OU TORAH Lech Lecha: For What Purpose Did God Choose Avraham? By Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

Almost ‘out of the blue’, at the beginning of Parshat Lech L’cha, God appears unto Avraham, commanding him to travel to the ‘promised land’, while blessing him that he will become a great nation. However, contrary to what we would expect, the Torah never tells us WHY he was chosen; nor does it tell us why HE was chosen! In contrast to Parshat Noach, where the Torah informs us at the outset both why NOACH was chosen [i.e.”for he was a righteous man…”(see 6:9)]; as well as WHY he was chosen [i.e. for the purpose of re-creation (see 6:5-8); in Parshat Lech L’cha, the Torah never informs us concerning WHY God chose Avraham Avinu. Did Avraham Avinu simply win a ‘Divine lottery’? In this week’s shiur, we discuss the Torah’s presentation of God’s choice of Avraham Avinu, in an attempt to understand the literary method that the Torah employs to explain why Avraham was chosen, and its thematic significance.