Commentary on Cheshvan 7 Torah Portion, 5781

Written on Cheshvan 7, 5781

Bereshis 12:1: "Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you." This is a precedent for when the Jews would "go from their relatives's house", by going away from the gentile lands (Mitzrayim), and accepting the Torah, making them a "great nation".
Verse 2: "And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing." This is a precedent for when the Jews became a great nation by accepting the Torah. They were blessed and to this day, the Jews have a great reputation (a great name). The Jews to this day, are also a blesing to the world.
Verse 3: "I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you, I shall curse; and all the families of the Earth shall bless themselves by you." This is a precedent for how those who bless Israel are blessed, and those who try to kill the Jews are never succesful (like Hitler, who killed not even half of the Jews, despite his intentions). Everyone is blessed from the Jews' merit, and the world is blessed by the Jews' values.
Verse 4: "So Avram went as Hashem had spoken to him, and Lot went with him; Avram was twenty-five years old when he left Haran." This is a precedent for when the Jews left the gentile lands and left with some Erev Rav. This is also a precedent for when Moshiach (may he come soon) comes, and some righteous gentiles will come as well to Israel.
Verse 5: "So Avram took his wife Sarai and Lot, his brother's son, and all their wealth that they had amassed, and the souls they made in Haran; and they left to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan." This is a precedent for when the Jews left the gentile lands and brought (As Rashi says in his commentary about this verse, the "souls they made in Haran" were people they converted) the Erev Rav.
Verse 6: "Avram passed into the land as far as the site of Shechem, until the plain of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in their land." This is a precedent for when the Jews left the gentile lands and went to Eretz Yisrael, between the borders mentioned in this verse.
Verse 7: "Hashem appeared to Avram and said, 'To your offspring I will give this land.' So he built an altar there to Hashem who appeared to him" This is a direct prophecy regarding the Jews going to Eretz Yisrael. The latter part is a precedent for when the Jews built the Tabernacle, and later, the Bais Hamikdash.
Verse 8: "From there he relocated to the mountain east of Bais-el and pitched his tent, with Bais-el on the west and Ai on the east; he built there an altar to Hashem and invoked Hashem by name." The Jews built an altar (the Bais Hamikdash), which was the only place where the four letter name was pronounced (Yom Kipur).
Verse 9: "Then Avram journeyed on, journeying steadily toward the south." The Jews *steadily* (taking 40 years) moved to Eretz Yisrael after Yetzias Mitrayim.
Verse 10: "There was a famine in the land, and Avram descended to Mitzrayim to sojourn there, for famine was severe in the land." This is a precedent for how Yitzchak was specifically told to not go to Mitzrayim when there was famine in Eretz Yisrael.
Verse 11: "And it occurred, as he was about to enter Mitzrayim, he said to his wife Sarai, 'See now, I have known that you are a woman of beautiful appearance'" This is a precedent for when the Jews entered Mitzrayim, and had the "beautiful" shechinah residing with them; they were brought to slavery, and the shechinah departed from them when they "entered the 49th level of impurity". Essentially, the Egyptians "stole" the Shechinah from them.
Verse 12: "And it shall occur that when the Egyptins see you, they shall say, 'This is his wife!'; then they will kill me, but you they will let live." This is a precedent for when the Jews entered Mitzrayim and the Egyptians put them in slavery (and later tried to kill the Jews), "stealing" the Shechinah somewhat. They tried to kill the Jews, but they were overcome by Hashem.
Verse 13: "Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me for your sake, that I may live on account of you." The Egyptians were so immoral, that a lie was required to attempt to avoid Sarai being kidnapped. Sarai was made a "sex slave" in a way, thereby being a precedent for her children being enslaved; Hashem (at Sarai's command) smote Pharaoh with a plague, being a precedent for the later plagues on mitzrayim.