THE NEW LAND

Parashat Lekh L’kha

11 Cheshvan 5776 / 23-24 October 2015

Torah: Genesis 12:1 – 17:27

Haftarah: Isaiah 40:27 – 41:16

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THE NEW LAND

"And the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your land and your birthplace and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.’" Genesis 12:1-2

Rashi: God did not immediately reveal the land to Abram, in order to make it beloved in his eyes, and to give him a reward for each and every word. Similarly, …. (at Genesis 22:2) "on one of the mountains that I will tell you about."

In his book "Genesis – Translation and Commentary", author and literary critic Robert Alter writes, "The name Canaan is never mentioned, and the divine imperative to head out for an unspecified place resembles, as Rashi observes, God’s terrible call to Abraham in chapter 22 to sacrifice his son on a mountain God will show him."

This is how it is with Israel today in its search for peace. Israelis and Palestinians, all descendants of Abraham, are in the psychological "land" of their ancestors, a land we might name "conflict and terror". The "new land" of peace is seemingly distant, its exact parameters unknown. Yitzchak Rabin, z"l, a former general, a man of war, heard the call to go to that new land, and he sacrificed his life in answering that call. Five years later, Ehud Barak’s government fell because the Palestinians refused to heed the call.

Thousands of people have died because the call for peace has been drowned out by other calls for death and destruction. Israelis will have to give up the notion that they can indefinitely subjugate an occupied population that may soon outnumber them. Israelis will have to make other sacrifices in order to reach the new land. So will the Palestinians. They must give up their generations of hatred and the unrealistic, impossible goal of "return" within the present state of Israel. If the physical land is not divided between them, with each making the necessary political sacrifices, the psycho-spiritual land of peace will never be reached, and the physical sacrifices of their children will continue.

Only by going forward to the new land, together, will these peoples be truly blessed.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA

http://www.bethmeier.org

Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/

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Candlelighting: 5:51 pm

Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.

Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am. We still need to take down part of our sukkah, due to the rain last Sunday – please come by at about 10:00 am if you can help out!

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of Yitzchak Rabin, whose yahrzeit is this Sunday. Y’hi zikhrono liv’rakhah – May his memory be a blessing.

The congregation extends its condolences to Jeffrey Ovadia, whose mother Rita Ovadia passed away last Friday. Funeral took place in New Jersey. Y’hi zikhronah liv’rakhah – May her memory be a blessing.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah bat Devorah, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Chanah Bella bat Kreina), Gig Flom (Gittel Tobi bat Blanca), Leonard Foint, Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Stephanie Kane, Philip Kovac, Marsha Meyers, Annie Rivera, and Gil Robbins.

Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to add to this list or if there is anyone who may be removed from this list.

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