Parshas Lech Lecha - The Lifelong Journey of Staying Young & Hungry

For the very first time in my life, I attended a shacharis minyan that said selichos for בה"ב , an acronym for the days of the week. Translating the Hebrew letters into their Engligh letters, ‘Beis’, two and ‘Hey’, five, combined they relate to Monday, Thursday, Monday. The Rabbis instituted a series of three fast days after the Yomim Tovim of Pesach and Sukkos. Traditionally observed to atone for any inadvertent lightheadedness, overindulgence, or distractions that may have occurred during the extended festival, particularly during Chol HaMoed. Current practice tells us that complete fasting is rare today; many Ashkenazi communities instead recite special Selichot prayers during these days. The fast is voluntary, and people in poor health or with low energy do not need to observe the fast (which pretty much includes everyone). As I recited the selichos, I came across a line that I mentioned last week: אַל תַּשְׁלִיכֵנוּ לְעֵת זִקְנָה, כִּכְלוֹת כֹּחֵנוּ אַל תַּעַזְבֵנוּ -“Do not cast us away in old age; do not forsake us when our strength fails”. It did not take long for this phrase to smack me in the face this week.

My sister arranged for us to go on a “new” tunnel tour. My wife and I were the youngest of the attendees, and that is enough to be said about my age. But the real wake up call came as we traveled by bus to Yerushalayim. We left during the morning rush hour where the busses are “SRO”- Standing Room Only. I guess my ticket was stamped “SRO”. I was holding on to the arm rests when, just as the bus began to roll out, a young man and started to speak in a quick Hebrew that I didn’t understand. However, from his actions I was piecing together the scenario that he thought that I was some kind of old man who needed to sit down. He immediately jumped up to offer me his seat. Surprised, I blurted out in my broken Hebrew, “You are giving me your seat?! Are you kidding me? Do I look that old?” He did not flinch, insisting that I sit down. I finally convinced him that I am NOT old, and I am NOT going to take his seat, but said, “Thank you very much.” He sat down and about two minutes later an older man (even older than I) got on the bus and this nice, polite, young man once again offered his seat. The man was grateful as he slumped into the seat. So, it worked out the “deserving real old man” got the seat from the younger fella.

It is difficult for me to think that I am aging and getting older. At a certain point I will need to come to terms with this physical reality. Getting old - or older - is a mindset that does bear a reaction to our physical state. If we act old, we become older, if we act young, we can maintain a youthful existence despite a gradual decline in our physical capabilities. I remained committed to being youthful and insisted I would rather stand than take a seat from someone younger than I. We encounter choices of how “young” we want to be on a daily basis. If we are faced with a challenge, we can either give up and throw in the towel, saying “I’m done” or “I can’t do this anymore” (and take the offered seat) or rise to the challenge and react the same way I would have done thirty years ago. Tzadikim live life to the fullest because they live by overcoming the challenges of life. I see this immediately with Avraham Avinu.

In this week’s Parsha Lech Lecha the Torah states in Bereishis 12:1 "ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך" “And G-d said to Avram, “Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from the house of your father to the land that I will show you”. Avram is a middle-aged man (he was seventy-five and lived to one hundred seventy-five) and is commanded to uproot his family and just go. Once he reached the land of Canaan, he was thrust into another challenge only a few pesukim later. In Bereishis 12:10 the Torah states "ויהי רעב בארץ, וירד אברם מצרימה לגור שם כי כבד הרעב בארץ" "And there was a famine in the land, and Avram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land." We should never know of such a test as going hungry, but this test of famine is not limited to physical hunger; it is a spiritual one as well.

An often-quoted Midrash in Rus Rabbah 1:4, Bereishis Rabbah 25:2, and 64:10 lists ten famines that Hashem decreed to come upon the world to test or chasten humanity. In the days of Adam (Bereishis 3:17), in the days of Lamech (Bereishis 5:29,) n the days of Avram (Bereishis 12:10), in the days of Yitzchak (Bereishis 26:1), in the days of Jacob (Bereishis 45:6), in the days when the judges judged (Rus 1:1), in the days of Dovid HaMelech (Shmuel II 21:1), in the days of Eliyahu HaNavi (Melachim I 17:1), and in the days of Elisha HaNavi(Kings II 6:25). A future/ongoing spiritual famine for the words of the Al-Mighty is quoted in Amos 8:11. The third famine took place during Avraham’s time; final famine will take place in the future times preceding Moshiach. The Navi says הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים, נְאֻם ה' אלוקים וְהִשְׁלַחְתִּי רָעָב, בָּאָרֶץ: לֹא-רָעָב לַלֶּחֶם, וְלֹא-צָמָא לַמַּיִם--כִּי אִם-לִשְׁמֹעַ, אֵת דִּבְרֵי ה' :“Behold, the days come, says Hashem G-D, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Hashem”. Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer states that this last famine will be the most difficult of all. But that is a perplexing statement. Is there not a bigger blessing/bracha than for people to be thirsty for the word of G-d? Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the Ponevezher Rov, explains that the way a person survives famine is by getting by with very little. So much so, that each morsel of bread is eaten with proper concentration causing even the little he has to eat to be considered great. The reality is that at a time when there is famine and thirst, a person is elated, excited and happy to receive even a little bit. This minimum amount a person receives is eaten or drunk without inspecting it; it is savored no matter what it is. This is the difficulty with the last famine. In the end of days, people who are famished and thirsty for Torah become satisfied with even a little Torah and don’t even care what it’s about or its meaning. They become satisfied with just a little Torah.

We need to stay young in the sense that we are hungry for Torah and not satisfied with just a small amount of learning. Every test Hashem gives us is meant to challenge us to rise up and want more; to make a conscientious effort to become ever closer to Him. Parshas Lech Lecha illuminates our journey through the tests of our lives to stay young and hungry, to want to remain strong in our desire to grow and be fulfilled in the pursuit of Torah.

Wishing you and your family Ahh Ghutten Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky