Parshat Lech Lecha 5784 (2023)

Life is uncertain. When we go to bed each night, we honestly do not know if we will wake up in the morning. When we leave the house in the morning, we do not know if we will ever come back. When we step into a car, or get on a scooter—especially in the chaotic streets of Taiwan—we do not know if we will reach our destination. Many people have not, and many more won’t. This is reality. This is the way of the world.

But most of us learn how to live with this uncertainty. Some of us cannot, and being unable to do so can manifest itself in poor mental health.

But for the most part, we accept this as a part of life, and we carry on. Perhaps we make sure to say “I love you” before leaving home, or make sure to call someone before boarding a plane, since we know—that it IS possible—that this is the last time we may ever get the chance to do so. Yet, we don’t let it bother us too much as we go about our lives.

However, the uncertainty that we are facing now is more acute. It is more painful. Somehow the possibility, of not only us, but people to whom we are connected, not having the chance to come home—it is visceral. We can physically feel it. Especially since so many have recently lost that chance, and more are losing that chance each and every day.

According to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, when a person experiences this sort of uncertainty, the sort of painful kind of uncertainty that makes you lose sleeps, that sticks with you throughout your day—the kind of uncertainty that we are all experiencing now—when this happens, it means that you are being put through a Divine trial. The universe is testing you.

As proof, Rabbi Nachman points to this week’s parshah, when Abraham and Sarah are told to leave the land of their parents, their people—their home—and wander out into the desert into an unspecified place that God “will” tell them. WILL tell them…after they’ve already left everything and everyone they know behind them, and are somewhere unfamiliar in an unfriendly wilderness.

The essence of a Divine trial is to be in a state of doubt and confusion.

We like to put Biblical figures on a pedestal, but for just a minute, imagine the uncertainty that Abraham and Sarah felt as they discussed whether or not they should embark on their journey. What do you think that conversation sounded like? They had a stable life in Mesopotamia, a fertile place that was full of orchards, greenery, and clean water. Yet, they decided to leave everything behind because they understood that, in addition to being commanded to leave, they were being tested.

When Abraham got this order, he was 75 years old. 75 years old! Do you know who else this year celebrated their 75th birthday?

The modern State of Israel!

Yes. Israel, at the age of 75, the same age as Abraham, is going through a test. We are all going through a test, just like Abraham did.

So how do we pass this test? How? There is no rubric we can look to. While we can look at the Jewish tradition, with its hundreds of thousands of texts as the required texts for this class that we call life, but there isn’t a syllabus that tells us exactly how to pass this course. So, to understand HOW to pass this test, we need to understand more about the test itself.

Quoting Rabbi Nachman, his key disciple, Rabbi Nathan, explains what a Divine trial is, and what is the actual desired learning outcome of a trial. He says:

Likutei Halachot

Orach Chaim, Laws of Tachanun, Chapter 5:8

The essential characteristic of a Divine trial…is the fact that a person is not “full in their knowledge” regarding the trial, for if their knowledge was full, it would not be a trial at all. Thus, God tested Abraham by not revealing the destination to him SO THAT HE WOULD BE CONFUSED AND FULL OF DOUBTS…

 וְזֶה עִקַּר הַנִּסָּיוֹן…שֶׁבִּשְׁעַת הַנִּסָּיוֹן שֶׁל כָּל הָאָדָם, אֵין הָאָדָם בְּדַעְתּוֹ בִּשְׁלֵמוּת בְּעִנְיַן הַנִּסָּיוֹן, כִּי אִם הָיָה דַּעְתּוֹ שָׁלֵם בָּזֶה, לֹא הָיָה לוֹ נִסָּיוֹן כְּלָל וְכָל זֶה הוּא עִנְיָן הַנַּ"ל שֶׁהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ נִסָּה אֶת אַבְרָהָם וְלֹא גִּלָּה לוֹ אֶת הָאָרֶץ מִיָּד כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיֶה נָבוֹךְ וּמְסֻפָּק.

 

I don’t think that there is a single person here who is not confused. How could this attack happen? How did Israeli intelligence not know? And perhaps the most confusing question: where do we go from here?

Also troubling, is what to do with this rise in the expression of antisemitism? People you may have thought were friends, are either silent about what is happening in Israel, or silent about the massacre that Hamas perpetrated and very vocal about the crisis in Gaza. Or even worse, saying that the massacre “did not happen in a vacuum.”

 How can someone NOT be confused and full of doubts given all of these factors?

 So, this is the test. If you were in your comfort zone, there would be no test. If you knew exactly what to do, there would be no test. So the fact that you feel confused and full of doubts is indicative of the fact that you are being tested.

So, what is the point of this test? What is the point?

This trial, in part, is meant to help you realize that all of the external trappings of your life that you are so accustomed to, that you identify with, are shallow and superfluous. And what remains, the only things that TRULY keep you going in this world, are your relationships with other people, and your relationship to the Divine.

Have you ever heard of the term “fair weather friends”? A fair-weather friend is someone who is your friend when the “weather is fair,” when life is OK and you aren’t going through any struggles. We’ve all had friends like those in our lives. When things are going good, they are just a text or phone call away. But, as soon as you are down on your luck, as soon as you need something, they are nowhere to be found.

The Jewish people collectively, and each of us individually, has probably discovered that some people who we held close to our hearts were fair weather friends. We might not actually want to admit that is happening, but now that I’ve said it, you know it has crossed your mind about a few people.

But, at the same time, I am sure there are people who you’ve recently discovered care more about you than you knew. You’ve received a message asking how you’re doing, seen a post on social media, or perhaps someone—due to the popularity of anti-Zionism right now—someone who doesn’t dare to speak out for fear of being socially or professionally ostracized given the current climate, but has liked one of your posts.

So, passing this test requires us to figure out who our true friends are, and connect deeper to them. To strengthen those bonds. They don’t have to agree with you politically, and it doesn’t matter what their race, religion, or culture is.

So while some corners of your social circle might get leaner, they also gets meaner—in a good way, not a mean way. Someone can have 1000 friends on Facebook and have no one to call at 3:00am when you can’t sleep.

So, as we go through this trial, the same sort of trial that Abraham went through when he was 75, and the same one that Israel is going through at the very same age, take this opportunity to identify who your fair-weather friends are, and who really would have your back when you are down.

It is also a time to do some introspection, and see to whom are you a fair-weather friend? Who would you be for when their back is against the wall? And whose texts would cause you to silent the notifications on your phone? It goes both ways.

Like I said when I began, life is uncertain. Life is also very short. Too short to waste your time not strengthening and exploring the relationships that truly mean the most.

 

Shabbat Shalom.