Parashat Lej Lejá In English 5786

LEJ LEJÁ HaShem commands Abram to leave “his land, his birthplace, his father’s house” to go to the place He will show him, promising to make him great and make him a great nation. And Abram obeys the command, departing with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot toward the land of Canaan, where he begins to spread the Name of HaShem. Fights break out between Lot’s and Abram’s herdsmen, so the two men decide to separate. Lot settles in Sodom. Four kings rise up against five, including the king of Sodom, and defeat them, taking captives, among them Lot. Abram sets out to rescue his relative and succeeds. Hakadosh Baruch Hu establishes a covenant with Abram that his descendants will possess the land. Since Abram had no children with Sarai, she convinced him to have relations with Hagar, her Egyptian slave. The woman conceived and, upon learning this, became insolent toward her mistress. Sarai began to mistreat her, and Hagar fled.