This week’s parsha, Lech Lecha, is not just the story of our first patriarch — it’s the mission statement of the Jewish people.
HaShem says to Avraham:

“Lech lecha mei’artzecha, umimolad’techa, umibeit avicha, el ha’aretz asher ar’eka.” “Go for yourself, from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house — to the Land that I will show you.”
We’ve read these words so many times that maybe we forget how radical they are. This is the first command ever given to a Jew. And it’s not “believe in G-d.” It’s not “keep kosher.” It’s not “pray.”
It’s “Go to the Land.”

The very first mitzvah, the foundation of everything that follows, is to come home, to the Land of Israel. Because without that, the Jewish mission cannot be fulfilled.

The Land as the Engine of Jewish Destiny
HaShem doesn’t tell Avraham, “Go somewhere peaceful” or “Start a new life.”

He says: Go to the land that I will show you.
Why? Because Eretz Yisrael is not just a backdrop to Jewish life — it’s the very engine of Jewish destiny.

Outside the Land, we can survive as Jews. But inside the Land, we can thrive as the nation of HaShem.
Outside, we’re individuals keeping mitzvot in exile. Inside, we’re part of a living nation fulfilling prophecy, fulfilling our purpose.

Lech Lecha: Go for Yourself
Rashi teaches that lecha means “for your own good, for your benefit.” HaShem is saying: Avraham, this isn’t a test to punish you. This is how you’ll discover who you truly are.

And that’s the call to every Jew today.

We can’t know our full spiritual identity until we root ourselves in the land where that identity was born.

You can keep Shabbat, eat kosher, learn Torah anywhere in the world, but your soul will never be fully aligned until it’s connected to the place G-d created for you.

Eretz Yisrael is the spiritual charger of the Jewish neshama.
Just as a fish can’t live outside water, the Jewish soul can’t reach its potential outside of Israel.

This is not only about you as a Jew, it’s about us as a people.
Avraham’s journey was the birth of Am Yisrael, not just Avraham the man.
And that’s why G-d didn’t tell him “Go to a new land for your peace of mind.” He said, Go, because in that land, I will make you a great nation.
Only in Eretz Yisrael can the Jewish people live as a nation with a divine purpose.

Every mitzvah, every holiday, every prophecy, every word of Tanach points back here.

We are not meant to be a “religion” floating in exile. We are meant to be a nation living G-d’s values in His land, showing the world what holiness looks like when it’s lived as a people, not just as individuals.
That’s the ultimate purpose of being a Jew, to reveal G-d’s presence in this world as a sovereign nation in His promised land.

Today, we are living through the continuation of that command.
Every Jew who chooses to come home, despite fear, despite uncertainty, despite comfort abroad, is fulfilling Lech Lecha in real time.
It’s not just an act of faith; it’s an act of identity. When you step off that plane in Ben Gurion Airport, you’re not just making Aliyah, you’re saying to HaShem:
“I’m ready to live my purpose. I’m ready to be part of Your plan for the Jewish people.”

You become part of Avraham’s story. You become a living continuation of the first Jew’s obedience, courage, and trust.
“The Land I Will Show You”
HaShem doesn’t specify the destination, He says, “the land that I will show you.”
Because the clarity comes only after obedience.

First, you take the step. Then, HaShem reveals the blessing.
Every Jew who’s made Aliyah will tell you the same thing: it’s not easy, but it’s right.

There’s a deep sense of coming home, of being aligned with your soul’s frequency, of living life in color instead of black and white.
Because this land shows you who you are.

Avraham had to leave everything, his home, his father’s house, his comfort, and walk into the desert on faith.
We don’t have to walk through a desert. We have El Al. We have highways. We have cities. We have miracles every day.
And yet, HaShem is still calling:
“Lech Lecha- come home. Not just for Me. For you.”
For your family. For your soul. For your people. For the fulfillment of Jewish destiny.

Coming home to Israel is not just another mitzvah. It is the framework that gives life and meaning to all the others.
Because only here, in the Land, can the Jewish people live out their full covenant with G-d, as a nation shining His light to the world.
This is why Lech Lecha is the ultimate command. It’s not only about moving your body from one land to another.
It’s about moving your identity, from being a Jew in exile to being part of a divine nation in its divine home.

That’s the purpose of every Jew, to live, to build, to believe, and to bring redemption from within the Land of Israel.

So as you listen to the Torah this week, hear HaShem whisper your name:
“Lech Lecha. Go for yourself. Come home. Become who you were created to be.”

Because this isn’t just Avraham’s story, it’s your story. It’s the story of the Jewish people finally waking up, returning home, and living our destiny, including you.

Lech Lecha - it’s time to stop reading about it, and start living it.
And we are all blessed to live in a generation when fulfilling this destiny of ours has never been simpler.

Am Yisrael Chai!!!

פרשת השבוע, לך לך לך, היא לא רק סיפורו של הפטריארך הראשון שלנו - היא הצהרת השליחות של העם היהודי.…