Be a Blessing

How does one go about being a blessing?

Lech Lecha
Genesis 12:1 -17:27

Précis: This parasha, “get you up” (lech lecha) begins with “the call” of Abram to leave his home and journey to a new land. At God’s command, Abram and Sarai journey to Canaan; when famine strikes, they travel to Egypt (where Sarai is taken into Pharaoh’s harem after Abram calls her his “sister” but escapes without harm) and they leave Egypt, with Abram now a rich man. To avoid familial squabbles, Abram separates himself from his nephew Lot (who moves to Sodom), but Abram is forced to rescue Lot in the first military action described in the Bible. Abram reaches a negotiated settlement with the locals, and God promises him an heir. Because Sarai is barren, she offers her servant (Hagar) to Abram, and Hagar gives birth to a son, Ishmael. Abram is then promised a son through Sarai, to be the heir of Abram. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham, and Sarai’s to Sarah, in recognition of their new covenant with God, which is then symbolized by circumcision.



Genesis 12:2 “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you will be a blessing.”

In Lech Lecha, Abram enters into a covenant with God, leaves his homeland and all that he knew, and in return receives a promise that he will become a “great nation” and a “blessing.” We can understand a “great nation” in normal human terms. It could be great in military strength, like the Roman Empire. It could be great in scholarship, like Plato’s Greece. It could be great in sheer numbers of people, like China or India. But how does one become a blessing?

Etz Hayim states that it means that Abram is be an exemplar of all that is good – a “dugmah” or role model. Samson Raphael Hirsch suggests that this is not a promise but a command: you SHALL be a blessing, meaning that Abram must live a righteous life if he is to receive the promised blessings. Rabbi Hertz opines that it is Abram’s task to turn others towards God. Robert Alter notes that a change in the vocalization of the Masoritic text we have inherited results in an alternative reading: we can read it "I shall make your name great; and it shall be a blessing.” In other words, people will bless others by Abram’s name, hoping to share, in a sense, in his honor (yechus).

I have another way to explain how Abram himself became the blessing. He takes initiative and starts a significant task (late in life!) by picking up himself and his household and going toward an undesignated destination to become a great nation. Will he complete the task himself? Probably not. But starting the task itself was a key to his becoming a blessing: it laid the framework for others to build upon.

We may all be discouraged when we face immense challenges. As Rabbi Tarphon is quoted in Pirke Avot (2:21), "The work is not yours to complete, and neither are you free to desist from it." We would be wise to remember that God promised Abram, and in turn promised us, that if we become initiators willing to take the risks to live ethical lives, our efforts will not be forgotten and we may be remembered as a blessing by those who follow us.