לך לך

The Ramban comments on when the command of lech lecha was initially said to Avraham Avinu. He says that initially Avraham was in Ur Kasdim – that’s where they tried to burn him at the stake, and that’s where Hakodosh Boruch Hu found “his heart to be faithful.” After that episode, Avraham Avinu fled Ur Kasdim with the intention of going to Eretz Canaan, even before Hashem commanded him to go there. He went to Charan and was stopped there, and that’s where Hashem came to him and told him: lech lecha

These parshiyos deal with the development of our Avos, and the common theme between all the challenges that Hashem put our Avos through is Emunah. Throughout our lifetime, challenges never cease. You should know that each one of us, in some form or fashion, endures the ten nisyonos of Avraham Avinu.

In this week’s parshah,we encounter a tremendous episode where Hakadosh Baruch Hu has a discussion with Avraham Avinu. Avraham Avinu says, הן לי לא נתת זרע, I don’t have children, והנה בן ביתי יורש אותי, behold my steward [Eliezer] will be my heir (Bereishis 15:3). True, a stranger won’t be the one to inherit me, but it’s not going to be my son.