This week's section is called Lej Lejá, "Go." God tells Abraham (who was still called Avram) that he must leave his home for the land He will show him. With this command, the history of the Jewish people begins, so to speak. Obviously, many years would pass before the actual birth of the people at the Giving of the Torah, but it is with this communication from God to Abraham that the story begins.
Now, it is well known that the Torah is not (only) a history book. Moreover, if it were history, what happened in Abraham's life up to this point? parashahAbraham was seventy-five years old when God told him Lej Lejá...
It is clear that we must draw some lessons for daily life from the story of Abraham. Moreover, that is precisely why it was recorded. It is a matter of debate among our sages whether the Torah speaks essentially of this world and alludes to matters in the higher worlds (which remain relevant even though the story recounted has already happened and will never happen again), or whether the Torah speaks essentially of the higher worlds and alludes, through the way the text was given, to matters concerning this world. From a mystical perspective, it is clear that the Torah is not even speaking of Abraham, but of extremely subtle and elevated matters.
Even though the Torah speaks of celestial spheres and sublime levels of divine revelation, the question that every person must ask themselves when studying Torah, both the simple portion (Pshat (in Hebrew) as the esoteric: What does this teach me?
One possible explanation: God gives Abraham the following command: "[…] Go from your country, your birthplace, and your father’s house to the land I will show you" (Genesis 12:1). In Hebrew, “your land” is said artzeja, the place where you were born moladeteja and your father's house beit avija.
The beginning of man's relationship with God is to leave "your land," that is, your worldliness, your ordinariness (artziut, (in Hebrew). Then you must let go of "the place where you were born," that is, those things you are accustomed to, and overcome the circumstances under which you were born and raised. It is common to hear people excuse themselves from fulfilling a precept because "They weren't born religious," or "They aren't used to it." From the moment a person becomes aware that they have a relationship with God, they must know that the way to develop it is to overcome their own habits.
The next step is to leave "your father's house." This symbolizes the person's intellect (in Kabbalistic wisdom, father symbolizes the level of Chokhmah, (wisdom), that is, matters that you consider right or wrong. This must be set aside, since the Divine intellect is infinitely superior to the human and it is not possible to comprehend divine designs.
Finally, the verse ends by saying "to the land that I will show you": the levels of personal development that you can reach through these works are so high that they are not even comprehensible from where you stand, nor can you imagine how far you can go, it is simply something that "I will show you".
May God give us the ability to awaken and to use it, to recognize that we have invaluable potential within us, waiting to be used.