Parashas Lech Lecha - Being Faithful to Hashem

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At the end of last week's parasha, the Torah mentions the ten generations from Noach to Avram. According to some commentaries, last week's parasha was also the beginning of Avram's ten trials (tests) by Hashem.

The generation of his time were very corrupt. There were those who rebelled against Hashem and those who completely denied His existence.

It was Avram (better known as Avraham Avinu) who brought Hashem's name back into this world. Avram did anything and everything he could do to sanctify Hashem's name. He believed that this world was so complex, there's no way it had no creator. This indeed was the first test Avram had passed, according to some commentaries.

Avram's father, Terach, had a business selling idols. At a young age, Avram convinced the customers who entered the store, that they were wasting their time buying these idols. He claimed, "Aren't you embarrassed to buy an idol which was made just yesterday by my father? You are older than the idol, and you're worshiping it?" or "You say thieves stole your idol? If your gods were unable to protect themselves, how do you expect them to protect you?!"[1]

One day, Avram decided to smash all the idols in the store while his father was away. He put the hammer besides the biggest statue and told his father, "This statue got upset at the other ones and destroyed them." Terach replied, "That's non-sense, son. You know they can't move or talk!" Avram retorted, "Think about what you just said. If that's the case, why do you even worship it?" [1]

Another story we have all heard of was when Avram was thrown into a fiery oven. In fact, that was his second test, according to some opinions: King Nimrod wanted to give Avram a second chance to worship him and his idols. All he had to do was bow down to the king and his idols. Avrom refused saying, "I will never forsake Hashem! He is the one who should be served, not a fake god like you!" [2]

Nimrod's slaves grabbed Avrom and threw him into the fire. Hashem Himself went to save him from the fire. Avrom walked out unharmed. Nimrod was speechless and decided to bow down to Avrom. "Do not bow down to me, rather to the living G-d, Creator of the Universe," Avrom said. [3]

The next (and some say the first) trial was Lech Lecha; Avrom was commanded to leave his land and travel to an unknown destination. [for more information on this test, see last year's dvar Torah: http://sharingtorah.blogspot.com/2008/11/parashas-lech-lecha.html].

Avrom had gone through a lot and sacrificed a lot on behalf of Hashem. He did not have a 'smooth-sailing' life. He put a lot of effort into what he believed in. A lot of us are afraid to stand up for what we believe in, especially if our spirituality or health is at risk.

There are people who get involved with the wrong crowds; they think it's better being involved with a certain crowd even though they speak bad about other people and steal only because it's better than having no crowd. Or they might see a friend do something terribly wrong but they're are too 'scared' or 'nervous' to tell them it's wrong because they don't want to be made fun of, or talked bad about by others.

Avrom didn't care about what others around him thought. He was disliked and bashed by everyone around him, but he didn't care. He knew he was doing the right thing by bringing awareness of Hashem's name to the world, and he wasn't going to let other people's actions influence him. Avrom was the first to initiate and maintain spirituality regardless of how many people fought against him.

We should all learn from Avraham Avinu to take religious observance to the next level; putting aside our kavod for the sake of Hashem. If there's someone who is trying to convince us to do something which might not make Hashem happy, let us stand up for ourselves and say 'no' just like Avrom did before he was thrown into the oven.

May Hashem grant us the courage to do His will and to not be influenced by others.

Have a good Shabbos,
Nisso

[1] Bereishis Rabba 38:19
[2] Midrash HaGadol 11:28
[3] Bais Hamidrash Chadra