A Matter of Mindsets: Lech Lecha 5786

Lech lecha - “Go for yourself, from your land… to the land that I will show you.”

With these words, Avraham Avinu not only begins a physical journey but continues a lifelong mission of growth and discovery. His path—and the contrasting path of Lot—teaches us one of the Torah’s most enduring lessons: the power of stepping beyond comfort in pursuit of spiritual greatness.

Psychologist Carol Dweck famously distinguishes between a “fixed mindset” and a “growth mindset.” Those with a fixed mindset see their abilities and circumstances as unchangeable; those with a growth mindset believe in learning, striving, and the possibility of transformation. Avraham and Lot personify these two outlooks.

When Lot separates from Avraham, he chooses the fertile plains near Sodom. Rashi comments that he turned away “mikedem” (Bereishit 13:11) —literally “from the east,” but also away from kadmono shel olam—the One who preceded the world. Lot said to himself “I can no longer bear to be with Avraham nor with his God”. Lot sought comfort and prosperity, and in so doing he rejected his faith, calling and purpose. His decision was guided by convenience rather than conviction.

Yet later we find Lot risking his life to host guests in Sodom. His act of hospitality is admirable, yet limited. Lot continues doing what comes naturally, what came effortlessly in the home of Avraham without stretching beyond the familiar zone of comfort. He follows what feels right but avoids the harder work of growth.

Avraham, by contrast, constantly pushes past what feels natural. He continuously answers the call to move beyond what seems possible. Not by coincidence are his descendants compared to the stars. Rav Meir Shapiro explains that, when Hashem tells Avraham to count the stars and “thus shall be your descendants”, Hashem is telling him: Just as it is impossible to count the stars, so too the Jewish people will achieve the impossible in this world. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks captured it beautifully: “Judaism is the defeat of probability by the power of possibility.”

These past two years have shown that spirit vividly. In moments of trial, Am Yisrael once again defied expectation - rising in unity, faith, and courage. Like Avraham’s stars, we illuminated the night with acts of bravery, chesed and resilience, proving that the Jewish story is one of surpassing limits.

As we read Lech Lecha, we are reminded that greatness begins when we step beyond what is comfortable. Each of us can follow Avraham’s call by leaving our “land” —our routines, familiar assumptions and old habits—to grow closer to Hashem. May we continue to walk in Avraham’s footsteps, transforming comfort into courage and possibility into reality.

 Shabbat Shalom! Rabbi Joel Kenigsberg

Of miracles and mindsets: Va'eira 5785

As the narrative of the redemption of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage unfolds, I am continually struck by the apparently gradual process that the Torah describes for us. What does the detail associated with each plague visited upon Egypt teach us? And would not one great plague alone have sufficed? After all, in the past century we witnessed how just two bombs forced the powerful and fanatical Japanese Empire to surrender unconditionally. So, what is the message of the ten plagues and the lapse of time from the onset of the mission of Moshe to its final and successful conclusion? 

All the great rabbinic commentators have raised these issues over the ages. As is usual in Jewish biblical commentary, there is no one definitive answer: the Torah is said to have seventy different “faces.”  Yet the main thrust of rabbinic opinion is that all of this was necessary to give the Egyptians an opportunity to repent, to save themselves and, just as importantly, to give the Jews an opportunity to begin to think of themselves as a free and independent people, no longer as slaves and pagans. It takes time and the turn of many events to change a nation’s mentality and preconceived ideas. The Egyptians had to accept that they had no right to rule over others and be cruel to their fellow human beings, while the Jews had to become accustomed to the responsibilities of freedom and independence, and to realize that they were destined to be a special people dedicated to the service of God and humankind. 

These things cannot happen suddenly. If they do, then they do not last. Judaism is not built upon sudden epiphanies but rather upon long, grinding routine. Only after ten plagues have visited Egypt do the Egyptians and the Jews both begin to understand what God wants from them. We see from many incidents recorded in the Bible that a one-shot miracle, no matter how impressive and meaningful at the moment it occurs, does not really change the mindset of people in the long run. The miracle performed through Elijah, when all of Israel proclaimed that Hashem is the God of the universe, shows that this is so: the people almost immediately sank back into the swamp of idolatry and immorality.

Consistency, repeated instruction and meaningful education are necessary to make miracles truly influential and long-lasting. If the Jews had been delivered from Egyptian bondage by one great miracle, they would have had a much harder time grasping the unique role that God intended them to play in world history. They would have been far more reticent to accept that role at Sinai had it not been for the fact that they witnessed so many miracles. Those miracles were repeated regularly and explained to them by Moshe in the light of the godly Torah, which they now willingly accepted. 

Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Berel Wein