Parashat Lech L'cha 5768

In this week's Torah Portion, Lech L'cha, God tells Avram "go forth from your land, from your kindred, from your father's house, to the land that I will show you." This week, God reveals what will become an enduring covenant between God and the Jewish People: We will be a people as numerous as the stars in the sky and the land of Israel will be our inheritance.

What is remarkable about Avram's journey is that in order for him to go up to Canaan, he must first travel down to Egypt. And, God tells Avram that before his descendents can settle in the land of Canaan, they must endure strife.

Through this, our Torah teaches us that life includes peaks and valleys and that our journeys often include wandering. This Shabbat let us not only focus on where we are going, but celebrate the journey it takes to get there.

Parashat Noah 5768

This week's parashah, this week's Torah portion, is Noah. Noah tells the story of a man who gets an incredible directive from the Divine: "I am about to destroy humanity and the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood." Noah is told that a flood is coming and is given orders to build an ark, to pack up his family, to gather two of each animal, and to float through the re-creation of the world.

This story, filled with moral entanglements, also offers us a metaphor for our own spiritual consideration:

What are the floods that seek to surround you?
What is your ark?
Who do you invite into that ark?

My blessing for this Shabbat is that we all become aware of our own arks and recognize those who enter into them with us. May we show gratitude to those who support us and may we offer thanks for the ark that carries us.