Lech Lecha - לך לך : "Go out"
Torah : Genesis 12:1-17:27
Haftarah : Isaiah 40:27-41:16
Gospel : Matthew 5-7

Thought for the Week:

Abraham, our father, was tested with ten trials, and he withstood them all; demonstrating how great was Abraham's love [for God], Abraham, our father. Peace be upon him. (m.Avot 5.3)

Commentary:

Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. (Genesis 12:10)

Not long after his arrival in Canaan, Abraham's newfound faith was sorely tested. Though God had promised to give the land to Abraham's children, that seemed like a remote possibility. Abraham had no children, and the land was already occupied by the Canaanite nations. To make matters worse, a drought brought on a severe famine.

Abraham had no choice but to pack up his wife, his servants, his flocks and his herds and trave...