This week we move from the universal stories of Creation and
Noah to the particularistic story of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs. God calls
Avraham, the first father or patriarch to leave his ancestral house and go the
land that God will show him. In what will become familiar to us as Avraham’s
M.O. – Avraham is unflinching in his response – he goes ahead and goes.
But Avraham is not always so sure of himself or God. Through
this parasha and in the ones to follow, we see how he questions and doubts. We
catch him, for example, wondering aloud, and even laughing out loud at how God
will possibly be able to deliver on the promise to him to be the father of a
great nation, when he and his wife are in their nineties, and Sarah is barren.
As we read together, I want us to think about who this man
is, whom God singles out to bear the covenantal blessing. Let’s think about
what it means to be a patriarch, in our tradition.
You may remember that as we neared the end of Deuteronomy, I
was looking to you for suggestions for new approaches to our study. Thanks to some
great responses, I’ve decided that this week, and throughout the year, we’ll be
looking at Everett Fox’s translation, alongside our Etz Hayyim commentaries, to
give us a new perspective on the text. Fox’s translation brings out the rhythm
and sounds of the Hebrew language, and his translation tends to be more literal
than literary.
Here is an example of Fox’s work, from the opening of our
parasha, Genesis 12:1-2:
“YHWH said to Avram:
Go-you-forth
from your land,
from your kindred,
from your father’s house,
to the land that I will let you see.
I will make a great nation of you
and will give-you-blessing
and will make your name great.
Be a blessing!
I also will be pulling out a couple key Hebrew words or
roots that appear in the text to give us some focus and to add to your
vocabulary. This week’s roots are:
Ra-ah (to see)
Zera (seed)
Eretz (land)
Looking forward to studying with you tomorrow!
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