The weekly reading for the week of 13 Cheshvan, 5767 - November 4, 2006 Parashah: Lech Lecha Genesis 12:1 to 17:27; Haftarah: Isaiah 40:27 to 41:16; Mei Kituvim: 2 Chronicles 14:1-15; 15:1-8; Brit Chadashah: 2 Corinthians 11:16-33: 12:1-10



Parashah Lite Edition (Focuses on one verse or idea anywhere in the readings below)

The Bagel: Altared Place.

"So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD" (Genesis 13:1-4).

Abraham was on the road. That is what it means to be a pilgrim or a sojourner. For him, there never was a sure resting place. Abraham was in the Land of Promise, but the land wasn't always promising. He had to move again and again. He made a point of marking out a place for G-d the moment he set foot in the Land. By setting stones in their appointed positions, Abraham altared the landscape. His place of sacrifice was the construction of a house of G-d in the midst of pagan rites by the neighboring peoples. The new venture into a strange land needed the sanction of G-d. The altar was his way of dedicating the Land to G-d. This meant that Abraham became a steward of the Land that G-d was giving to him as an inheritance. This was not a call to abuse that trust, but to order it in harmony with the harmonious character of G-d. Abraham altared the Land and gave it the Presence of G-d.

Cream Cheese: An altared place is a restored place.

• Torah:
  Genesis 12:1 to 17:27.
  
• Haftarah:
  Isaiah 40:27 to 41:16.
  
• Mei Kituvim:
  2 Chronicles 14:1-15; 15:1-8.
  
• Brit Chadashah:
  2 Corinthians 11:16-33: 12:1-10..