Abraham’s aliyah – Lech L’cha
The portion begins (Gen. 12:1) with the call to Avraham to take himself to the land God will show him. The details are not spelled out, but everything in the story confirms that it is Eretz Yisra’el that God has in mind.
It is characteristic of Avraham that here and in the Akedah he unhesitatingly obeys when God gives him an extraordinary call. In both places he responds without being informed of the exact address to which he is going. It is enough that God calls him.
The rabbis point out that there are four Biblical figures who receive a remarkable demand – Avraham, Ya’akov, Moshe and Sh’mu’el – and in each case God shows His unbounded love of the individual by doubling his name.
In Avraham’s case the call is to go on Aliyah and find unique inspiration in the Promised Land.
These days there are people who make Aliyah and then leave because they can’t quite find what they want in Israel, but there is a remarkable statistic that with all the difficulties, people in Israel are amongst the happiest on earth.
