Parasha Lech Lecha (לך לך) — Bereshit 12:1 – 17:27. Read on Shabbat, October 24, 2026.
Summary of Parasha Lech Lecha
G-d commands Avram to leave his land, his birthplace and his father’s house and to go to the land that He will show him, and promises him that he will become a great nation and a source of blessing. Avram sets out with Sarai and his nephew Lot and arrives in Canaan, where he builds altars. A famine drives him down to Egypt; Sarai, presented as his sister, is taken to Pharaoh’s house, and Pharaoh is struck with plagues and gives her back. On their return, the herdsmen of Avram and of Lot quarrel; Lot chooses the plain of the Jordan and settles near Sodom. In the war of the four kings against the five, Lot is taken captive; Avram rescues him and is blessed by Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem. At the Covenant Between the Parts, G-d foretells to Avram offspring as numerous as the stars, an exile of four hundred years, and the inheritance of the land. Sarai, who is barren, gives her maidservant Hagar to Avram; Hagar flees, an angel sends her back, and Yishmael is born. When Avram is ninety-nine years old, G-d changes his name to Avraham and Sarai’s to Sarah, promises the birth of Yitzchak and institutes the covenant of circumcision. Avraham circumcises himself that very day, together with Yishmael and all the men of his household.
The Themes
- Setting out into the unknown
- The Covenant Between the Parts
- Circumcision, the sign of the covenant
Rav Raphaël Benizri’s Lectures on Lech Lecha
- Lech Lecha: Avraham versus Pharaoh
- Lech Lecha: The Dialogue of Revelation
- Lech Lecha: Avraham’s Journey
- Lech Lecha: Lot, Our Neighbor
- Lech Lecha: The Third Attempt
- Lech Lecha: The War Against the Four Kings (Part One)
- Lech Lecha: Man’s Relationship with G-d
- Lech Lecha: Faith in Motion
Study booklets for each lecture: questions for the Shabbat table
A Question for the Shabbat Table
Why is Avram’s very first command to set out, without his even being told where?
← Parasha Noach · All the parashiot · Parasha Vayera →
Summary by the Pensées Juives editorial team. The Rav’s teachings are found in his lectures, linked above.