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Parshat Lech Lecha begins with Hashem telling Avram to leave his land, his home, his family, to a land that He will show him. Hashem tells Avram that if he does so, he will become great. Avram listens to Hashem and embarks on a life-changing journey for not only himself, but for all the generations to come.

The initial words of Hashem and Avrams conversation are “Lekh Lekha”, “לֶךְ־לְךָ֛”. These two words can have several interpretations: “Go for yourself, “Go forth, “Go to yourself, '' or as many of us would say to our siblings, “Go away!” However one chooses to interpret these words, לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ is all about motion:  physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

The idea to “go forth” into the unknown is scary. Like Avram, when we “go forth” it is most likely leaving things that are familiar to us behind.  Although there was a lot of uncertainty, Avram was able to go forth in his journey because of his relationship and trust with Hashem. .

The words lech lecha share a huge part in our decision to come to seminary. Just like Avraham we decided to לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ. We left our home, family, friends, school, shul, community, etc. And like Avraham we took a leap of faith into the unknown, trusting ourselves and Hashem that the outcome will lead us to growth and great things.

While Avram serves as a model of faith in God, it is important to understand that he does not do this journey alone. His wife and family travel with him and together they experience the beauty of life’s most high moments and life’s most low moments together. Luckily, we can say the same about being here in Midreshet Amit. We are surrounded by friends, teachers, Rabbis, and mentors, who cheer us on to allow us to stay committed in becoming the best version of ourselves.

It is no coincidence that this Parsha is read at the beginning of our seminary year. It is a wakeup call that it is time to go out and show up, for ourselves. I want to thank my parents for allowing me to,  לֶךְ־לְךָ֛, come for myself,  and take this year of growth and opportunity. May we all have a year full of learning, growing and success. Shabbat Shalom.