GO FOR YOU/GO TO YOU according to how I understand living life on God’s terms, is about taking the scariest journey we will ever embark on- the path to our soul and our inner life. God does not want Abram the rich man, the phony, the scared man and/or the man of blind faith- in my reading of this Parashah this year. God is looking for the real Abram and the only way to truly have a relationship that is soul-to-soul is for Abram to “go for himself and go to himself”. Yet, even today, after millennia of reading these words, the Rabbis who teach it, the leaders of our synagogues and institutions, many of us are still stubbornly refusing to take this sacred journey. Yes, it is scary- I have seen things that I am still in horror about- and it is sacred- I have found passion and purpose, learning and teaching, growth and atrophy, hitting the mark and missing the mark. I have, most of all, become very excited about being friends with my inner being and living from my soul much more often than not. GO FOR YOU/GO TO YOU is not a one and done either. It is a constant journey, each step we take to know our soul and our inner life leads to another that is waiting to be taken. Just as in recovery and life, we never arrive. God does not promise arrival, just the journey.
GO FOR YOU/GO TO YOU is the path to higher living and greater connection. Taking this journey allows me to know, no matter what anyone else may say or think, I am not a phony. What you see is what you get. The higher living is living in wonder and radical amazement. This journey has given me the vision to see others for who they are and believe in their better angels/higher selves. It has hurt greatly when I am disappointed by another’s bastardization of what I believe is an authentic connection- as I am sure others have been disappointed in me. Living in wonder, radical amazement allows me to give others the benefit of the doubt and see each person, interaction and event as new. This, I believe is the path to greater connection also. The more I am me, the more I live from my soul and inner life, the more rooted I am in my connections. When another, like my wife Harriet Rossetto, is on this path (and a little farther along than I) then the deeper and stronger our bond is. The connection of my soul and inner life with Harriet’s has given us the strength, love, wonder, awe and joy to weather all sorts of storms that have split other couples. Yet, we are better and stronger, more loving and caring for each other than we have ever been and it grows each day. The same is true with other family members and friends. There is still within me the voice that says ‘let me get mine” and I have learned to go deeper into my soul and inner life to respond to it. Yes- it is a struggle and the “prize” is so great- being able to live with me a little bit more calmly each day and being able to grow more into me a little bit more each day.
I have more thoughts on this Parashah and I was not planning on sticking with just these two words- yet this is where God sent me and I am grateful. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark