Lech Lecha

(8) But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham My friend

(2)Who has roused a victor from the East, summoned him to His service? Has delivered up nations to him, and trodden sovereigns down? Has rendered their swords like dust, their bows like wind-blown straw?

(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.

(1) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk before Me and be blameless.

(22) The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

Abraham instituted the morning prayer, as it is stated when Abraham came to look out over Sodom the day after he had prayed on its behalf: “And Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord” (Genesis 19:27), and the verb standing means nothing other than prayer, as this language is used to describe Pinehas’ prayer after the plague, as it is stated: “And Pinehas stood up and prayed and the plague ended” (Psalms 106:30).

101. The Rabbi: Moses invited only his people and those of his own tongue to accept his law, whilst God promised that there should at all times be prophets to expound his law. This He did so long as they found favour in His sight, and His presence was with them. 102. Al Khazari: Would it not have been better or more commensurate with divine wisdom, if all mankind had been guided in the true path?

The ten tests with which Abraham, our father, was tested are all [in] the words of Scripture. The first is his emigration by His statement, may He be blessed - "Go forth from your land, etc." (Genesis 12:1). And the second one is the famine that was found in the Land of Canaan when he came there and it was [the land of] his destiny - "and I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 12:2). And this was a great test, and it is its saying, "And there was a famine in the land" (Genesis 12:10). And the third was the injustice of the Egyptians towards him in the taking of Sarah to Pharaoh. The fourth is his fighting against the four kings. The fifth is his taking of Hagar as a wife after he despaired of giving birth through Sarah. The sixth is the circumcision that he was commanded about in the days of his old age. The seventh is the injustice of the king of Gerar towards him in his also taking Sarah. The eighth is the expulsion of Hagar after his being built (having a child) from her. The ninth is the distancing of his son, Yishmael, and that is His, may He be blessed, saying, "Let not it be bad in your eyes about the youth, etc." (Genesis 21:12). And Scripture already testified how this thing was difficult in his eyes, in its stating, "And the thing was very bad in the eyes of Abraham" (Genesis 21:11). Yet he observed the commandment of God, may He be blessed, and expelled him. And the tenth is the binding of Yitzchak.

(5) Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents,(6) so that the land could not support them staying together; for their possessions were so great that they could not remain together.(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.—

(31) Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan; but when they had come as far as Haran, they settled there.

... (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.— (Genesis 13:7)

(11)So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they parted from each other;(12) Abram remained in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sodom.(13)Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked sinners against the LORD.

(1)They are four days in the year that serve as the New Year, each for a different purpose: On the first of Nisan is the New Year for kings; it is from this date that the years of a king’s rule are counted. And the first of Nisan is also the New Year for the order of the Festivals, as it determines which is considered the first Festival of the year and which the last. On the first of Elul is the New Year for animal tithes; all the animals born prior to that date belong to the previous tithe year and are tithed as a single unit, whereas those born after that date belong to the next tithe year. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: The New Year for animal tithes is on the first of Tishrei.On the first of Tishrei is the New Year for counting years, as will be explained in the Gemara; for calculating Sabbatical Years and Jubilee Years, i.e., from the first of Tishrei there is a biblical prohibition to work the land during these years; for planting, for determining the years of orla, the three-year period from when a tree has been planted during which time its fruit is forbidden; and for tithing vegetables, as vegetables picked prior to that date cannot be tithed together with vegetables picked after that date. On the first of Shevat is the New Year for the tree; the fruit of a tree that was formed prior to that date belong to the previous tithe year and cannot be tithed together with fruit that was formed after that date; this ruling is in accordance with the statement of Beit Shammai. But Beit Hillel say: The New Year for trees is on the fifteenth of Shevat.