D'var Torah: Parashat Lech Lecha

In this week's Parsha, Parshat Lech Lecha, Hashem tells Avram to "Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you”(Genesis 12:1). Avram and his wife Sari got up and left their home to go to Canaan, having complete faith that HaShem would take care of them. When they got there, a famine caused them to go to Egypt. Avram knew that Sarai was a beautiful woman and feared that the Egyptians would kill him so that Pharaoh could marry Sarai, and therefore decided to tell people that they were siblings. Pharaoh then took Sarai and wanted her to be his wife. Avram Avinu is a very strong and holy man. He fought and beat 4 kings with no fear. If Avram was able to do this, why couldn’t he fight Pharaoh in order for Sarai to remain by his side? The reason for this is because the cause of the fighting would be different. Avram fought the 4 kings in the name HaShem. Avram would have fought Pharaoh for a personal reason. An important lesson that we can take away from Avram is that when it comes to Hashem, we should take matters into our own hands to defend His name. However, when it comes to matters that have to do with ourselves, we should have faith that HaShem will take care of us and lead the way towards the best route.