Rising Over Our Surroundings

After Sarah was taken by Paroah (the first time) in Egypt, Lot and Avraham lived there for a short period of time. Egypt was known at the time for its immoral and unethical people. During the time they spent there, Lot became influenced by the people. After leaving Egypt, Lot and Avraham decided to separate. Avraham told Lot to choose where he wanted to go. Lot chose Sedom. Like Egypt, the people of Sedom were immoral and unethical. After being influenced by those type of people in Egypt, Lot chose to live with the same type of people in Sedom. As we see in the following Perakim, Sedom is destroyed.

Avraham, on the other hand, is not influenced by his surroundings like Lot. When living in Charan with his family, he was raised to worship idols. Everyone around him was an idol worshipper. The fact that he was able to believe in a higher power and not worship the idols is incredible. He did not succumb to his surroundings, he rose above them. Everywhere Avraham goes he continues to belive in G-d and teach others of this monotheistic belief. At the time, only Avrahah believed in G-d. All his life people attempted to persuade him to give up his belief in G-d and worship idols, but Avraham stood strong in his beliefs and did not let his surroundings influence him.

The way Avraham was able to rise over his surroundings is a very important lesson for Jews today. We live in a world where people try to persuade Jews to convert to different religions, and there are countless obstacles that prevent us from doing what is right. Everyday we are given obsacles that we must overcome. The fact is that it is hard for a Jew to maintain his religious identity in this world and it is almost impossible to maintain a religious identity and "blend in" to society at the same time. We must make sacrifices everyday in order to stay true to our religion. Numerous Jews have assimilated into the non-Jewish world. Like Lot, they have been influenced by their surroundings and chosen to turn their backs on their Jewish identity. The test for the Jews of today is to be able to rise over our surroundings, like Avraham, and live the life that G-d has instructed us to live, as an observant Jew following His Mitvot, and being apart of a nation known for its Tzedeck and Mishpat.