The Torah portion of “Lech Lecha” begins with Hashem’s command of “Lech lecha…” to Avraham: "Go forth from your native land and from your father's house to the Land that I will show you" (Bereshit 12:1).
Rashi explains: “For your benefit and good. There I will make you into a great nation, whereas here [outside of the Land] you will not merit to have offspring. Also I will make your name known throughout the world.” According to Rashi, the word “lecha” points to the reason for the journey – for Avraham’s benefit.
Rebbe Moshe Alshich, in his commentary to the Torah, also explains the meaning of “lecha.” He writes: “Know this: when you are outside the Land [of Israel], you are not connected to your roots, and you are not essentially complete, instead it is as if part of you is separated from another part: for you are separated from your core and your roots. However, when you go to the Land, you are like one who goes and connects to your essential self and your roots. And this is [the meaning of] ‘lech lecha’ - for you are going to yourself and to your essence.”
According to the Alshich, the word “lecha” is not referring to the reason for the journey, but rather to where Avraham is going. He is going to discovery his true self. He is going to connect with himself and with his root which he is missing so long as he is in chutz l’Aretz (outside the Land of Israel). As long as you are in Ur Kasdim, or in Haran, or in any other place on the globe which is not in Eretz Yisrael, you are disconnected from yourself!
The commentaries of Rashi and the Alshich do not contradict but rather complement one another. While Rashi explains that the journey is coming to benefit Avraham, the Alshich explains that the benefit derives from its bringing Avraham to personal completion. Outside of the Land of Israel, Avraham will not have children. Also his true nature cannot be revealed in the world because he isn’t in the place he belongs and thus he cannot be complete where he is. Only in the Land that Hashem will show him can he become the founder of a great nation. Only when he connects to his inner self can he be truly who he is and fulfill his mission in the world.
Avraham, like the rest of our Forefathers, represents the microcosm of Am Yisrael, the seed from which the Israelite nation grew. The characteristics which will develop later in the nation spring forth from him. So too, just as Eretz Yisrael is the root of Avraham Avinu, it is also the root of the soul of the entire Jewish Nation. Eretz Yisrael is the natural place for the growth of the nation. Only in the Land of Israel can Am Yisrael achieve fullness and play out its Divine Role in the world.
In the Torah portion of Behukotei, Hashem promises us that He will remember the Covenant which He made with our Forefathers; “And I will remember My Covenant with Yaakov; and also My Covenant with Yitzhak; and also My Covenant with Avraham I will remember; and the Land I will remember” (Vayikra 26:42). Our Sages ask why does Hashem mention the merit of the Forefathers and also the merit of the Land of Israel with them (Vayikra Rabbah 36:5). In the Midrash, Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish employs a parable to answer:
“There was a king who had three sons and one of his maidservants raised them all. Every time the king would inquire of the wellbeing of his sons he would say, ‘Tell me how the maidservant is feeling.’ Similarly, every time the Holy One Blessed Be He mentions the Forefathers, He mentions the Land of Israel with them.”
The simple meaning of this Midrash is that the principal mentioning is Hashem’s remembering the merit of the Forefathers, and that, by the way, He also mentions the merit of the Land - like the king who inquires after the wellbeing of his sons and, by the way, asks how their caregiver is doing.
The Maharal sheds light on a completely different way of interpreting this Midrash (“Derech Haim” 5:9) in a much deeper and meaningful fashion. First, he focuses on the verse, noting: “It would have been more fitting that the verse said ‘And I will remember the Land’ meaning because of the merit of the Forefathers I will remember the Land. But the verse says ‘And the Land I will remember’ meaning that the mentioning of the Forefathers and the mentioning of the Land are on an equal level.”
The language of the verse informs us that the remembrance of the Land does not only derive from the remembrance of the Covenant of the Forefathers. On the contrary, this is an independent remembering equal to the remembrance of the Forefathers. Therefore it is impossible to interpret the Midrash in its simple context which we mentioned previously suggesting that the mention of the Land was merely “by the way.”
In the light of this careful analysis the Maharal teaches us the deep meaning of our Sages:
“The expression ‘One of his maidservants raised them all’ comes to teach us that the exalted level of our Forefathers was attained precisely because of the Land [the maidservant], for if they had not been in the Land our Forefathers they would not have reached their exalted holiness. Thus it was the Land which raised them to their greatness!”
The king in the parable does not ask merely out of politeness about the welfare of the woman who raised his children. The sons of the king could not have attained their proper maturity without the faithful nurturing and care of the maidservant. Therefore her role was essential! The growth and development of king’s sons depended on the woman who raised them. That is why the king asks about her welfare. Since she is the prime factor in their progress in life the king is sincerely concerned for her wellbeing.
From this we learn the relationship between our Forefathers and the Land of Israel. The founders of our nation could not have attained their exalted status without the accompanying nurturing of the Holy Land.
Here too the Forefathers represent the forming kernel of the Israelite nation which stemmed from them. Given this understanding, the connection between Am Yisrael and its Land is one of essential inner oneness. It is the Land of Israel which nurtures the nation and enables it to reach its full fruition as the beacon of Hashem amongst the other nations of the world. This exalted mission can only come about in the Land of Hashem.
The “Ohr HaChaim” explains the two-sided nature of the words “to the Land that I will show you” in Hashem’s initial command to Avraham. The Land of Israel is a match for Avraham and he is a match for the Land. One without the other could not draw down the Shechinah into the world nor guarantee the nation’s successes. Hashem couples one with the other as in a perfect Shidduch, and from this match-up a wondrous creation is born – the revelation of Hashem’s Presence in the world.
When Avraham Avinu arrives in the Land, Hashem appears to him and says, “To your offspring I will give this Land” (Bereshit 12:7). Avraham responds by building an altar to Hashem who has revealed Himself to him. Rashi explains why Avraham was motivated to bring an offering to Hashem: “For the good news of future offspring and the good news that they will inherit the Land.” This is the first time that Avraham is told that he will have offspring and that they will merit the gift of Eretz Yisrael. By constructing an altar and offering sacrifices Avraham expresses his gratitude to Hashem over these happy tidings.
The Ramban comments on the end of the verse; “and he built an altar to Hashem who appeared to him.” The Ramban adds upon Rashi’s commentary by emphasizing the words “who appeared to him.”
"He gave thanks to the Honored Name and offered a thanksgiving sacrifice because Hashem had appeared to him, for until this point Hashem had not appeared to him and had not made Himself known to him in a vision or in a discernible manifestation.”
Previously, when Avraham was told “Lech lecha” it was in a dream or through the channel of Ruach HaKodesh. He builds an altar now, and not before, because Hashem has appeared to him on a higher level. The Ramban explains that there is great difference between the first revelation of “Lech lecha” outside the Land of Israel and this second revelation upon Avraham’s arrival in the Land. The first visitation was via a dream or Ruach HaKodesh and not through the direct channel of prophecy which Avraham now experienced with Hashem’s actual “appearing” upon him. This more intimate revelation is what inspires Avraham to give thanks.
There are different levels of Divine Revelation. It is impossible to compare a revelation which occurs in chutz l’Aretz with a revelation that transpires in Eretz Yisrael which is far more powerful and direct – a totally different level!
In the book “HaKuzari” Rabbi Yehuda Halevi writes that prophecy occurs only in Eretz Yisrael or in regards to Eretz Yisrael [such as the prophecy received by Moshe in Egypt to bring the Jews to Israel]. Another example is “Lech lecha” - the Divine Communication which Avraham received instructing him to journey to Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Yehuda Halevi explains regarding Avraham: “The chosen one of the treasured people, after ascending the necessary levels of perfection and becoming worthy to cleave to the Divine Influence, was transferred from his place of residence to the only place where he could reach ultimate perfection - the Land of Israel” (“HaKuzari” 2:14).
As we learned, what was true for Avraham is also true for his offspring and for the nation which they formed. Just as our Forefathers could only reach perfection in the Land which Hashem created for them, Am Yisrael as a whole can only reach perfection and become a light to the world, bringing the word of Hashem to mankind when it is ensconced in its entirety in the Land chosen for them – in Eretz Yisrael.
[From Rabbi Drukman’s book “Maaseh Avot.” Translation by Tzvi Fishman.]