Lech Lecha: Opening to the Call

סידור אשכנז, ימי חול, תפילת שחרית, הכנה לתפילה, ברכות התורה א׳

(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּ֒שָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה:

Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Preparatory Prayers, Torah Blessings 1

(1) Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to be engrossed in the words of Torah.

בראשית י״ב:א׳-י׳

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃ וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃ וַאֲבָֽרֲכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר וְנִבְרְכ֣וּ בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ אַבְרָ֗ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ יְהוָ֔ה וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ אִתּ֖וֹ ל֑וֹט וְאַבְרָ֗ם בֶּן־חָמֵ֤שׁ שָׁנִים֙ וְשִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה בְּצֵאת֖וֹ מֵחָרָֽן׃ וַיִּקַּ֣ח אַבְרָם֩ אֶת־שָׂרַ֨י אִשְׁתּ֜וֹ וְאֶת־ל֣וֹט בֶּן־אָחִ֗יו וְאֶת־כָּל־רְכוּשָׁם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר רָכָ֔שׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֣וּ בְחָרָ֑ן וַיֵּצְא֗וּ לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אַ֥רְצָה כְּנָֽעַן׃ וַיַּעֲבֹ֤ר אַבְרָם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ עַ֚ד מְק֣וֹם שְׁכֶ֔ם עַ֖ד אֵל֣וֹן מוֹרֶ֑ה וְהַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֖י אָ֥ז בָּאָֽרֶץ׃ וַיֵּרָ֤א יְהוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לְזַ֨רְעֲךָ֔ אֶתֵּ֖ן אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את וַיִּ֤בֶן שָׁם֙ מִזְבֵּ֔חַ לַיהוָ֖ה הַנִּרְאֶ֥ה אֵלָֽיו׃ וַיַּעְתֵּ֨ק מִשָּׁ֜ם הָהָ֗רָה מִקֶּ֛דֶם לְבֵֽית־אֵ֖ל וַיֵּ֣ט אָהֳלֹ֑ה בֵּֽית־אֵ֤ל מִיָּם֙ וְהָעַ֣י מִקֶּ֔דֶם וַיִּֽבֶן־שָׁ֤ם מִזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּשֵׁ֥ם יְהוָֽה׃ וַיִּסַּ֣ע אַבְרָ֔ם הָל֥וֹךְ וְנָס֖וֹעַ הַנֶּֽגְבָּה׃ (פ) וַיְהִ֥י רָעָ֖ב בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיֵּ֨רֶד אַבְרָ֤ם מִצְרַ֙יְמָה֙ לָג֣וּר שָׁ֔ם כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בָּאָֽרֶץ׃

Genesis 12:1-10

Hashem said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I shall curse; And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.” Abram went forth as Hashem had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the terebinth of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land. Hashem appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to Hashem who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to Hashem and invoked Hashem by name. Then Abram journeyed by stages toward the Negeb. There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

בראשית רבה ל״ט:א׳

וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל אַבְרָם לֶךְ לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וגו' (בראשית יב, א), רַבִּי יִצְחָק פָּתַח (תהלים מה, יא): שִׁמְעִי בַת וּרְאִי וְהַטִּי אָזְנֵךְ וְשִׁכְחִי עַמֵּךְ וּבֵית אָבִיךְ, אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק מָשָׁל לְאֶחָד שֶׁהָיָה עוֹבֵר מִמָּקוֹם לְמָקוֹם, וְרָאָה בִּירָה אַחַת דּוֹלֶקֶת, אָמַר תֹּאמַר שֶׁהַבִּירָה הַזּוֹ בְּלֹא מַנְהִיג, הֵצִיץ עָלָיו בַּעַל הַבִּירָה, אָמַר לוֹ אֲנִי הוּא בַּעַל הַבִּירָה. כָּךְ לְפִי שֶׁהָיָה אָבִינוּ אַבְרָהָם אוֹמֵר תֹּאמַר שֶׁהָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה בְּלֹא מַנְהִיג, הֵצִיץ עָלָיו הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְאָמַר לוֹ אֲנִי הוּא בַּעַל הָעוֹלָם. (תהלים מה, יב): וְיִתְאָו הַמֶּלֶךְ יָפְיֵךְ כִּי הוּא אֲדֹנַיִךְ. וְיִתְאָו הַמֶּלֶךְ יָפְיֵךְ, לְיַפּוֹתֵךְ בָּעוֹלָם, (תהלים מה, יב): וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִי לוֹ, הֱוֵי וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל אַבְרָם.

Bereshit Rabbah 39:1

"G-d said to Abram, 'Go forth from your land…'" (Genesis 12:1) Rabbi Yitzchak opened: "Listen, daughter, look, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house." (Psalms 45:11) Rabbi Yitzchak said: this may be compared to a man who was traveling from place to place when he saw a castle aglow/on fire. He said, "Is it possible that this castle lacks a person to look after it?" The owner of the building peered out at him and said to him, 'I am the master of the castle.'" What happened with Abraham our father was similar. He said, “Is it possible that this universe lacks a person to look after it?," the Holy Blessed One looked out at him and said to him, 'I am the Master of the Universe.'" "And let the king be aroused by your beauty since he is your master" (Psalms 45:12) And let the king be aroused for your beauty in the universe. "And bow to him" (Psalms 45:12) Hence, G-d said to Abram, [go forth...].

ראש השנה ט״ז ב:ו׳-ז׳

וא"ר יצחק ד' דברים מקרעין גזר דינו של אדם אלו הן צדקה צעקה שינוי השם ושינוי מעשה צדקה דכתיב (משלי י, ב) וצדקה תציל ממות צעקה דכתיב (תהלים קז, כח) ויצעקו אל ה' בצר להם וממצוקותיהם יוציאם שינוי השם דכתיב (בראשית יז, טו) שרי אשתך לא תקרא את שמה שרי כי שרה שמה וכתיב וברכתי אותה וגם נתתי ממנה לך בן שינוי מעשה דכתיב (יונה ג, י) וירא האלהים את מעשיהם וכתיב (יונה ג, י) וינחם האלהים על הרעה אשר דבר לעשות להם ולא עשה וי"א אף שינוי מקום דכתיב (בראשית יב, א) ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך מארצך והדר ואעשך לגוי גדול ואידך ההוא זכותא דא"י הוא דאהניא ליה

Rosh Hashanah 16b:6-7

And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: A person’s sentence is torn up on account of four types of actions. These are: Giving charity, crying out in prayer, a change of one’s name, and a change of one’s deeds for the better. An allusion may be found in Scripture for all of them: Giving charity, as it is written: “And charity delivers from death” (Proverbs 10:2); crying out in prayer, as it is written: “Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses” (Psalms 107:28); a change of one’s name, as it is written: “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be” (Genesis 17:15), and it is written there: “And I will bless her, and I will also give you a son from her” (Genesis 17:16); a change of one’s deeds for the better, as it is written: “And God saw their deeds” (Jonah 3:10), and it is written there: “And God repented of the evil, which He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10). And some say: Also, a change of one’s place of residence cancels an evil judgment, as it is written: “And the Lord said to Abram: Go you out of your county” (Genesis 12:1), and afterward it is written: “And I will make of you a great nation” (Genesis 12: 2). The Gemara explains: And the other one, i.e., Rabbi Yitzḥak, who does not include a change of residence in his list, holds that in the case of Abram, it was the merit and sanctity of Eretz Yisrael that helped him become the father of a great nation.

רמב"ן על בראשית י״ב:א׳:ב׳

מארצך וממולדתך כתב רש"י והלא כבר יצא משם עם אביו ובא עד חרן אלא כך אמר לו הקב"ה התרחק עוד מבית אביך ורבי אברהם פירש וכבר אמר השם אל אברם לך לך מארצך כי הדבור הזה היה בעודנו באור כשדים ושם צוהו לעזוב ארצו ומולדתו ובית אביו אשר שם ואיננו נכון כי אם היה כן היה אברם עיקר הנסיעה מבית אביו במצות האלהים ותרח אביו ברצון נפשו הלך עמו והכתוב אמר (לעיל יא לא) ויקח תרח את אברם בנו יורה כי אברם אחרי אביו ובעצתו יצא מאור כשדים ללכת ארצה כנען ועוד כי הכתוב שאמר (יהושע כד ג) ואקח את אביכם את אברהם מעבר הנהר ואולך אותו בכל ארץ כנען היה ראוי שיאמר "ואקח את אביכם את אברהם מאור כשדים ואולך אותו בכל ארץ כנען" כי משם לוקח ושם נצטוה בזה

Ramban on Genesis 12:1:2

From your land and from your birthplace - Rashi wrote: But did he he not already leave from there with his father? And Rabbi Abraham explained that God already said to Avram, ‘Go forth from your land,’ and so this is restating what was already said in Ur Kasdim, and it was there that He commanded him to leave his land, his birthplace, and his father’s house there. And this is not correct. Because if this were so, the point of the journey would be Avram’s leaving his father’s house on God’s command, and Terach would just be accompanying him out of his own personal desire. But the verse says, “Terach took Avram his son” (Gen. 11:31), which shows that Avram was following his father, and it was his father’s idea that they leave Ur Kasdim to go to the land of Canaan. And furthermore, the verse (in Joshua 24:3) says, “I took your father, Abraham, across the river, and led him across the whole of the Land of Canaan,” where it should have said, “I took your father, Abraham, from Ur Kasdim, and led him across the whole of the Land of Canaan,” for it was from there he was taken and there he was commanded.

From Dena Weiss, "Pray Like Someone is Listening; Listen Like Someone is Praying: Lech Lecha 5778" at https://www.hadar.org/torah-resource/pray-someone-listening#source-6157
The feeling of being blessed by God comes from hearing the blessing of other people, their presence is a proxy for God’s presence. So too my experience of being listened to by God only works if it comes with and is like an experience that I have had of having been listened to like a delightful child, of having been heard by someone who is silently paying attention to me with patience, love, and curiosity.
This is why when Avraham is feeling most alone, most isolated from the people who have moored him, God blesses him with the most simple and fundamental of blessings. God blesses him with other people: Bereishit 12:2-3 2 And I will make you into a great nation. And I will bless you and magnify your name and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and those who curse you I will curse. And all of the families of the earth will be blessed through you.
We feel God’s presence when it is bestowed on us by other people. The key to my being successful in prayer is you. When Avraham felt the most alone, God said to him, “Trust me: There will be people there to bless you and whom you will want to bless.”