Here’s a story for this coming Shabbat: it goes back about 30 years. It was a lively Shabbat meal at the home of the family I was staying with in Be'er Sheva. Everything was on the table: delicious food, and lively debates about the state of the country.
I was a teenager back then. I knew politics well, but Shabbat I was only just getting to know. The idea of a day without phones, work, or money, but with prayers, conversations, meals, and Torah, was growing on me.
Then, after the main course, one of the children was suddenly asked to come stand next to his grandfather at the head of the table. He left the game he'd been playing and stood up with great ceremony. He held a folder he had received in kindergarten, took out a newsletter for the parents that the teacher had written, and began to talk about Avraham Avinu.
The grandfather asked, and the boy answered. I was surprised by how much he knew (I didn't know all of it myself). I was also surprised by the way Torah is learned. From a very young age, everything leads to a message, a value, something you can take with you into life.
What did God say to Avraham? the grandfather asked. The boy answered: "Lech Lecha. To leave everything behind and set out on the journey." What did He promise him? "That he would reach the Land of Israel, that a whole nation would come from him, and that in the end he would be a light to the whole world." What difficulties did Avraham face? "Enemies, wars, famine, and nobody joined him and Sarah Imeinu. At first they were all alone." What mitzvah is added toward the end of the parsha? "Brit milah."
That was the Torah portion that Shabbat: Lech Lecha. And a five-year-old gave us a moving lesson in the foundations of our entire story. It wasn't political commentary, but it was a different kind of breeze, very ancient and yet young and fresh. Right before my eyes, I saw how everything is passed down to the next generation.
As someone who lives and breathes the news and current events, I got a real news flash: there is more to us than that. Precisely in order to understand reality, we first need to understand the foundation, the roots.
Unlike me, the others at the table weren't especially moved. They were used to it. The boy got a kiss and went back to playing, and everyone simply moved on to dessert. But almost thirty years have passed, and I still remember that moment.
*This is the last Shabbat before the elections in Israel. Many family meals will take place, with lots of discussions and opinions. And the Torah portion is Parashat Lech Lecha. Even if you don't have a folder from kindergarten, you're invited to add this dish, Avraham Avinu, to your table.*
Shabbat Shalom.
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