Lech Lecha (“Go Forth”) recounts Abraham’s (here known as Abram) first encounter with God, his journey to Canaan, the birth of his son Ishmael, the covenant between him, his descendants, and God, and God’s commandment to circumcise the males of his household.
The third weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the yearly Jewish cycle of Torah reading is Lech-Lecha or Lekh-Lekha (לֶךְ-לְךָ — Hebrew for “go!” or “leave!”, literally “go for you” — the fifth and sixth words in the parashah). It is found in Genesis 12:1–17:27. The parashah recounts events such as God calling Abram (who would later become Abraham), Abram misrepresenting his wife Sarai as his sister, Abram sharing land with his nephew Lot, the conflict between the four and the five kings, the covenant between the pieces, Sarai’s problems with her maid Hagar and Hagar’s son Ishmael, and the covenant of circumcision (brit milah).
In a Torah Scroll, the parashah is composed of 208 lines, 126 verses, and 1,686 words in 6,336 Hebrew characters (Sefer Torah). Usually in October or November, we read it on the third Sabbath following Simchat Torah.
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