03 Lekh-Lekha | Go to Yourself: Abraham and the Spiritual Journey | Jonathan Kligler

In Jewish practice the Torah is divided into weekly portions such that in the course of a full year we make our way through the entire Five Books of Moses. In Hebrew we refer to the weekly portion as the parshah or parashah, the plural being parashiyot. We begin in the beginning every fall at the conclusion of the Jewish Holy Days, and every week we progress until, as a year passes, we reach the end of Deuteronomy. And we begin again. We even have an especially joyous holiday, Simchat Torah, to mark the completion and renewal of the annual cycle of readings. These essays follow that cycle, with one for each parashah, and can be a companion to those of you who wish to follow the annual Jewish rhythm for studying the Torah. There is a Hebrew phrase, שַׁרְשֶׁרֶת הַדּוֹרוֹת sharsheret ha’dorot, the chain of generations. It refers to the ongoing transmission of Torah, from the seminal moment at Mount Sinai — not an historical, geographical moment, but rather the birth of our tradition — down through every generation to the present. It is an honor to be able to forge a link in this living tradition.