Lech Lecha:Receiving Our Divine Inheritance
By Ariella Bracha Waldinger
Lech Lecha is the quintessential Torah portion that teaches us that G-d established Eretz Yisrael as the eternal heritage of the Jewish people. In fact, He required Avram and Sarai to leave the land of their birth, sever their ties, leave their loved ones and go to a land He would show them. In chapter 12 verse 7, it states that G-d appeared to Avraham and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” G-d repeats His promise to Avraham, after he and Lot, his nephew, separated in order to emphasize that the land had been given exclusively to him and his descendents. In other words, Eretz Yisrael is the eternal legacy of the Jewish nation (Bava Batra).
I do not believe one needs to be a mystic or learned Rabbi to understand that G-d was sending Avram and his family to a place that would enable them to reach their true spiritual potential. Logically, if that is the case, it must mean that Eretz Yisrael is the only place on earth that has this capability to help the Jewish nation reach their full spiritual potential. G-d actually taught us a profound lesson: that the Nation of Israel and the Land of Israel are destined for one another.
Quite honestly, this brings tears to my eyes. It reminds me of a love story where a couple, true soul mates, were destined to meet and marry and finally, after many long years of searching for each other, they met and married. Who wouldn’t shed tears at the joy of beholding their union? How much more-so should we be moved to tears at the understanding that there is a physical place on earth destined for our love relationship with G-d and our Jewish brethren to manifest. It is a mutually exclusive place, like a private club, set aside for the Jewish nation to embrace the fullness of their existence in the world with the Land, the Torah and G-d.
What could possibly prevent a person from joining with their intended? Rabbi Shalom Arush in his book, “The Garden of Gratitude” states, “With no desire for something, there is no dedication or self sacrifice; any difficulty becomes a seemingly insurmountable challenge and a cause for complaint.” He goes on to explain that “EXILE is a situation in which people do not desire the truth; they are in fact willing to forfeit their bona fide mission in life in exchange for comfort. They misconstrue liberty as the fulfillment of all their material desires and comforts. But true liberty is the desire to fulfill one’s mission and purpose in this world. Exile is life with no purpose and liberty is life with purpose.” He then states that “the truly free person receives his vitality…his sense of living from striving to fulfill his ultimate purpose. The person who seeks his sense of living from physical lusts, fame and fortune is enslaved to his transient and sorely limited body.”
Rav Kook, envisioned a noble future when the nation of Israel returns to its land and its roots: “A storm of revolution will appear and the people will see clearly that the power of Israel lies in its eternal holiness, in the light of G-d and His Torah, in the yearning for spiritual light, which is the ultimate valor which triumphs over all the worlds and all their powers to refine and purify the world.”
My dear friends, it appears that this storm of revolution is on the horizon with Israel at the epicenter: the eye of the storm! I believe those who overcome their spiritual amnesia, which causes them to forget who they are, and come home will merit all the blessings G-d promised Avraham. I believe every Jew who returns home will become sensitized to his real mission and will become a true participant in modern Jewish history. If you desire to live life in a passionate, fulfilled, dynamic spiritual way and walk through the land that the Patriarchs and Matriarchs walked, set your course on Lech Lecha. Don’t let ANY THING stand in your way. You are worth more and at the deepest level you know it.
With Blessings of love, truth, light and Lech Lecha, Ariella Bracha
Coming Into the Light of Aliyah 
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