Parashat Lekh Lekha/ParashahSummary
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Parashat Lekh Lekha – Summary
- Parashat Lekh Lekha begins with God's commandment to Avram (Avraham's original name) to leave his country and go to Canaan. The parashah describes Avram's travels within the land, the challenges he faces, and the repeated Divine promises that he will be blessed with many children who will inherit the land of Canaan.
- Initial Migrations – In Chapter 12, God commands Avram to journey to an unidentified land and promises to make him into a great nation. Avram, together with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, migrate to the land of Canaan. Due to a famine, Avram descends to Egypt where Sarai is taken to Paroh's harem. God punishes Paroh for taking Sarai, whereupon Paroh returns Sarai to Avram.
- Lot Leaves – Chapter 13 tells of the tension between the shepherds of Avram and Lot which leads Avram to suggest that they part company. Lot opts to settle in Sedom, a city of sinners.
- Battle of the Kings – Chapter 14 describes the battle of the four Mesopotamian kings over the five Canaanite kings of the Sedom region, in which Lot is taken captive. Avram then gathers an army with which he defeats the four kings and returns all of the captives and spoils to the king of Sedom.
- Covenant of the Pieces – Hashem reveals to Avram in Chapter 15 that his descendants will be exiled and enslaved for 400 years. God also promises that he will subsequently punish their oppressors and that Avram's descendants will leave with great wealth and return to the land of Canaan.
- Hagar Part I – In Chapter 16, Sarai, still childless, suggests that Avram marry her maidservant, Hagar. Once Hagar becomes pregnant, she begins to disrespect Sarai. This causes Sarai to treat her harshly, which in turn leads Hagar to flee to the desert. There, Hagar encounters an angel who instructs her to return to Sarai and informs her that she will give birth to a son, Yishmael, who will father a populous nation.
- Covenant of Circumcision – In Chapter 17, Hashem changes Avram and Sarai's names to Avraham and Sarah, symbolizing that a multitude of nations will come from them. God commands Avraham, at age 99, to circumcise himself and his descendants as a sign of the covenant between them and God. Hashem also promises Avraham that he and Sarah will have a son whom they will call Yitzchak. The story closes with Avraham circumcising himself and his entire household.
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