In this week’s parasha Lech Lecha, God speaks to Avraham for the first time:
“Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”
With these words, Avraham becomes the first Jew to take a step toward the unknown — guided only by faith and the call of purpose. But as we follow his journey, we discover that Avraham’s greatness is not only in his willingness to go, but in how he carries others with him.
The Torah tells us: “Avram went… and the souls that they had made in Charan.”
Avraham and Sarah didn’t journey alone. They inspired others, cared for others, and brought them along. From the very beginning of our story, Judaism was not meant to be a solo path — it was meant to be a shared one.
We often think of Lech Lecha as an individual command — a personal test of faith. But perhaps God’s message to Avraham wasn’t only “go forth,” but “build something bigger than yourself.”
Avraham could have gone alone and built his own private connection to God. Instead, he chose to create community — to bring people into the covenant, to open his tent, to care for travelers, to pray for Sodom, to fight for the innocent.
Avraham’s journey of faith was a journey of responsibility.
He teaches us that spiritual growth and communal care are inseparable — that the path to holiness always runs through the way we treat one another.
The Hebrew concept of “All of Israel are responsible for one another,” grows directly from Avraham’s legacy.
Just as Avraham stood up for strangers, our communities thrive when we stand up for each other:
* When we check in on a neighbor who’s struggling.
* When we welcome new families to shul with warmth and hospitality.
* When we ensure that no one in our community faces illness, grief, or hardship alone.
* When we share our joy — and our burden — with open hearts.
Lech lecha reminds us that every Jewish journey depends on others walking beside us. No one reaches their “promised land” alone. God never told Avraham exactly where the journey would end — only that it would lead to a land “that I will show you.” The destination was revealed only through movement, faith, and connection.
So too, the strength of our community — our “promised land” — is revealed through our shared commitment. Each act of kindness, each partnership, each moment of empathy moves us closer to the world God envisioned when He called Avraham to begin.
When we take responsibility for one another, we become more than a group of individuals — we become a community that represents the true Jewish continuity.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen