Parshat Lekh-Lekha: Out of the Fire

 This weeks parashah/portion is Lekh-Lekha. These are the words by which God commands Avram (he will later become Avraham) to go to the land which God will show him. And so Avram and Sarai (latter Sarah) begin the journey that will eventually lead to creation of the Israelites and then the Jewish people.

The Torah provides no reason as to why God chose this particular man to go on the journey. However, later the rabbis filled in the gap with a plethora of midrash as to why Avram was chosen.

Basically, what they all come down to is that Avraham knew that idols were false and that there had to be some greater power that created and "ran" the universe. In one of the most famous midrashim we read that Avram's father Terakh sold idols for a living. One day, when Terakh went out and left Avram alone in the shop, Avram smashed every idol except the largest one. When Terakh returned he asked Avram what had happened. Avram told him that the big idol smashed all the others. Terakh replied that this was foolish, because the idols were just made of stone. This simply proved Avram's belief that the idols were worthless.

Many people know that part of the story, but they don't know what happens next. For Terakh takes Avram to King Nimrod to teach him a lesson. To make a long story short, Avram continues to challenge Nimrod and will not back down in his belief that the idols and gods are not real. In the end, Nimrod throws Avram into a furnace. But, of course, Avram emerges unscathed.

Avram is portrayed as a man of perfect faith in God. And yet according to tradition, God tested his faith 10 times. He always passed the tests, but there were certainly moments of questioning and doubt. But the episode in the furnace was not one of them.

This poetic midrash is one possibility of what might have going through Avram's mind and heart while he was in the furnace:

Out of the Furnace 

it’s hot    flames surround me

yet I am not consumed

i don’t understand  what is happening    yet within i do

i know i am meant to be here

to pass the test    to teach others   so they too will pass     someday

           though exactly what test      i do not know     

staring at the flames     I close my eyes       

i see   red against my eyelids

 like looking into the sun   burning    rotating celestial orb

a clue    to  me     that there must be   something   more       

a power   a force a being   seeing  knowing  controlling   all

     fools do not know    they do not believe

     even my own father    does not 

     or he does    but is afraid to admit     reality   

it’s easier to punish  to admonish   to frighten  me

than to admit to himself that his truth   is a lie      

perhaps  that is why i’m here     

sweating     thinking     waiting     to be retrieved

     hoping to discover the truth     

                 then i recall

        i see the idols   smashed by their kin    or so I told him 

   i see the look       on my father’s face     shock and disbelief

   i see the look       on the idol’s face    stony cold   blank stare    as always

        i expected nothing more          i wonder   did he

        for a moment    i laugh   as i remember

suddenly the light of the flames is gone      it is as if I am transported

i am standing alone      yet i am not    

I feel a presence     but cannot see     anything

   i think i hear a voice   a promise  

    confused  unclear  

i try to listen    pay attention

the words make no sense

     i understand each individually     together they only confuse me

sands on the shore       stars in the sky

       

my seed    a great nation      enslaved      rescued       

i open my eyes with a start     hoping to see the flames

but they are gone     replaced    by deepest darkness

unable to see    i grasp      at nothing      as fear descends

suddenly i hear a voice    the same voice that spoke those

unintelligible words just moments ago

avram   avram  

i am here

but why 

as a punishment       i think

for what

i smashed the idols      challenged my father

why

to prove that there was more 

more than what

than what people think they see

more than i can see

you are right        says the voice

      I am the proof you seek

I stand there frozen   confused  scared     elated   to hear those words

confirming   i was right    all along   

still    not knowing exactly what that means

yes    you were right   

some day you will understand the meaning

               the voice said

as if hearing my unspoken thoughts

but the people are not ready   

they can only believe in what they can touch and see

someday they will be ready     to follow you

    and you shall be a great nation    

I promise    said the voice   

   you will have children as numerous as there are grains of  sands 

        as there are stars in the sky    you will be followed by many

the words i heard in the dark silence

   

how do I know that what you say is true

why am i the one     i asked

why should i believe    why should i trust    you

                  answer me      show me a sign

no   said the voice  not now

but I will in the future

to your children    those who follow you

till then you must believe     have faith    persevere     alone

until I call to you again

      to go forth on your journey to the place i will show you

why       

because you  have passed the test   

You can see    the truth      behind the lies

you are to be saved    kept  alive    for the real tests to come

but i wanted you to know    to believe    not to lose faith      as you wait

      to know it was not some cheap magic   that rescued you  from the flames

but when I emerge

who should i tell them saved me  from the flames

you will say nothing to them    for they will not believe

but in your heart

know that  I am  the one   the creator    the compassionate one

the one who will be what I will always be 

I am  the one    who is releasing you      

and who will watch over you  for all times

before I had a chance to reply   the voice    the darkness    were gone

the heat      the flames    returned    

plucked from the fire

I was brought into the light

everyone astounded      I had survived    alive   unharmed

   a miracle

i wanted to tell the others what i had heard     what i now knew    

but i remembered the command      

instead I simply returned to life   swept up my father’s shop

cleared away the debris of the false gods

he thought he had taught me a lesson     

but the lesson was given by him

so now I wait    preparing for the day when i will be called on my journey

       I hope    I still don’t know    

it could have been the heat    or a trick of the mind

no way to be sure     no one to ask

until the the time finally comes

  hopefully I will believe it then