Shine Like the Stars

 With the days growing shorter time seems to fly by so fast. What is our life really but time, days, hours, minutes, all of which are limited. But when we use our time as Abraham and Sarah did, connecting to the Creator through acts of chesed or kindness toward His creation we become limitless in the good we can do. When G*D commanded Abram to "go out from your land, from your birthplace, and from your fathers house to a land I will show you," G*D was asking him to leave his family, all his earthly connections and personal circumstances,to look beyond his limitations and establish an unlimited connection with Him. Chassidic thought teaches that this verse is actually a commandment issued by G*D to each of us. "Go on a journey of self discovery. Leave behind anything that might hold you back. And then I will show you the landscape of your Divine soul-the true you."

Lech means to proceed, Lech Lecha means, go out, as Rashi explains, it means, go out for your own benefit, become something more. It is as if G*D is saying to Abraham, "Go out, leave everything behind and do My mitzvot, connect with Me, go to that land that "areka", meaning, I will show you. Areka can also mean I will reveal to you. Following G*Ds mitzvot can lead to self-revelation. As we gain self-knowledge we come closer to our true essence and to G*D. In a teaching by Rabbi Akiva Tatz on Prayer he says if you really want to know who you are, look at what you want, and the only way to truly change is to change what you want. What is it that we want beloved, is it a closer relationship with our Creator? In the end it is the only thing that will bring us true happiness. It is what Abraham wanted. I was blessed to see beautiful meteors last week over several days during the Orionids shower. Because of the setting moon the sky was especially breathtaking. It never ceases to amaze me that the stars that I am looking at are the same stars that Abraham and the rest of our heritage looked at so very long ago.  HaShem's promise to Abraham is that his descendants  will be as numerous as the stars. Are we as numerous as the stars? Maybe not, but among us, there are stars, stars possessing great gifts and talents.

Think for a moment about this metaphor, comparing our people, to the stars. What are stars exactly? They seem like tiny specs of light, so very far away in the vast evening sky, but stars are more than meets the eye. According to scientists and astronomers stars actually are massive spheres of plasma, burning with internal temperature and pressure. They radiate abundant energy. These blazing balls of gas are catalysts for the creation of elements such as helium, hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, which are elements critical to all life forms. The importance of an individual star is greater than one might think. And so it is with each one of us beloved, when HaShem made this promise to Abraham He had each and every one of us in mind.

The Talmud speaks of the world in terms of six thousand years, according to Rabbi Manis Friedman the first two thousand years were years of chaos, the second two thousand years were years of Torah, and the last two thousand years will be the years of Moshiach. The years of chaos brought among other events, the Fall, the Flood and the Tower of Babel. Although there were great men of righteousness during this period of time, they could not bring Heaven down to earth. It was not until Abraham that we see that transition. Abraham was the bridge between Heaven and earth. We see him standing in the gap with a servants heart for his family, for Lot and for the cities of Sodom and Gemmora. In next weeks parsha Vayeira, "and G*D appeared to him", we see a change, through the process of circumcision Abraham is able to transcend his human limitations and he is able to receive a direct revelation from G*D. In Lech Lecha Abraham slowly ascends the spiritual ladder on his own, in Vayeira, G*D elevates him to a spiritual level not attainable by human effort. Let us Lech Lecha beloved, and in doing so may we all experience G*D"s appearing, may we all shine like the stars in His sky~
Shabbat Shalom~Elisheva
Enjoy the love song below from G*D to you~ 
http://youtu.be/LRIQxBJCRWU