The first verse of this week’s parsha presents us with a curious grammatical construction: לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ. Numerous commentators struggle with the strange doubling of לך. Doubling of a verb in Hebrew typically implies emphasis—for example, מוֹת יוּמַת means, “He shall surely die” and מָחֹה אֶמְחֶה means, “I will completely blot out.” In this case, however, while the first half of לֶךְ־לְךָ, the word לֶךְ, certainly means “go,” the second half, the word לְךָ, seems to not be a verb. So while לֵךְ מֵאַרְצְךָ would clearly mean “go from your land,” what does לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ mean?
A quick look at the various English translations offered highlights the range of opinions. The Jewish Theological Seminary translates these words as “Go forth from your native land,” essentially viewing the extra word as providing emphasis. The Koren Jerusalem Bible renders the verse as “Get thee out of thy country,” and the recent Schocken translation is “Go-you-forth from your land,” both translating לְךָ as “you.” The Metsudah translation interprets the extra word as simply part of the verb: “Go from your land.” All of these translations seem to follow the opinion of Nachmanides, who comments that לֶךְ־לְךָ does not have any special meaning.
But Rashi offers a different explanation. According to him, the word לְךָ does provide additional meaning to the verse. Rashi interprets the word to mean “for yourself.” Hashem is telling Avraham that this journey will be לַהֲנָאָתְךָ וּלְטוֹבָתְךָ; not only is this the will of G-d, but also the journey will be for your benefit.
Medieval commentator Rabbi Moshe Alshich offers another novel interpretation of לְךָ. According to him, the word means “to yourself.” Since an individual is closer to his divine essence in the Land of Israel, Avraham’s journey to the Land of Israel ultimately results in him returning to himself — לעצמך אתה הולך — and bringing his soul closer to the divine.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out another possibility. Perhaps, he says, לְךָ can mean “by yourself.” Avraham was known as HaIvri, the Jew. Rabbi Yehuda is quoted in Bereishit Rabba as pointing out that כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ מֵעֵבֶר אֶחָד וְהוּא מֵעֵבֶר אֶחָד; metaphorically, the entire world was on one side, but [Avraham] was on the other side. Sometimes, like Avraham, we must stand alone in our beliefs. Says Rabbi Sacks, “Only a person willing to stand alone, singular and unique can worship the God who is alone, singular and unique.”
Ultimately, Avraham’s physical journey, which begins with the command of לֶךְ־לְךָ in this week’s parsha, is the beginning of the spiritual journey that results in the creation of the Jewish people. Avraham stood byhimself—מֵעֵבֶר אֶחָד, journeyed tohimself—to Israel, and did so forhimself—for his benefit.
I would like to offer one additional thought on what it could mean to לֶךְ־לְךָ. Last year, in my Reflections on Parshat Vayigash, I discussed Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he posits his theory of “the hero’s journey.” There I wrote: “According to Campbell, all of our greatest stories are about a regular person who, through a series of events, is ‘called to adventure.’ He or she is forced to leave home and encounter challenges and threats along the way, and while those challenges may be external, the real journey is about having the courage to look within, face inner challenges, and return home having grown into the hero that one is meant to become.”
In leaving his home and his birthplace and following the commandment of לֶךְ־לְךָ, Avraham was accepting Hashem’s “call to adventure.” According to Maimonides, this was the first of the ten ways in which G-d tested Avraham in order to bring out his spiritual potential. Avraham had to leave everything he knew and simply have faith in Hashem. Perhaps לֶךְ־לְךָ can therefore mean “go to yourself” in the sense of the journey leading Avraham to his true self, to the Avraham who actualized his potential and became the progenitor of the Jewish people.
May we each individually remember this message, and view each of our life journeys as opportunities to become our best selves as the physical and spiritual descendants of Avraham. | 