(א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יהוה אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃ (ב) וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃
(1) The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (2) I will make of you a great nation,And I will bless you;I will make your name great,And you shall be a blessing.
Questions for discussion:
- Has there been a moment in your life that felt like you were being called to journey? How (if at all) does the idea of the journey resonate with your current experience?
- What (if anything) prompted your journey?
- What did/do you need to leave behind to go on the journey? What do you take with you?
- What did you discover / are you discovering?
- Which (if any) of the comments below resonate with your experience of the journey? How so?
- What does it mean to you that Judaism began with a call to journey?
Sefat Emet in Zornberg, The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis p 88
Go to the Land that I shall show you- where I shall make you visible, where your potential being will be realized in multiform and unpredictable ways
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces in The Feminine Face of God, “Leaving Home”
The familiar life horizon has been outgrown: the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand. |
Rabbi Jonathan Kligler, Turn It and Turn It for Everything is in It: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion, p. 10
Abraham and Sarah heeded the call lekh-lekha (go forth) and embarked on the inward journey towards self-awareness. Every one of us can take the spiritual journey. If we are willing to leave behind limited and habitual conceptions of ourselves, we will discover that we indeed are expressions of infinite life, which animates us and flows through us, the breath of life that is the sound of the letter ה hei. We each have a unique and irreplaceable contribution to make, each of us an emanation of Life Unfolding. |
Go.
Leave the habits and imperatives that have become constricting,
Leave the stories and expectations
That have defined who you are
And who you are meant to become.
Take with you all that inspires strength and love.
The way forward is unclear,
But as you take your steps the path will appear.
And the goal of this journey?
The reason to leap,
To struggle, to let go, to risk?
The reason to rise and fall
And rise again and again?
Is to be a blessing.
To discover anew the good that we are.
To discover anew
The shape of our offerings
And the ways the Divine can come through us into the world
-Rabbi Yael Levy
We believe...We are continuously called on a journey into the unknown. By venturing into the unknown we experience surprise, align with our truth, connect to the Divine and bring something new into the world.
We do this by....Supporting one another in identifying and pursuing our growing edges and emerging skills as they relate to our work. We cultivate the curiosity and courage needed to experiment, innovate and honor “mistakes” and “failure” for what they have to teach us.
- Jewish Studio Project Core Beliefs (JSP Website)