lech lecha
parashat lech lecha, genesis chapter 12—17
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and thoughts…
Lech Lecha
Go take a walk for yourself
HaShem called to Avram and said, “Lech Lecha.”
Go take a walk for yourself.
Leave your land, your birthplace, your father’s house, and go to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you.
It makes me wonder how my grandparents felt on the boat, sailing from Russia to America in 1903—leaving the only home they’d ever known to take a dangerous journey to a new land. Where would they live? What would it be like? How would they get along, with no knowledge of the culture or the language? But what they did have was hope. Hope that where they were going was better than the life they were coming from.
And so, the text tells us that Avram took his wife, Sarai, his orphaned nephew Lot, and all the people they had converted to the worship of the One Unseen God. He put his fate in God’s hands and set off to go to wherever God would lead him, and these others chose to go with him. There’s no mention of any other reason for their departure, or if they had hopes and dreams about the place they were going to. In fact, they had no idea of where they were going to!
That’s a pretty brave thing to do. Picking up and moving your whole life to a new place is a daunting proposition. Doing it without having any idea of where you’re going to is downright terrifying. But off they went.
Brit Bein HaBetarim
The Covenant of the Pieces
Is there a meter, or a “do not fill above this line” on God’s gifts and mercy?
After Avram’s victory over the war of the four kings, he was worried that his victory might have used up the good fortune he’d earned through his merits. To assuage his fears, God reaffirms the promise that Avram’s descendants will be as numberless as the stars in the sky.
Avram asks for a sign by which he can know that this is true.
God’s response is to tell him to cut a bunch of animals in half.
Okayyyy …
What could be the significance of this?
In the ancient world, when two parties made a pact they would cut up an animal and together they would pass between the parts to seal the deal. So, although it seems bizarre to us, this would have made sense to Avram. But why these particular animals? And why does he need three of each? In addition there are also two birds, both of which are left whole.
As always, there are many interpretations. Here’s one that resonates with me.
The three types of Animals:
Why the calf? The incident of the golden calf has had repercussions throughout our history. It’s at the root of every calamity that has befallen us over the ages.
Why the ram? The ram represents the ram that appeared in the thicket when the angel stopped Avram from sacrificing Isaac.
Why the goat? It represents the goat skin that Jacob covered his arms with in order to trick the aged and blind Isaac into believing that he was his brother, Essav.
Each of these three events were pivotal in the foundation of the Jewish people—without any one of them we would not be who we are. Was Abraham privy to what the future held? His son was not yet born, let alone his grandson. And the golden calf was almost half a century in the future! Every answer raises more questions.
The Number Three:
The strongest, most stable shape in nature is the triangle.
The number three is very powerful.
One is unity, the absolute, God.
Two is conflict, dichotomy, Creation.
Three is the moderator, the harmonizer, Torah.
There are three patriarchs, three festivals, three groups of four tribes around the tabernacle.
We can talk about four another time.
The two birds—the turtle dove, and the young dove—were not divided. Why?
Maybe it’s a prophesy, as well.
These types of birds are often attacked by predators. The Israelites, too will be set upon by predators again and again, but through it all we will persevere and remain whole.
Why two birds? The two birds represent the two kingdoms of Israel, to be reunited in the messianic era to come.
There’s a lot of stuff going on in this parsha that can be studied and analyzed. But my biggest question is, what is this reading saying to me, right now?
It’s time I took a walk for myself.
Figuratively—I’m not leaving town.
When we’re children, the values and opinions of our elders, our family members, become ingrained in us, and although we’re often unaware of it, they continuously shape our reality throughout our lives. The information they give us affects what we think. But it’s what they don’t tell us—what we pick up unconsciously by noting the way they behave and the choices they make, the stuff we absorb organically from our elders on a daily basis (and later, from our friends and from the people we admire)—combined with who they tell us we are— that’s the stuff that’s most profoundly ingrained in us. It affects the way we think, even more than what we think. It affects the way we relate to the world. Ultimately, this is the stuff that affects every decision, big and small, that we make every day.
“But sometimes, it’s that knowledge and understanding we take for granted—those things that seem so fundamentally obvious to us that we don’t even pay them any mind—that are exactly what we need to let go of.
I need to identify, and then walk away from, those things that are holding me back, and be brave enough to step into the unknown—to listen and to hear God’s voice within and to trust that I’m traveling towards the land that God will show me.
Perhaps we all need to do this, wherever we are in our lives, in order to move forward.
Maybe each of us is being told to take a walk for ourselves, to pass between the broken pieces—we all have broken pieces— toward our promised home. And as we walk on, we’re journeying towards the bird, unbroken, that lies ahead at the end of the path. The bird, the creature that flies, represents our higher soul, soaring ever higher at journey’s end.
So, what shall we eat?
If we’re going to be journeying, we’re going to need a way to carry our belongings. Every hobo needs a bindle. And we can forage for mushrooms while we trek through the woods. And perhaps pull some trout from the stream for our dinner.
Hmmmm…..
I could make our bindles out of pasta…Maybe I’ll pick up some fresh lasagna sheets at the supermarket, rather than make my own from scratch… (I don’t have time to make everything from scratch!)
Feel free to make and roll your own pasta sheets if you’d like, but if you start with store bought, these sacchetti are actually very simple to make. I’ll cut the pasta into squares, put a little filling in the center, and then pull the sides up and together to make the little satchels.
Now…what to fill them with? Having been born and raised in the Northeastern United States, autumn in Central Florida always makes me feel a bit off balance. The days are getting shorter, but it’s still pretty warm outside, and there’s nary a trace of color change in the landscape. It’s a little disconcerting.
It occurred to me that if I brought fall to my table, I just might feel a bit more grounded.
And what better way to bring autumn to the table than with fall fruits, with pumpkin, and with warm spices? I’m going to fill those sacchetti with creamy ricotta, gorgonzola dulce, and sweet autumn pears (a classic Italian combination), and dress them with a creamy pumpkin tomato sauce. (That’s a whole lot of creamy!) They can be assembled a day in advance and cooked the next afternoon.
Side note: If you’re not a fan of bleu cheese, you can substitute with mascarpone or goat cheese.
A few years ago, I came across a jar of pumpkin chipotle pasta sauce at Aldi’s. I’m not usually one to buy pasta sauce; I make my own. But I was intrigued, so I picked it up. I read the label. There was nothing in it that I wouldn’t use, so with some trepidation, I bought it. I thought, either I’ll love it or I’ll hate it. Whatever. It’s just food.
Spoiler alert: I loved it.
After that, I enthusiastically set out to create my own version.
Feel free to skip the recipe for the sauce and grab a jar of pumpkin pasta sauce at Aldi’s or at Trader Joe’s—they’re a bit different from each other, but they’re both good—or jump right in and make this quick and delicious sauce from scratch with me. (Amazon sells the Trader Joe’s version, but it’s insanely overpriced there.)
My Shabbat dinners tend to be multi-course affairs. Feel free to scale the menu down to suit your lifestyle and the people at your table. The pasta dish, served with a soup starter and a vegetable side, would be a lovely meal on its own and satisfy all our nutritional needs. It’s also a perfect menu for vegetarians. But if you’d like to construct the menu in the Italian way, the pasta course is what precedes the entrée. I’m going to jump the border to Italy’s next door neighbor, France, for this one. Trout amandine is an oldie but a goodie. It will pair brilliantly with the sacchetti, and the crunch of the sliced almonds will add a welcome texture to the plate.
A vegetable tian will be a wonderful side for the pasta, and for the fish as well. It’s gorgeous to look at and gorgeous to eat—and you’ve got all that wonderful garlicky oil at the bottom for sopping up with your challah. You can assemble it the day before and just pop it in the oven when it’s time for dinner.
I’m going to start the meal with a woodsy roasted mushroom soup, made thick and creamy (there’s that word again) with puréed white beans. For dessert after such a rich meal, I’m going to go with a simple fruit sorbet and some fancy schmancy store-bought cookies, like Walker’s Shortbread.
If you’re looking to create an elegant dinner worthy of your most revered guests, this one will fit the bill. Of course, my most revered guests are my family…