Shabbat Parashat Lech Lecha - 5783

Shabbat Parashat Lech Lecha - 5783

Rabbi Hal Miller

Avram took his wife Sarai and Lot, his brother's son, and all their possessions

that they had amassed and the souls that they made in Charan, and they left

to go to the land of Canaan and they came to the land of Canaan.

[Bereishit 12:5]

From this verse, and a few others, it seems like Lot was a dedicated student of

Avraham, dedicated nephew, and all around good guy. What happened to break

up the partnership?

When you read our verse closely, it looks like all three, Avram, Sarai and Lot

participated in 'making souls'. When you read 13:1, Avram went up from Egypt

and Lot with him. In 13:12, Lot pitched his tents "as far a Sdom", but not in it,

so he was keeping himself separated from the wickedness there. Seems like he

is behaving pretty well. But then in 14:12 in the war against Sdom, Lot is taken

from there, so he must have at some point moved into town. In fact next week we

will see the angels meeting Lot in town and taking him out before destroying Sdom.

Ramban, Rashi and others point to verse 13:6, "And the land could not support

them dwelling together for their possessions were abundant and they were unable

to dwell together." Their issue is that there was insufficient pasturage for all the

herds and flocks of the combined operation, therefore they had to separate.

But other commentators disagree heartily. Pasturage was not the issue, rather

"they were unable to dwell together" is. How do we know this?

Rav Soloveitchik and Nechama Leibowitz both point to the difference between

verses 12:4 and 12:5 from 13:1. In chapter 12, it says Avram went and Lot went

with him, then Avram took Sarai and Lot, and their possessions. But in 13:1 it

says, "So Avram went up from Egypt, he with his wife and all that was his, and

Lot with him." There is a separation here between Avram and Sarai from Lot,

the separation being Avram's assets. Lot is now a separate family, with separate

assets, no longer part of one family unit with common possessions. What caused

this? Rav Schwab suggests it is because Lot now has wealth of his own. Abarbanel

says God caused the rift, as we see that God only spoke to Avraham again after a

long absence, once Lot went his separate way. There was a spiritual issue in Lot.

Rav Soloveitchik goes on to say that with all the wealth they had, Avram and Lot

could have bought more pasture land, so a lack of pasturage is not the answer.

What is different is that when they left Charan and Canaan to go to Egypt, they

were leaving a famine. But that famine did not reach Egypt, so when they left

Egypt, they were leaving a rich land. Lot had no problem going out from Canaan

because he didn't see any reason to stay. He did have a problem leaving Egypt

because he was going from wealth to potential poverty. Lot did not have the

strength of spirit that Avram did, rather was motivated by economics. Thus the

wording in these verses varies just a bit, pointing at the reason for the split.

We have a saying, "fair weather friend" which seems to describe Lot. That is

not a sincere belief in God.