Shabbat Lech Lecha
Written by Rabbi Dr Michael Shire Wednesday, 09 November 2005
Parashat Lech Lecha
Lech Lecha prompts us often to discuss Avram and his heroic qualities. However Lot, Avram’s nephew is less well portrayed. Lot first appears described importantly as Terach’s grandson on a par with Avram in Genesis 11,31. Gradually he is increasingly described as a hanger-on to Avram’s entourage when they leave Haran where he takes third place behind Sarai (Genesis 12.5) and then as they leave Egypt Lot is mentioned merely as one of the things that Avram and Sarai took with them. (Genesis 13.1). What this young man must have thought as he accompanied his grandfather and uncle to new lands is illuminated by the Midrashim that explicate the struggle that then occurs in the family. Having achieved wealth, possessions and status of his own in Egypt, strife breaks out between the two camps of Avram and Lot. The Torah relates that the struggle was over grazing rights of the respective herds that each owned but the Midrash tries to better understand the motives behind this dispute. Despite the fact that Lot owed everything to Avram; accompanying him out of Ur and Haran and saving him from the king of S’dom, the Midrash says that Lot did not appreciate this dependency (Genesis Rabbah). Rather he said; has not God promised the land to Avram’s descendents and am not I to inherit after Avram since he has no issue? So my cattle may eat of Avram’s pastures since it will all be mine eventually! (Genesis Rabbah).
The rabbis criticize Lot for this attitude, first of all pointing out that God’s promise will not be fulfilled while there are still others occupying the land (Canaanites and Perizzites) and secondly for not reigning in the excesses of his herdsmen. Abram suggests that the two camps must split and invites Lot to choose the direction he will go. Lot chooses eastwards to a place that looks the best but is the worst possible moral choice; the valley of S’dom. Rashi plays on the word east (kedem) and suggests Lot removed himself from God, the primal being (kedem) while separating himself from Avram. It is only after Lot leaves that God then shows Avram the whole land and promises it to him and his descendents. The literary tension that then exists is only heightened when Lot is then kidnapped by the local kings.
However the rabbis were not uniform in their treatment of Lot. The midrash also criticizes Avram for not sticking to Lot in a time of strife. Avram had attracted many followers to his camp but seemingly could not keep his own nephew with him. There is even a suggestion that Avram manipulated the choice of directions so that Lot would be tricked into going East. The midrash suggests it was like two men who had stacks of wheat and barley respectively. Said one to the other: if the wheat is mine, then the barley is yours. While, if the barley is yours, the wheat is mine. In either case then the wheat is mine! In this vein, Lot is heralded as the ancestor of the Moabite peoples including Ruth who becomes the grandmother of King David and the progenitor of the Messiah! Lot remains a vital part of the destiny of the Jewish people.
Lot is a complex figure in the rabbinic literature and seems to reveal the tensions between family members though in the end the family of Israel’s destiny is wrapped up in all of its members. Perhaps also it is instructive to note that while Avram and Lot are fighting between themselves about land, there are others who still own the land and that the Torah and rabbinic tradition alludes to the Israelite peoples living together with all the inhabitants of the land notwithstanding any future
Divine promise that cannot be fulfilled while the others are still there!
Rabbi Dr Michael Shire
