Parashat Lech Lecha

By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari:

Shalom, in our parasha, parashat לך לך, we see Avraham Avinu going to war against the mightiest armies of the time to save his nephew Lot.

וַיָּ֕שֶׁב אֵ֖ת כָּל־הָרְכֻ֑שׁ וְגַם֩ אֶת־ל֨וֹט אָחִ֤יו וּרְכֻשׁוֹ֙ הֵשִׁ֔יב וְגַ֥ם אֶת־הַנָּשִׁ֖ים וְאֶת־הָעָֽם׃

⁦He brought back all the possessions; he also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, and the women and the rest of the people.(Bereshit 14,16)

Maran Rav Yosef Karo asked: How is it that in the beginning, Avraham Avinu went to battle to save Lot, as it says,
וישמע אברם ×›×™ נשבה אחיו״” Avram heard that his brother was captured.

However, later we find the above mentioned pasuk which makes the Avraham’s nephew Lot seem like an afterthought! How could that be? He answered, all actions of Avraham Avinu were for one single purpose: to increase the glory of HaShem in this world, nothing more! When Lot was captured by a mighty army, Avraham realized that his mission was to rescue Lot, even though this would put himself in grave danger, and he swiftly took on the mission. However, when he already crushed the enemy and rescued everyone, he found an immense amount of wealth; at this point, the mission of increasing the glory of HaShem dictated the return of the wealth to the owners even though they had completely given up on all of it. That became the priority and Lot took second place in the mission.

When we understand where we should put our focus and what our true mission in this world is, and take the correct actions and course of behavior, we are actually following in the holy footsteps of our fathers.

Shabbat Shalom