(1) The L-RD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
(11) And G-d said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. (12) The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And G-d saw that this was good.
(7) And there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle.—The Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land.
אשר עשו בחרן [THE SOULS] THAT THEY HAD GOTTEN (literally, made) IN HARAN — The souls which he had brought beneath the sheltering wings of the Shechinah. Abraham converted the men and Sarah converted the women and Scripture accounts it unto them as if they had made them (Genesis Rabbah 39:14).
ועל כן תלך אתה למקום הלז ולכך תקרב אליך מכל דבר שבעולם הן מארצך מכל הנבראים שבארץ והן ממולדתך מאנשים אשר אתה נולד כמו הם, ומבית אביך ממשפחת אביך ממש, כיוון על לוט שיצא אתו בשביל שהיה דוד המלך ע"ה מיוחד לצאת ממנו, וכולם תביאם אל הארץ אשר אראך, כלומר שתזכה לקרבם אל הארץ העליונה ארץ ממנה יצא לחם כנאמר (משלי ל"א, ט"ו) ותתן טרף לביתה, ותחזירם למקור שורשם ועל כן וילך אברם כאשר דבר אליו יי,
HAD FLOCKS, AND HERDS, AND TENTS. R. Tobiah b. R. Yitzchak said: He had two tents; Ruth the Moabitess and Naamah the Ammonitess. Similarly, " Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are found (Gen. XIX, 15)3: R. Tobiah said: That means two ‘finds’; Ruth and Naamah. R. Yitzchak commented: I have found David My servant (Ps. LXXXIX, 21): where did I find him? In Sodom.
Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked sinners against the L-RD.
And the L-RD said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west,
(י) וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָדוֹל הַאי בִּרְכְּתָּא חָדָא, וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ תְּרֵין, וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ תְּלַתּ, וְהְיֵה בְּרָכָה אַרְבַּע. וַאֲבָרְכָה מְבָרֲכֶיךָ חָמֵשׁ, וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאוֹר שִׁיתּ. וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כָּל מִשְׁפְּחוֹתּ הָאֲדָמָה הא שֶׁבַע. כֵּיוָן דְּאִתְּבָּרְכוּ בְּאִלֵּין שֶׁבַע בִּרְכָאן, מַה כְּתִּיב וַיֵּלֶךָ אַבְרָם כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו יי לְנָחֲתָּא לְהַאי עָלְמָא כְּמָה דְּאִתְּפָּקְדָא. מִיָּד וַיֵּלֶךָ אִתּוֹ לוֹט. דָּא אִיהוּ נָחָשׁ דְּאִתְּלַטְיָא וְאִתְּלַטְיָא עָלְמָא בְּגִינֵיהּ דְּאִיהוּ קָאִים לְפִּתְּחָא לְאַסְטָאָה לְגוּפָּא, ולא תִּפְּעוֹל נִשְׁמָתָּא פּוּלְחָנָא דְאִתְּפַּקְדַתּ עַד דְּיַעַבְרוּן עֲלָהּ בְּהַאי עָלְמָא י''ג שְׁנִין, דְּהָא מִתְּרֵיסַר שְׁנִין וּלְעֵילָא נִשְׁמָתָּא אִתְּעָרַתּ לְמִפְּלַח פּוּלְחָנא דְאִתְּפַּקְדַתּ הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִּיב. וְאַבְרָם בֶּן חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה. שֶׁבַע וְחָמֵשׁ תְּרֵיסַר אִנּוּן (ותרין עלאין עלייהו ארבע סרי אנון).
1]“And Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him,” meaning he went to come down to this world, as he was commanded. Abraham is the Neshama [soul], and after the Neshama is blessed in seven blessings, it comes down to this world to clothe in a Guf [body].
Promptly, “And Lot went with him.” This is the serpent for which the world was corrupted, and this is why the text calls the serpent by the name “Lot.” Lot means curse in Aramaic. He was cursed and brought curse to the world, and he accompanies the soul in this world.
2] “And Lot his nephew.” Why did Abraham see fit to attach Lot to himself? It was because he saw in the spirit of holiness that David was destined to come out of him.
3] “And pursued as far as Dan.” He pursued them and alerted them of the Din [judgment] in the world of truth and the punishment in Hell, and he did not sleep day and night until he convinced them and made them repent and return to the Creator, as it is written, “And he brought back all the goods.”
4] “And Lot his brother, too,” meaning he assailed even that evil inclination called, “Lot,” until he forced it to annul, and properly mitigated it. He brought everyone into complete repentance as it should be. He did not rest day or night from persuading them, and he chased them for every single iniquity that they had committed until they repented in complete repentance as it should be.
שני לוחות הברית, תורה שבכתב, לך לך, תורה אור נ״ד
הנה ר' טוביה פירש אהלים על נשים שנקראו אהל, כמו שכתוב (איוב ה, כד) וידעת כי שלום אהליך, והם רות ונעמה העמונית, וכמו שפירש רב טוביה אהלים על ב' נשים אלו, וכן פירש ר' יוסי הנמצאות על ב' נשים אלו. ואפשר דזהו הענין ד' מלכים מיד ששלטו בלוט הלכו כמו שכתוב (בראשית יד, יב) ויקחו את לוט וגו' וילכוהגה"הובזוהר אמר (ח"א פו, ב) טעם אחר, וזה לשונו, ויקחו את לוט וגו' וילכו, מאי טעמא, בגין דדיוקנא דלוט הוה דמי לאברהם, ובגין כך וילכו, דכל ההיא קרבא בגיניה הוה. מאי טעמא, בגין דהוה אברהם אפיק עלמא מפולחנא נוכראה ואעיל לון בפולחנא דקב"ה כו':, דאע"ג דאינהו לא חזו, מזלייהו חזו, כי רצון ד' מלכיות הוא לבטל ישראל ולבטל משיחם ח"ו, ועל זה רדף אברהם אבינו מהר להצילו והציל גם את סדום, כי בבוא מלכות משיח אזי עדי סדום ועמורה תשובנה כדכתיב ביחזקאל (טז, נה):
Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Torah Shebikhtav, Lech Lecha, Torah Ohr
Rabbi Yitzchak also understands the verse in that sense although he draws his inference from the word הנמצאות. Perhaps this is also the inference to be drawn from the Torah's report about the exploits of the four kings. As soon as they had captured Lot, they went on their way, i.e. 11 ,14) ויקחו את לוט … וילכו). Although the four kings had never set eyes on Ruth and Naomi they had seen through their horoscopes the role that Lot's issue would play in the history of the Jewish people, and their prime purpose became to prevent the emergence of a Jewish people and thus to frustrate the concept of the Messiah and what he represents. This is the reason why Abraham set out immediately to rescue Lot and to pursue those kings and their armies. He also rescued the king of Sodom and his people in the process, seeing that in Messianic times even the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be restored, something we know on the authority of Ezekiel 16,53-55.