This week we read in the Torah that Avram is commanded by God to “Go forth (לךלך) from your land and from your birthplace and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

In a careful reading of the Hebrew, the command God gives Avram, “Go forth,” or “Lech l’cha, לךלך” could be read to say, “Go for yourself.” Rabbi Shalom Noah Berezovsky expands on this idea in his book Netivot Shalom.

”Go for yourself. Everything a person encounters in their spiritual and material life, the bad, the good, is given to them so that they will correct their purpose in life. Therefore the verse says. “Go for yourself,” to your purpose, to correct your soul, and to what you are supposed to improve in this world.”

Rabbi Berezovsky discusses the idea that we each have a specific purpose in this world. We are each called to improve ourselves and this world. We are called and commanded to do this in our own unique ways. This week, take a few moments do something to improve yourself and the world around you.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Metz