HaMizrachi Weekly (UK Edition) - Parashat Lech Lecha 5784

LECH LECHA 5784 My People ​Rabbi Andrew Shaw Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK

I have changed.

Life has not been the same since October 7th – I am sure it is the same for many of us. My emotions are all over the place. Thankfully our work for Mizrachi is the perfect way to respond to a lot of what is going on.

One of those changes has been my need to listen to only Israeli music. I have become an expert on the songs of Ishay Ribo, Chanan Ben Ari, Akiva and others.

Many of these artists have been travelling round Israel singing at impromptu weddings, hospitals and army bases. Giving hope and chizuk to thousands.

Why am I only listening to them and others? I think deep down, I need to hear the songs of my people from our land.

I also can’t listen or watch the lies and the hatred. What I can watch is the miracles, the kindness and the beauty of my people – and Baruch Hashem there is a lot to watch.

We have to understand something very important, and we will be reading it this Shabbat.

This current war we are in with Hamas and others has its roots not in the present day; it began in 1948……3835 years ago – with the birth of Avraham in 1948.

In 2023, when Avraham was 75, Hashem spoke to him: ‫שׁר אְַרֶֽאָךּ‬ ֶ ‫תָּך וִּמֵבּית אִָביָך ֶאל־ָהאֶָרץ ֲא‬ ְ ‫הוָה ֶאל־אְַבָרם ֶלְך־ְלָך ֵֽמאְַרְצָך וִּמֽמּוַֹלְד‬ ֹ ְ‫א וַֹיּאֶמר י‬: ‫שֶׁמָך וְֶֽהיֵה ְבָּרָֽכה‬ ְ ‫שָׂך ְלגוֹי גָּדוֹל וֲַֽאָבֶרְכָך וֲַֽאגְַדָּלה‬ ְ ‫ב וְֶֽאֶע‬: ‫חת ָֽהֲאָדָֽמה‬ ֹ ‫שְׁפּ‬ ְ ‫אר וְִנְבְרכוּ ְבָך ֹכּל ִמ‬ ֹ ‫ג וֲַֽאָֽבְרָכה ְמָבֲרֶכיָך וְּמַקֶלְּלָך אָ‬:

1. And the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you.

2. And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and [you shall] be a blessing.

3. And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you."

These three pesukim are the beginning of our journey, a nearly 4000-year connection to the land of Israel. These three pesukim contain, in a microcosm, the whole of our history.

Avraham was born into a world of paganism, a world of idolatry and a world of child sacrifice. Yet he chose a different path. He journeyed in a different direction. He charted a radically different course. He made a covenant with God. And from this one man evolved our people, a people unlike any other.

A people who crossed paths with virtually every great civilization in history.

A people whose history is unlike any other.

A people whose impact on humanity is unprecedented.

Our people – the Jewish people.

As Paul Johnson said:

“It is almost beyond our capacity to imagine how the world would have fared if they [the Jews] had never emerged. Certainly, the world without the Jews would have been a radically different place. Humanity might have eventually stumbled upon all the Jewish insights, but we cannot be sure. To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, sanctity of life, dignity of the human person, social responsibility, peace as an idea, and many other items which constitute the basic furniture of the human mind. Without it, the world might have been a much emptier place.”

And from the wonderful video ‘The mystery of the Jews’.

The story of Avraham, and the story of the Jews, is the story of one man who dared to be different, and his descendants – a people whose wandering was endless, whose persecution was unremitting, whose vision for a better world was unparalleled, whose belief in one God, and their commitment to His Torah, and the dream of returning to their homeland, were unshakeable. One man – and from him, one people – who dared to be different.

He was called, Avraham ha Ivri. Why? I learnt so many years ago as a teenager that he was called Ha Ivri as the Midrash explains: According to Rabbi Yehuda, it is meant to tell us a theological message, namely that the whole world was on one side – idolatry – while Avram was alone on the other – in recognizing Hashem. Avraham truly dared to be different.

My life has been internalising that message. From Haberdashers to Leeds University – I was proud to stand out, to be different. To leave early Friday’s, to build a succah in the headmaster’s garden, to make the minyan at Leeds Hillel every day– to be a Jew, whatever it took.

Last Sunday I went with my youngest son to Trafalgar Square, to be with my people.

We were there to demand to bring the hostage’s home. It was a solemn occasion, there was almost complete silence as we heard the names of all the hostages read out, the babies, the children and the elderly – our silence was shock and disbelief.

We ended with Hatikvah, thousands of Jews together singing together our anthem of hope.

However, that was not the end. First there was Mincha , as people from all around joined.

Then there were Tehillim.

And then there was a kumsitz, singing, praying. Then the young people took over, flags waving, singing their hearts out to Ani Maamin, Im Eshkacech and Am Yisrael Chai.

‘Lech Lecha’ said Hashem, it was ours, it always has been, it always will be.

However, as we also learn this week:

Now the sun was ready to set, and a deep sleep fell upon Avram, and behold, a dread, a great darkness was falling upon him. Bereishit 15:12 We felt that darkness at Trafalgar Square, we see and hear it everywhere – but we were not going to be defeated by it.

Avraham Avinu, if you could have been there, you would have been so proud of what your nation has become. Look at their faith, their belief, their wisdom, their deeds, their contributions – despite the darkness.

We are brave and we are strong and with Hashems help – we will win.

What is happening in Israel and around the world is our nation becoming one again.

We are remembering who we are, we are the children of Avraham and Sarah, we are the nation that stood and Sinai and received the Divine guide to transform the world, we are the people that never stopped believing we would return to our homeland and we are the people who will fight to defend that land from our enemies.

Yes, there is darkness, but there is also light.

And our enemies had better be careful.

As Sir Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol said about us in the 18th Century:

“The preservation of the Jews is really one of the most single and illustrious acts of divine providence. What, but a supernatural power, could have preserved them in such a manner as no other nation has been preserved. And no less remarkable, is the destruction of their enemies. Let it serve as a warning to all those who, at any time or occasion, are raising a clamour or persecution against them.”

As Lech Lecha tells us above “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.”

The stories we are hearing from Israel are both inspiring and heartbreaking – but not normally both at the same time. Rav Doron Perez is a close friend as well as the global head of Mizrachi. His eldest son Yonatan was shot in the first battles on Oct 7th. He thankfully recovered and got married last week. His younger son was also involved in similar battles but is missing presumed captured by Hamas. Yesterday he gave a shiur to the world.

We truly are a Goi Gadol, a great nation – maybe not great in number, but great in

so many other ways. 3835 years ago, in 2023, that journey began – and millennia later – here we are, it is 2023 and Avraham’s legacy is still being lived.

So, it is time we all stepped up and connected to those fighting our fight in Israel. We know thousands of soldiers have put down their sefarim to go to defend our land, so we are asking you collectively to pick up your sefarim and each week we will complete the whole of Tenach from Bereishit to Divrei Hayamim – to learn our history, our people, our connection to Eretz Zavat Chalav u Dvash.

We have divided the Tenach into 132 sections – the Gematria of Al Lev – upon the heart. Each week you simply select your portion and together we will complete, each week the entire Tenach in the merit of our Chalayim. We will be emailing how to download the app early next week.

So yes, our enemies will hate, they will lie, but we must remember. ‫תּה ִעָמִּדי‬ ָ ‫גַּם ִֽכּי־ֵאֵלְך ְבּגֵיא ַצְלָמוֶת ֹלא־ִאיָרא ָרע ִכּי־אַ‬

Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness, I fear no harm, for You are with me I will end with one of the mostspecial videos I was sent.

An angelic voice reciting the prayer for the IDF

May the Almighty cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor. May He lead our enemies under our soldiers’ sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is the Lord your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you.

Amen We are blessed to be Jewish, we are blessed to have Israel, we are blessed to have Torah

Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael al pi Torat Yisrael.

Shabbat Shalom

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