Shabbat Greetings
This week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27), begins with one of the most famous calls in the Torah: “Lech lecha” – “Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.” God asks Abraham to leave what is familiar and begin a journey toward something he cannot yet see.
At first glance, this seems like a story about leaving: leaving home, leaving the familiar, leaving one generation and one chapter of life behind. I think Lech Lecha is also a story about connection because Abraham does not actually make this journey alone. He takes Sarah with him. He takes his household, his nephew Lot, and all that they have accumulated along the way. Abraham’s journey becomes a shared journey. This is one of the most important lessons for us as we gather for this multigenerational Shabbat.
Every generation has its own journey. Our children and grandchildren are growing up in a world that is different from the one their parents and grandparents knew. They encounter new technologies, new challenges, new opportunities, and new ways of understanding the world. At the same time, the older generations carry something precious: memories, stories, traditions, experiences, and wisdom that cannot simply be downloaded or taught from a book.
Judaism understands that a tradition survives not because one generation holds onto it, but because one generation shares it with the next. The Torah repeatedly tells us to tell our stories to our children. We don’t simply inherit Judaism; we transmit it. And transmission requires relationship. That is why a gathering like this is so meaningful.
A multigenerational Shabbat is more than having grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren in the same room. It is an opportunity for us to know one another across generations. For a grandparent, it might mean telling a grandchild about what Shabbat looked like when they were growing up. For a child, it might mean asking a grandparent, “What was your first synagogue like?” or “What did your family do for holidays?” or simply, “What were you like when you were my age?” For parents, it can mean helping their children see that Judaism isn’t something that began with them and that it doesn’t end with them either. There is something powerful about realizing that we are part of a much longer story.
Abraham receives a promise from God: “I will make of you a great nation… and you shall be a blessing. (12:2)” Notice that the blessing is not only about Abraham himself. It is about what will come after him. Abraham’s life matters because it becomes part of the lives of generations he will never meet. That is true for all of us.
The choices we make today and the stories we tell, the traditions we practice, the values we model, the relationships we nurture become part of the inheritance we give to those who come after us. Furthermore, the inheritance we receive from those who came before us is not merely a collection of rituals or family stories. It is the knowledge that we belong to something larger than ourselves. This is the deeper meaning of Lech Lecha for us today.
So tonight, as we celebrate this multigenerational Shabbat, perhaps we can think of ourselves as standing together on the road of Abraham’s journey. We are not simply grandparents and grandchildren, parents and children, older and younger. We are links in the same chain and our task is not merely to preserve that chain, but to strengthen it. So let us talk to one another tonight. Let us ask questions. Let us tell stories. Let us listen. Let us share memories and make new ones.
SHABBAT SHALOM