Page 18 - Issue 33

־ל ֶא �י ִ֑ב ָא תיֵ֣בּ ִמוּ ֖� ְתּ ְדַלוֹ ֽמּ ִמוּ ֥� ְצ ְר ַא ֵֽמ ֛�ְל־�ֶל …
:ָךּ ֶֽא ְר ַא ר ֶ֥שֲׁא ץ ֶרָ֖א ָה
הֵי ְהֶֽו � ֶ֑מ ְשׁ הָ֖ל ְדַּגֲאַֽו ֔� ְכ ֶרָ֣בֲאַֽו לוֹ ֔דָגּ יוֹ ֣גְל ֙� ְשֶׂﬠ ֶֽאְו
֖
:הָֽכ ָר ְבּ
ל ֖כּ ב וּ ֣כ ְר ְבִנְו ר ֑א ָא ֖�ְלֶלּ ַק ְמוּ �י ֔כֲרָ֣ב ְמ ֙הָכ ְר ָֽבֲאַֽו
ֹ
ֶ
ֹ
ְ ֔�
ֹ
:ה ָֽמ ָדֲא ָֽה ת ֥ח ְפּ ְשׁ ִמ

… "Go forth from your land and from your
birthplace and from your father's house, to the
land that I will show you.
And I will make you into a great nation, and I
will bless you, and I will aggrandise your name,
and [you shall] be a blessing.
And I will bless those who bless you, and the
one who curses you I will curse, and all the
families of the earth shall be blessed in you."

And so, at the age of seventy-five, Avraham set forth from
the land in which he was raised, from the land of his
ancestors, on a journey to a land which was unknown to him
on a challenging journey full of uncertainty and many
troubles, in order to build this great nation that was
promised to him.

According to Google Maps, the journey from Ur Kasdim,
which today is in southern Iraq, to Eretz Yisrael, takes
approximately 288 hours, or 12 days of non-stop walking.
Considering the multiple stops the Tanach mentions that he
and his wife and nephew made along the way, we can
assume that this voyage would have taken months, if not
years, to complete.

Ultimately, Avraham and Sarah arrive at the Promised Land
and sow the seeds for the biblical beginnings of the nation-
building project.