We are all concerned about wearing masks and social distancing - or at least we all should be. It is a constant battle between what is comfortable for us and what is right for us to do. Our responsibility to our loved ones, to our neighbors and communities should supersede our own desires and yet, we can all agree that it is a difficult test of our perseverance. Is it so hard to separate?
We can relate this to this week’s Parsha Lech Lecha when Avraham Avinu is told by G-d, ויאמר יהוה אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך- Go forth from your land, from your birth place and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. Hashem did not reveal to Avram why it was necessary for him to leave behind everything he knew and start again in an undisclosed place. Hashem just assured Avram - that it is for your benefit (as Rashi writesלַהֲנָאָתְךָ וּלְטוֹבָתְךָ). However, the wording of this pasuk appears out of order - when you set off on a journey, first you leave your home, then your neighborhood and then your country. Hakesav v’Hakablah posits that there is a difference between physically leaving and spiritually leaving. In spiritual matters the first thing a person will forget is his country, afterwards his family and finally his father’s house. Avraham was told to totally break away from all that he knew and start over again without any reminders of his past. Avraham had already changed his lifestyle but now he was told to get away from the pressures of where he was living and go to the land where he could begin a magnificent new life. A land where the neighbors would bless him!
The Sforno supports the concept of the need for the right surroundings to be in place for spiritual growth. The Sforno explains “to the land that I will show you” means “to the land where I will appear to you as G-d”. Up until this point Avraham was living in Ur Kasdim where the people there caused him much grief, mocking him for his belief in G-d, even according to the Medrash, casting him into a fiery furnace. Hashem guided Avraham to Eretz Yisrael where he could be a positive influence on the inhabitants because they were already open to spiritual growth. It was in Eretz Yisrael that Avraham would be blessed, and Hashem in turn would bless those who bless him. Indeed, the Abarbenel says that the whole purpose of Avraham’s leaving Ur Kasdim was to be “a spiritual influence among all the nations”.
We believe that for our physical well-being there is a need to distance ourselves from others. We want to protect ourselves from an unseen virus which somehow takes over our total metabolism. The same is true spiritually. We have to separate ourselves from the maladies affecting the “outside” world. We have to move spiritually to a place where we can be blessed and others will be blessed through us.
Shabbos is always a spiritual oasis. Cut off from the internet, from the newspapers, from politics and the negative influences of our surroundings, we have the opportunity to ascend spiritually. The challenge is how do we sustain that growth throughout the week. How can we guide our children to leave behind the junk that is pulling them down? Maybe social distancing is not such a bad thing!
Wishing everyone a safe, and a healthy, both physically and spiritually, Shabbat.
Rochelle Brand, Ed.D
Head of School
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