Parshas Lech Lecha

Genesis 12:1 - 17:27
The Broken Chof and The Completed Chof ©

By Dr. Akiva G. Belk

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The parsha study is a lesson on the weekly portion {parsha} of the Torah specified for study by our sages. Each week of the year is assigned a particular portion for study by the Jewish people. It is an essential element of Judaism meant for the upliftment of Kal Yisroel.

When we read the first pasuk of Lech Lecha our attention is drawn to three specific points made to Avram:

Lech Lecha - Mah Eretz Chaw {Leave, get out of your land}
Chof Tzaddi Reish Aleph Mem - Chof Lamid Chof Lamid

Oo Mee Moh Lahd Ti Chaw {[Get away] from your birthplace}
Chof Sav Dalet Lamid Vav Mem Mem Vav

Oo Mee Bays - Aw Vee Chaw {and [get away] from your father’s house}
Chof Yud Bais Aleph - Sav Yud Bais Mem Vav

Viewing each of these statements from the Mystical side teaches us the steps of exiting evil. Before we examine these steps let’s set the background. Avram lived with his father Terach in Ur Kasdim. They fled Ur Kasdim together to Charan after Avram’s delivery from the fiery furnace by Hashem. They were journeying to Canaan.

There is a dispute as to where Avram was when he was first commanded to “leave his land.” I believe the command to leave his land originated in Ur Kasdim. Lech {Go!} was the command in Ur Kasdim. In response to this command, Avram and his father Terach made plans to journey to Canaan. They set out on this journey but for some reason they stopped in Charan and settled there. They fulfilled half of there original plan, so to speak. They left Ur Kasdim but they had not arrived in Canaan.

Avram intended to go to Canaan to settle. According to our sages he visited Canaan when he was 70 years of age but he did not stay there. He returned to Charan. So half of his journey remained unfinished. It was to this unfinished business that Hashem spoke to Avram a second time, represented by the Lecha {Get out!}. If Lech {“leave”} was adequate then there would have been no need for the stronger command of Lecha {“Get out!”}.

Originally Avram and Terach were traveling together. Originally they appeared to have the same goals. That changed when they arrived in Charan. Terach settled there. He was content. Avram desired to continue on to Canaan, the original goal. Avram was torn! Should he stay with his father? Should he leave his father? This was an extremely difficult struggle for this righteous man. That is why a second command was required.

Go [from Ur Kasdim]! Get out [of Charan]!! Get away from your birthplace! And get away from your father’s house!

The Torah makes it very clear that Terach had set up his household in Charan. The Torah records Hashem’s words, “Get away from your father’s house!” Yet we should notice that Avram was not told to leave his house in Charan. He was commanded, “Get away from your birthplace!” That is because Avram had not established his house in Charan. Yet the Torah records that “they settled there [in Charan].” Avram settled there with the intention of continuing on to Canaan. Terach settled there with the intention of dying there. This is why the Torah records Terach’s death at that time even though he was only 145 years of age. The Torah records Terach’s death to be at the age of 205, sixty years later. Why?

This is because he faltered from his original plan of going on to Canaan. He lost his glimpse of light. His vision of Canaan grew dim. Our sages say with regard to Terach that ‘the wicked are called dead even while they are alive.’ Terach was on the path to repentance but became entangled along the way and returned to his evil ways of idol making in Charan. Avram could not persuade his father to change or to go on. Why? Evil relatives in Charan influenced Terach. This is why Avram was commanded by Hashem to “Get away from your father’s house!” Actually it was more like ‘Get away from your father’s EVIL house! Get away from your father’s EVIL INFLUENCE... Get away from the EVIL influence of your relatives...

Notice that the end of each statement ends with the letter Chof as shown in the beginning of this article. The Chof equals 20.

60 = Chof 20 + Chof 20 + Chof 20

Remember Terach, father of Avram, chose to stay in Charan and die there which is exactly what he did 60 years before he was buried. In other words, each Chof represents Avram’s choice to obey Hashem and Terach’s choice to disobey Hashem. The Gematria Mispar Katan reduces the Chof from 20 to just 2. The two represents the choice to obey and the choice to disobey. It also represents agreement as in “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” It represents the agreement that both Terach and Avram should have continued in but didn’t. It represents the agreement that Avram entered into with Hashem.

Years of Terach's life
205 = 145 + 60
The letter Chof is formed by a heavenly Zayin and an earthly Zayin as stated in our article The Letter Chof ...as found on the Gematria page: “The holiness on earth represented by the Zayin pointing towards the heavens typifies a hand lifted in praise towards G-d. The holiness of the heavens represented by the Zayin pointing to earth typifies a hand extended to earth scattering blessings to mankind. The Gematria of Yad, meaning hand, equals fourteen. When the Zayin of Heaven and the Zayin of earth join they form one hand, Yawdo, meaning "His hand", which is represented by the Chof, twenty. Life on earth should be like life in the heavens. The Chof as a connector represents the word "like" when attached to the front of a word. See The Chof

The Broken Chof represents the broken agreement between Terach and Avraham. The Completed Chof represents the agreement between Hashem and Avram, the Covenant of the Jewish people. {See Genesis 15.}

Wishing you the best!

Dr. Akiva G. Belk

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