Drash on Lech Lecha 2024

Rabbi Martha Bergadine

United Jewish Congregation, Hong Kong

There is an old saw that rabbis preach the sermons that they need to hear. Sometimes this is true and honestly, it may be the impetus for this D’var Torah.

I am always struck by something different every time I read a Torah portion. That is one of the wonders of Torah! When I began to reread this week’s parashah, Lech Lecha, I was struck by the phrasing of the first two words. “Lech lecha” — the

Masoretic Text makes it clear that the phrase is not “lech lech,” which would be a sort of emphatic “Go! Go!” Rather it is literally “Go! Go for/to yourself!” Some commentators do read this less literally, believing that this phrase is simply a poetic way of God urging Abram to go forth and leave his home.

Rashi, however, disagrees. He says that “Lech lecha” means “go forth, for your own benefit, your own advantage.” We then, following Abram’s model, are to take steps, to go forward, for our own sakes. We are to take the actions that will, of course within the limits of ethics and morality, benefit us and lead us to blessings.

As I write this, we have just concluded the Yamim Noraim, an intensive period of introspection and teshuvah. We have plumbed our hearts and minds, have taken an accounting of our actions, and examined our souls in search of the blessings of healing, repair, and growth. Done right, this is an exhausting and fulfilling process, but a largely intellectual and spiritual one.

But we are not only creatures of mind and heart. What then of the amazing bodies with which we engage in the world?

Judaism is an “embodied religion,” one that involves all of the senses in its practice and does not segregate the body from belief and faith. Just think about the experiences of the past few weeks – the sweetness of apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah, the wild call of the shofar, the grassy scent of the schach on the roof of the sukkah, the beat of the music while dancing on Simchat Torah – these are intrinsic to our celebrations and sense of tradition.

Jewish tradition does not shun the physical as corrupt or elevate the spiritual over the corporeal. As Rabbi Rachel Leila Miller writes, “Judaism teaches that the body and soul are separate yet indivisible partners in human life. Rather than imprisoning or corrupting the soul, the body is a God-given tool for doing sacred work in the world. It requires protection, care and respect, because it is holy.”

So Lech Lecha asks us “Have we then gone forth to benefit all of ourselves?” We may have done the “soul work” over the High Holy Days but have we done the “body work?”

There is a midrash that tells the story of Hillel the Elder finishing a lesson and then joining his students as they left the Beit Midrash. When they saw that their teacher had joined the group the students asked, “Rabbi, where are you walking to?” Hillel said to them, “To fulfill a commandment.” They then asked, “And what commandment is this?” Hillel answered, “To bathe in the bathhouse.” Curious they asked, “But is this really a commandment?” And Hillel answered, “ Yes, just like the statues of kings that are set up in the theatres and circuses, the one who is appointed over them bathes them and scrubs them as a way of honouring the person pictured. How much more so should we take care to honor the Divine Image in ourselves.” (Vayikra Rabbah 34:3)

Hillel was teaching that caring for our bodies is another way of honoring God. Further, keeping our physical being well and cared for allows us to celebrate and worship with our whole selves.

So now that we have made our cheshbon nefesh, our accounting of our souls and our plans for spiritual growth, it is time for us to make take a physical accounting – have I been eating as well as I could? Could I find time for a walk a few times a week? Is it time for a check up with my doctor? Can I try to get to bed just one hour earlier? Have I been caring for myself in a way that honors my body, God’s amazing handiwork?

Over the Yamim Noraim we set ourselves the task of spiritual growth. That alone is daunting, but we must also nurture our God-given flesh and blood bodies. Only when we do this will we find real wholeness and the strength to go forth – Lech Lecha – for our own selves and for the challenges that God has set for us in the world.