The Task

Lech Lecha 5784

Lecha Lecha - Rabbi Jackson Vance Mercer

Ever since October 7th, we are on a different path than where we thought we were before. We have and are continuing to experience so much sorrow, so much pain. There has been so much loss of life. What is our role in this new world we find ourselves in? I don’t know about you, but sitting here, so far away from Israel, this is a question I have been struggling with a lot over the past few weeks.

The Netivot Shalom explores this question in his commentary on this week’s parashah, Lech Lecha. He says,

אֵינוֹ דוֹמֶה אָדָם לָאָדָם מִיּוֹם בְּרִיאַת אָדָם וְהַלְאָה, וְאֵין אָדָם אֶחָד יָכֹל לְתַקֵּן מָה שֶׁעַל חֲבֵרוֹ לְתַקֵּן. וְהָיִינוּ שֶׁלְּכָל אָדָם יֵשׁ אֶת יַעוּדוֹ וְתַפְקִידוּ אוֹתוֹ עָלָיו לְתַקֵּן בְּחַיָּיו… 

Not one person has been exactly the same as one other person since the creation of the first human beings, and one person cannot fix in the world what their fellow is meant to fix. And it happens that every person has their own destination and task that only they can achieve in their lifetime… 

Each one of us has something they can do in the world that no one else can do, something to fix, some connection to make, some love to give, that only they alone can give. He continues:

וּבְאֹפֶן כְּלָלִי הֲרֵי גַּם כְּפִי הַנִּרְאֶה לָעֵינַיִם יֵשׁ לְכָל אָדָם אֶת יִחוּדוּ שֶׁל מַהֲלַךְ חַיָּיו שֶׁאֵין לְהַשְווֹתוֹ לְמַהַלָּךְ חַיֵּיהֶם שֶׁל אַחֵרִים. וְנֶאֱמַר זֹאת בִּלְשׁוֹן הֲלִיכָה, לְהוֹרוֹת שֶׁזֶּה תַּפְקִידוּ שֶׁל יְהוּדִי, לָלֶכֶת וּלְהִתְקַדֵּם תָּמִיד בְּדַרְכּוֹ אֶל יַעוּדוֹ. 

And in general, it is clear even just to see that each person has their own life path to follow, that cannot be compared to the lifepath of others. And this is all said in the language of walking, to show that this is the task of every Jew, to always be walking and progressing forward on their path towards their destination.

These last few weeks so many of us have just felt stuck. So stuck. So far. So alone. Lech Lecha teaches us to take the brave next step, even if we are doing so alone. For you are not alone. Look up at the stars and try to count them, and know that your people all over the world are looking up there with you, reaching out for connection.

My dear friend Rabbi Jackson Vance Mercer wrote this song, Lech Lecha, while studying abroad in Israel in college. It sings in my heart today. “Feeling alone, just us and danger… what holds us back is what we thought we knew…”

I see you, I hear you. I am here with you. You are not alone. I love you and I am sending you love wherever you find yourself this Shabbat. Love will defeat hate.

Love,

Josh Warshawsky