Rabbinic Reflections: Issue 302

Lech Lecha

October 23, 2026

Dear CAS Friends,

The phrase Lech Lecha — literally, “go forth” or “go for yourself” — appears only twice in the entire Torah, and both times it’s spoken to the same person: Abraham.

The first Lech Lecha comes at the very beginning of his story, in Genesis 12:1

לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך

Lech lecha mei’artzecha u’mi’moladetecha u’mi’beit avicha el ha’aretz asher ar’eka

Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

This is the moment Abram — not yet called Abraham — begins his spiritual journey. God tells him to leave everything familiar: his home, his culture, his sense of identity. It’s a leap into the unknown. He must have felt nervous and unsure, predicting the worst possible outcomes. And yet, we see him grow into a person of influence and faith, respected among kings, and ultimately blessed with a child he once thought he’d never have.

But years later, there’s another Lech Lecha. This one comes in Genesis 22:2, at the story of the Binding of Isaac (Akeidat Yitzchak):

קח נא את בנך... ולך לך אל ארץ המריה

Kach na et bincha... ve’lech lecha el eretz haMoriah

Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go forth to the land of Moriah.

It’s the same phrase — but a completely different moment. Now Abraham is older, wiser, and established. He’s already left his home, fought battles, made covenants, and built a family. He has every reason to feel settled. And yet again, he’s called to go — to move, to change, to enter another test.

It’s as if God says: you never graduate from the journey. Every time you think you’ve arrived, you’re asked to start again.

I feel exhausted for Abraham. Again? Another moment of uncertainty, another step into the unknown? But maybe that’s the very message of Lech Lecha.

Life is full of these moments — times when, just as we think we’ve figured it out, something shifts. A change in work, family, health, perspective — and suddenly we’re beginners again, learning how to walk in new terrain.

The lesson of Lech Lecha is not about mastering the unknown — it’s about learning to walk with it. To stay humble enough to begin again, open enough to be reshaped, and brave enough to remain a novice — even after all we’ve learned.

So as you move through the week ahead, if life feels uncertain or like you’re starting over, remember: this, too, is your Lech Lecha.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Dahlia Bernstein

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