Ruby Hurwitz – Year 8

Lekh Lekha

In parashat Lekh Lekha some crazy things “go down”. It is centred around Avram, whose name is later changed to Avraham. If you don’t know who he is, he can be referred to as ‘the insane idol smashing ninja’ who went around doing guess what? Smashing idols. Although this is not at all mentioned in the Torah but is a Rabbinic midrash, teaching us that Avraham Rejected the “idols” of his time. He married Sarai, whose name was later changed to Sarah. They decided to go on a road trip to Canaan. Actually, Avram heard a divine voice asking him to set out for Canaan (The Jewish promised land). Tell me, what is great about road trips and holidays in general?

No homework

No school

But most importantly, we can stuff our faces with LOTS of food!

If that is what a holiday is rated on, then this “road trip” was terrible because there was a famine. Talk about a holiday ruiner! Am I right?

Anyway, this ‘road trip’ went further down hill. What’s worse than a famine when on a holiday? When someone tries to steal your significant other! Avram was not having much luck with his road trip because when he got to Egypt the pharaoh started “hitting on Sarai” and tried to add her to his harem. His flirting skills must have been appalling because not only was he sorely rejected but God spread plagues throughout the land for this act (though Pharoah did not know that Sarai was Avram’s wife – he had said she was his sister)

Pharaoh was then so desperate for Abram and Sarai to leave that he paid them to leave.

They clearly must have been pretty annoying. It was either that or the plagues or both.

So they travelled back to Canaan loaded with cash and cattle. Their nephew Lot decided to part ways with them, however, this was short-lived because Lot was abducted by four kings and the “idol smashing ninja” had to come to the rescue. He defeated the four kings and their armies with his idol smashing ninja skills.

Later on God sealed a pact with Avram and told him that Canaan belonged to him and his descendants. This would be amazing news, except for the fact that Avram and Sarai could not have a child. So, to solve this problem their only solution was obviously for Avram to marry his maid Hagar and have a baby with her. Guess what? A baby was born and they named him Yishmael!

But the story does not end here! God sealed another covenant with Avram and his descendants, and introduced circumcision for all males when they were eight days old.

Abraham, as part of the covenant, was also promised that he would father a son from Sarah! Remarkably, Abraham was circumcised at the tender age of 99 years old!

So, although my retelling of this story was a little bit silly and maybe a tiny bit inaccurate there is still a moral. The moral is that you have to work hard for a reward, family comes first, bad events can turn good if you choose to change them,  and there is most likely a price to pay for a great reward.   

Eve Lemberg – Year 10

Lekh Lekha

In this week’s parashah, called lekh lekha, God makes a covenant with Avram promising to make his descendants a great nation. God changes Avram’s name to Avraham. He does this to symbolise a new beginning for Avraham which means “father of multitude”, the hope his children will constitute a great nation.  He has this child with their servent Hagar, as Sarah was not able to have a child.

How can this relate to our life? We are all creatures of habit. Almost by definition, we feel comfortable with the familiar. Change is often scary and stressful. Many of us would rather stick to a painful situation than risk the change. You know what it’s like—moving to a new home or switching to a new school can be quite frightening.

Now consider this: One fine day, God appears to our forefather Avram, and with absolutely no warning, tells him to pack up and move. . . forever.

But the terrifying part of this was: not only was he told to pick up and leave his home, he was not even told where he was supposed to go. And guess what? He was “cool as a cucumber”.

How did he do it? It’s quite simple. Avram knew that the reason he was moving to a new place was for a higher purpose, to better the world. He may not have had a directional compass, but he certainly did have a moral compass. So the geography and topography didn’t matter one bit. When we enter the unknown, empowered with a strong sense of mission and goal, the fears simply fade away.

Our forefather Avraham beat this path for us. Ever since he left the comforts of his home with fearless determination, our people, his children, have inherited his courage and fearlessness.

Think about it like a GPS: you’re about to take a long road trip to a place you’ve never been before. You don’t know the roads, highways, speed limits, etc. So you pull out your phone or GPS and enter your destination. Your nerves are relatively calmer, and you begin your journey with ease. You know that something is guiding you, and will be helping you throughout this unknown expedition.

How much more so can we put our trust in God. Avram knew God was asking him to face change only for a purpose, so why worry?! Leaving childhood and entering adulthood can be scary. But no reason to fear: our over-five-thousand-year-old GPS is working perfectly.