It is written, “Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced”.
For Mimi and me the Yom Tov of Succot became the ultimate reality when, for the first time, we celebrated Succot in the Holy City of Yerushalayim. The experience was exhilarating and spiritually enriching as we Davened at the Kotel and was Menaaneiah, with our Lulav and Esrog as they must have done in the time of the Beit Hamikdash. This was the true highlight of our visit to our Jewish State.
We bring back, with us, this all embracing sense of Kedusha and pray that we will be continuously inspired by this beautiful experience.
How often do we travel in life and wonder “Where will our travels lead to?”
I remember reading a comical story of a group of Girl Scouts going on a hike and their leader was instructing them what to do if they got lost. “Remember, he said, always walk towards the light, and the glow will tell you where the nearest shopping mall is.”
Life indeed is our travelogue, where we have been, where we are now and where we are heading.
Avraham, was, indeed, a traveler, as we read in this week’s Parsha. Hashem tells Avraham“Lech Lecha". Leave your parents home and travel to a new and strange land that I will show you.”
That was the first time we read about Lech Lecha in the Torah. Avraham was directed byHashem to leave the environment that would be detrimental to his family and hinder their spiritual progress. However, as the Medrash states there was a second Lech Lecha – this was the directive Hashem gave to to Avraham to go to Har Hamorea and "Kach Et Bincha"– you need to take your progenitors with you on this trek to achieve the greatest heights of spirituality.
I sense in life that we are all travelers. We need to follow the directives of Hashem to leave from a place that is detrimental to us and our families. At all times we need to know where we are going and what our destination will be to assure a life of success and brachot.
Like Avraham, our travelogue needs to take us to Har Hamorea, to a place of
G-Dliness and blessing.
This is our lesson in life : to leave behind us any obstacles that will hinder our religious and spiritual progress and to forge a goal that will bring our families with us as we ascend to more magnificent heights of Yiddishkeit and a Torah way of life.
On a more Philosophical level, the expression Lech Lecha can be interpreted as, go unto yourself, search yourself for the answers of your life’s quest. Too often we are searching for the right Derech and to be motivated in the right way and all along the answers are within us, if only we would take the time and the effort to look within ourselves. We are so busy with so many things in life that we are ignoring the essence of life which is within us. Know my friends, “To do good in this world, first we must know who we are and what gives meaning in our life”. This is what Hashem is saying to everyone, Lech Lecha, go unto yourself and all the mysteries of life will be uncovered. This above all, ‘To thine own self be true’. We must use our lives to make the world a better place.
This is our journey in life, to be one with ourselves. Good character consists of knowing the good, desiring the good, and doing the good.
We must make the most of ourselves, for that is all there is of us.
Using Avraham as our emulating example, let us remember that to be a part of his life we must endeavor to live a life of Chesed, of Tzedek, of moral convictions that will lead us toHar Hamorea, and to, eventually, build the Beit Hamikdash in our time, which will herald a time of Peace and Menucha for Am Yisrael.
