Parshas Lech Lecha 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ... (יב-א)
MASHAL: R’ Chaim of Krasna zt”l, was a close disciple of the Baal Shem Tov zt”l and one of his earliest followers. After the Rebbe passed away, he drew close to the Maggid of Mezritch zt”l, as well as R’ Pinchas of Koretz zt”l.
R’ Chaim once described a scene he had witnessed in his home town: “A man made a public proclamation: For the sum of one hundred gold coins, he would walk across the river on a tightrope. A great crowd gathered at the riverbank to watch this amazing feat. I was astounded that anyone would be willing to place himself in such great danger for money. As I watched the man, however, I realized that he wasn’t thinking of money at all as he made his way carefully across the rope. Instead, he concentrated one hundred percent on what he was doing, for otherwise he would have fallen into the river.” R’ Chaim marveled at the performance and concluded, “If one can concentrate so intently on what he was doing in order to gain one hundred golden coins, imagine how much more we should focus on our service of Hashem.”
NIMSHAL: R’ Shimshon Pinkus zt”l explains Avraham’s performance of Hashem’s commandment “Lech Lecha” as follows: Like a chariot that follows the directions of the charioteer, Avraham Avinu followed the path Hashem was commanding him, every step of the way. Just as the chariot is totally unaware of the destination, so was Avraham unaware of his destination. He headed towards Canaan simply because that’s where his father had started out from, not because he had any preconceived notion that that was where he was supposed to go. This characteristic faith and complete devotion to Hashem’s commandment is what made our Patriarchs perfect “wheels” for the Merkavah (chariot) of Hashem.