Community Rabbi Corner, October 15, 2021

Rabbi Howard Tilman
Congregation Beth Israel
Scotch Plains, NJ 
Parashat Lech Lecha 

Lech Lecha marks a turning point in the Torah. It’s the point at which the focus shifts from the universal to the particular, with our attention being drawn away from the world as a whole and towards the first of our patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham and Sarah. It’s the moment when God sends Abraham towards the Land of Israel and begins the covenant that has lasted for generations.
 
We sometimes wonder what stood out about Abraham that he was singled out by God. Pirkei Avot offers an explanation. "Abraham, our ancestor, was tested with ten trials and he withstood all of them, to make known how deep his love was for God." (Pirkei Avot 5:3) While this idea is fairly straightforward, the listing of the trials themselves are not. They are not included in Pirkei Avot and so a few commentators put together their own lists, most notably Rashi and Rambam. While these lists have some overlap, they also have some differences.
 
Why isn’t there a consensus? Because it is not always clear to us what is a test and what isn’t. In educational settings there can be more clarity with formal tests and written evaluations, but even in those settings there can be informal tests as well - watching how students react to an assignment or seeing them respectfully engage in a debate. These are tests too.
 
Part of the lesson that comes from God’s tests of Abraham is that we are never quite sure what in our life is a test. There are times when that will be clear, but also times when it won’t. Our challenge is to live our lives every day as if we are approaching a series of tests and remembering that whatever challenge is in our path can teach us something in how we overcome it. I wish us all passing grades and a Shabbat Shalom.
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