The Eternal said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
Bereshit 12: 1
“Lech Lecha!” With this phrase, the history of the Jewish people begins. It’s brevity and allusiveness have generated a number of creative interpretations: “Go for yourself…”, “Go toward yourself…”, “Get a move on…!”
Thinking outside the box
But for all its potential for midrash, the word “go” isn’t the key word in our parasha. This part of our story is not about going to any particular place but about getting out of where we are. The key word is “chutz”, “out of,” or “outside of.”
The midrash sees this phrase as the secret of Avraham’s becoming the father of the Jewish people.
Avram said: To me You have given no seed. R. Shmuel b. Yitzhak commented: [Avraham said:] “My planetary fate oppresses me and declares: ‘Avram cannot beget a child.’
Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him: “It is indeed as you say: Avram and Sarai cannot give birth—Abraham and Sarah will give birth!”[1]
The challenge of fate
There is a tradition that Avraham was well versed in astrological lore.[2] In our midrash, he is told not to trust in such beliefs, but only in God. There is no lucky star for Israel! This rejection of astrological fate is bound up with the notion of human transformation. Humans can change, and when they do, they alter their future. Avram and Sarai will be given new names as a symbol of their inner transformation.
How is this transformation to be brought about? By a change in perspective!
[God] brought him outside (ha-hutzah)… R’ Yehuda, in the name of R’ Yochanan said: He raised him above the firmament, and said to him, “Gaze now toward the heavens.” “Gaze” means nothing other than from above to below. […] R’ Levi said, “Now you have trodden upon the stars. Those who are below them are within their sway, but you, who are above them are free of them.[3]
God’s response to Avraham’s complaint, “You’ve given me no children,” is implied in the verse: “He brought him outside (hahutza) and said: ‘Look at the heavens.’” R’ Levi gives us the ultimate image of the one who short-circuits destiny: Only one who is beneath the stars need fear them, but you, who are above them, tread on them!
In order for Avram to become Avraham, he will have to leave behind the worldview that is accepted as indisputable fact by his society—that one’s fate is written in the stars.
A change of place and a change of fortune
But this transformation of perspective is not easy. In fact, it can be nearly impossible when we’re surrounded by people telling us it’s impossible! Midrash Rabbah sees God’s command to Avram to “leave your birthplace…” as bound up with Avram’s transformation. In order for Avram to become Avraham, he will have to leave behind the worldview that is accepted as indisputable fact by his society—that one’s fate is written in the stars.
Another midrash extends this further:
When God said to Avraham, “Go from your country […] and I will make of you a great nation, and make your name great; and you will be a blessing”, he said to God: “Lord of the Universe, what benefit is there for me in all these blessings, seeing that I am to leave the world without children?”
God said to Avraham: “You already know that you are not going to have progeny?”
“Lord of the Universe,’ he replied, ‘I have observed this in my stars that I am not going to have progeny!”
“You fear the [portents of the] stars? As you live, just as it is impossible for a man to count the stars, so it will be impossible to count your descendants!”[4]
Not only is the belief in predestination unhealthy; it’s just plain wrong! Just as we can’t count the stars, we can’t read our future in them. Even if they really did determine our fates, the future would still be indeterminate because it is unmeasurable. The stars, in their uncountability, are themselves undetermined. The future is up for grabs!
Avraham must “get out” of his habitual mindset to see the possibility of self-transformation. This might be the true beginning of Judaism as a worldview—the understanding that it isn’t only God Who can perform miracles. It isn’t only God Who can step out of strict causality and alter the world. Mankind too has this capability.
Growth vs. fixed mindsets
The mindset that would have us a slave to fortune carries a heavy penalty in terms of mental health—and even societal health. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Psychologist Carol Dweck points out the difference between “growth vs. fixed” mindsets: people who believe that intelligence is malleable, and that we learn from our mistakes, tend to welcome challenges as tools for growth. In contrast, those who believe that their abilities are fixed for all time tend to be afraid of challenges and are paralyzed by the fear of failure.[5]
The understanding that we are responsible for our fate brings with it greater responsibility, for ourselves and for others. But it is also liberating. We are responsible for who we become, but we can also choose to become other than we are. We are responsible for our wrongdoings, but we can also make amends. If Judaism has a central creed, the belief in free will is perhaps the heart of that creed. It is the foundation of the Jewish notion of teshuvah—return/repentance—the idea that we can always, at any point in our life’s trajectory, take responsibility for our past and choose a different future.
It is not by chance that the midrash quoted above continues:
Three things cancel bad decrees (fates): prayer, charity, and teshuvah…. And some say, even changing one’s place, as it’s said: “God said to Avram, ‘Lech lecha…’[6]
Questions to Ponder
- On several occasions, God promises Avraham that he will become a great nation and a blessing to other nations. Is this not predestination? How would you resolve this seeming paradox?
- Do you feel that Avraham could have refused God’s command to leave his home for parts unknown? If not, does this contradict the notion of free will?
- Have you ever experienced a “lech lecha” moment of your own, where something jolted you out of a self-defeating way of thinking?
Notes
[1] Bereishit Rabbah 44:10.
[2] See Bava Batra 16b.
[3] Bereishit Rabbah 44:12.
[4] Shemot Rabbah 38:6.
[5] Carol Dweck, The Secret to Raising Smarter Kids, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids1/
[6] Midrash Rabba, 44:12
