Gen. 12:1 -17:27
Précis: This parasha, “get you up” or “go yourself” (lech lecha) begins with “the call” of Abram to leave his home and depart for 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 she escapes without harm. They then leave Egypt, with Abram now a rich man. To avoid family squabbles, Abram separates himself from his nephew Lot (who moves to Sodom), but Abram is forced to rescue Lot and reaches a negotiated settlement with the locals. God promises him an heir. Because Sarai is barren, she offers Abram her servant (Hagar), and Hagar gives birth to a son, Ishmael. Abram is then promised a son through Sarai, to be his true heir. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham, and Sarai’s to Sarah, in recognition of the new Covenant with God, which is then symbolized by Abraham’s circumcision.
Gen. 12:1 “And Adonai said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your land and your birthplace and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’”
I have been a devoted fan of Star Trek since its debut on September 8, 1966. It’s been a few weeks more than 55 years since Captain James Tiberius Kirk initiated a 5-year mission “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
I had not connected Abram to Captain Kirk before. Nevertheless, their “missions” had remarkable similarities (although probably not in the mind of the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, who has been quoted as saying he was trying to write a series like the then-popular western, Wagon Train, only moving it into space). Abram was sent to explore a new world, to seek out and create a new civilization, and to go boldly where no one had gone before (at least metaphysically speaking).
I usually write this weekly message to bring the Torah’s teachings to major issues we face together. This week, I write to honor William Shatner, the original Captain Kirk, as he became the oldest human to briefly venture into space, aboard Blue Origin, at the age of 90. Live long and prosper, William Shatner!
