Parshat Lech Lecha
Many times we are so caught up in the dynamic of producing, achieving, and succeeding that we may never stop to think, “What is life all about? This week’s parsha tells the story of Abraham. When he was just three years old. age, he observed the world of nature with all its perfection, beauty, precision, balance, and came to the conclusion that behind such a perfectly designed world, there must exist an intelligent designer. Abraham had discovered God. Superficially, this conclusion It’s not that surprising. Take any three-year-old to a toy factory and show him the process of designing, making, and assembling. Would he mistakenly think that these toys are produced by accident? Now the special thing about the Abraham’s discovery is that he lived in a world steeped in idolatry. Idolatry is a counterfeit attempt to satisfy the basic human need to connect with a dimension beyond ourselves. For some, this means carving a Buddha statue; for others, buying a new Mercedes. During Abraham’s time, everyone had an idol. Abraham’s discovery is even more remarkable when we consider that his family owned and operated a successful idol shop. One day when Abraham was asked to stay in charge of the store, he took a hammer and broke all the idols except the largest idol. When his father arrived at the store, he was horrified. “What happened !?”, he yelled. “It was amazing, Dad,” Abraham replied. “All the idols got into a fight and the biggest idol won!” His father had no way of answering; Deep down, he knew that Abraham had connected with a deeper truth.
What is the secret of Abraham’s incredible strength, and how can we integrate this lesson into our lives today? The answer is found in the first verse of the parsha. God says to Abraham: “Go to yourself (” Lej Lecha “), away from your country, from your relatives, and from your father’s house.” God tells Abraham that to become truly great, he must “cut the umbilical cord” and embark on a journey of growth and self-discovery, away from the routine of the family. We get stuck in a routine of peer pressure. Old friends. Old habits Authoritarian parents. When I was little, I had a friend who had always wanted to be a lawyer. But his parents wanted him to be a doctor, so they could say “My son the doctor.” He insisted on being a lawyer, they insisted that he be a doctor. The pressure became so great that he spent 10 years in medical school just to satisfy his parents. he didn’t have the strength to break the pressure and live his own life. The first question that each of us must ask ourselves is: Where does my “philosophy of life” come from? Is it essentially a Greek approach to life? Roman? Oriental? Jewish? Just as God said to Abraham: “Go to yourself, away from your country, from your relatives, and from your father’s house.” He did not urge him to automatically reject the values of society. But for his intelligence to forge his way to the truth.
Cortessy from aish.com
George Deek is an Arab-Israeli diplomat. In 2018, Deek was appointed Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan. He is the first Israeli Arab Christian to become an ambassador. Deek grew up in an Eastern Orthodox Christian family in the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, in a building where the other tenants included Muslims, Catholics, Jews and a Catholic priest of Jewish ancestry.[2][3] His father, who worked as a tax advisor,[3] was one of the leaders of the Christian community in Jaffa who served as chairman of the Orthodox Association, and was considered a well-known and popular figure in the city until in 2015 a square was inaugurated in his memory in Jaffa in the presence of Mayor Ron Huldai.[4] According to Deek, his grandparents fled to Lebanon for safety when the 1947–1949 Palestine war, having been told that the Jews would slaughter them if they remained in their homes, but expecting to return home once Arab armies defeated the Jews.[3] According to Deek, when the war ended, his grandparents felt that they had been “deceived”, and decided to return illegally to their home in Jaffa rather than remaining in Lebanon as refugees. Since reentering the country was illegal, Deek’s grandfather, an electrician, was arrested and jailed.
