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Parshat Lech Lecha: The Answer to Our Happiness Truly Lies Inside Each of Us
A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org.
According to Aristotle, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” But who nowadays has the time for that? Introspection is so sedentary — and, frankly, boring. We live in an age of velocity, not reflection.
Yet it’s precisely this lack of self-reflection — and our tendency to substitute reinvention and external change for true self-discovery — that lies at the heart of our modern dissatisfaction. After all, it’s much more fun to scroll through video shorts than to wonder why you want to waste time scrolling in the first place.
Everyone is on the go: new careers, new locations, new experiences, new “life phases.” If you’re not pivoting, you’re stagnating.
People relocate for “personal growth,” and totally rebrand themselves on LinkedIn, while announcing on Instagram that they’re “leaning into new energy.” Others treat life like a scavenger hunt for fulfillment that never quite fulfills — hopping from city to city, relationship to relationship, hoping that meaning will finally show up.
But it never does. Meanwhile, the self we’re trying so hard to discover is right there, ready to be discovered, if only we’d do what it takes. You can change time zones, climates, and cuisines — but if you haven’t yet met yourself, none of it matters.
Everyone remembers George Foreman, the former heavyweight champion who died earlier this year. What fewer people know is that in the 1970s, he was all about grit and intimidation — not just a master of power punches, but a man whose piercing glare conveyed raw menace.
His persona was built on one unshakable belief: that strength meant never showing softness. Then, in 1977, after a brutal fight with Jimmy Young in Puerto Rico, Foreman collapsed in the locker room and had what he would later describe as a near-death experience that included an encounter with God.
When he recovered, Foreman didn’t talk about revenge nor did he re-embrace his brutish behavior. Instead, he said quietly, “I have to change. I have to be kinder.”
Within days, Foreman retired from boxing. He was just 28 years old, still in his prime. Though he had never been religious, he became an ordained minister, preached on street corners, opened a youth center, fed the hungry, and spent years becoming someone gentler than the angry young fighter he had once been.
And then came the twist: ten years later, he returned to boxing, softer, calmer, smiling — instead of scowling and glowering as he had in his younger years. Remarkably, that new, real version of George Foreman, the one who had finally met himself, became world champion again.
The greatest journey of all is the voyage of self-discovery, and ironically, it’s the one trip almost nobody books. In the rush for ambition and adrenaline, people often swap their real selves for a curated version meant for public display.
At first, it’s like wearing a costume, but soon enough, that costume is a cage. Before long, your true self is concealed, masked by something polished on the outside yet painfully misaligned on the inside. What begins as ambition ends in dissonance and quiet self-destruction.
Which is why the divine instruction that opens Parshat Lech Lecha is so remarkable (Gen. 12:1): לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ — “Go forth from your land, your birthplace, your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”
It sounds like an invitation to travel, and it was. Avraham traveled from Ur Kasdim to Charan, from Charan into Canaan, down to Egypt during the famine, and then back to Canaan again. He crossed deserts, borders, cultures, and civilizations. It was no mere symbolic stroll.
But that opening phrase, Lech Lecha, usually translated as “go forth,” is actually quite clumsy — because it doesn’t really mean “go forth.” More accurately, it means “go to yourself,” or “go for yourself.”
And that is the revolutionary point. Yes, Avraham traveled — but God was telling him that the journey that mattered most wasn’t geographical. It was existential. Lech lecha — “Go to yourself.” Wherever you go, don’t lose sight of the true destination: you. Every step on the road was really a step inward.
Modern science backs up this ancient truth. Psychologists refer to it as the “geographic cure” — the mistaken belief that a new city, a new house, or a new job will magically solve life’s frustrations.
Countless studies show that while moving might deliver a short-term jolt of excitement, the feeling rarely lasts. If you were restless in one place, you’ll likely be restless in the next place as well — only now with the additional stress of having to adapt to a new environment.
The pattern is clear: changing your surroundings won’t change your soul. And perhaps that’s why, when God told Avraham to Lech lecha, He wasn’t sending him somewhere new to find something there that he didn’t already have. Instead, God gave him fair warning that whatever he was looking for, he already had — and that it was this that he needed to focus on.
The great Chasidic master, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, told one of the most disarmingly simple and profound stories about self-discovery ever recorded.
There was once a poor tailor living in a little village in Ukraine who kept having the same dream night after night: a dazzling treasure lay buried beneath a famous bridge in Vienna.
After weeks of this nightly vision, he could no longer ignore it. So he packed a few belongings and some food, kissed his family goodbye, and set off across Europe to claim his fortune.
When he finally arrived in Vienna, he found the bridge exactly as it had appeared in his dreams. But there was only one problem: it was crawling with imperial guards, and digging for treasure was impossible.
The poor tailor loitered nearby, day after day, trying to look casual and waiting for a time when he might be able to dig. Eventually, a guard approached him. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.
Cornered, the tailor told the truth. “I had a dream,” he confessed, “that if I came to this bridge, I would find a valuable treasure hidden beneath it.”
The guard’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he burst out laughing. “A dream? You crossed half the world because of a silly dream? Last week, I dreamt that in some shabby little village in Ukraine, under the stove of a poor tailor’s house, there’s a chest filled with gold. Do you see me running off to chase it?”
The tailor froze. That shabby little village was his village. And that poor tailor was him. The bridge was never the point. He thanked the guard politely, hurried home, dug beneath his own floor, and found the treasure that had been waiting for him all along.
That is the exact message of Lech Lecha. Avraham traveled, yes. But the Torah isn’t really interested in his meanderings. Rather, it wants to teach us that the longest distance he traveled was inward.
Wherever he went, he never lost sight of who he was and who he was meant to be. His journey, like the tailor’s, shows us the importance of turning inward rather than outward for fulfillment.
We often think that fulfillment is just over the horizon. But geography only changes your view, not your soul. If reinvention is what you need, it can only start from within. Lech lecha — go to yourself. That’s where the real treasure is — and where it has always been.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
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Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Extended by Three Weeks, Trump Says
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in southern Lebanon, March 24, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said in a post on Truth Social the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by three weeks.
Trump posted on social media that he and several top officials in his administration met with Israeli and Lebanese representatives in the Oval Office.
“The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump said, referring to the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group which Israel was fighting before a temporary truce was reached earlier this month.
“The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS,” the president added. “I look forward in the near future to hosting the Prime Minister of Israel, [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun. It was a Great Honor to be a participant at this very Historic Meeting!”
The US-mediated ceasefire, which was set to expire on Sunday, has yielded a significant reduction in violence, but attacks have continued in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops have seized a self-declared buffer zone.
Hezbollah says it has “the right to resist” occupying forces.
Wednesday marked Lebanon‘s deadliest day since the ceasefire took effect on April 16.
Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the terrorist group opened fire in support of Tehran in the regional war. The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.
Hezbollah said it carried out four operations in south Lebanon on Wednesday, saying they were a response to Israeli strikes.
Nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel went on the offensive in response to Hezbollah’s March 2 attack, according to Lebanese authorities. Israeli officials say the vast majority of those killed have been Hezbollah terrorists.
Israel is occupying a belt of the south that extends 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) into Lebanon, saying it aims to shield northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which has fired hundreds of rockets during the war.
The Lebanese government has opened direct contacts with Israel despite strong objections from Hezbollah, which was established by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had said Beirut’s envoy to Thursday’s talks in Washington, Lebanese ambassador to the US Nada Moawad, would seek a ceasefire extension and a halt to demolitions being carried out by Israel in villages in the south.
A Lebanese official said Beirut wants a ceasefire extension as a prerequisite for talks to expand beyond the ambassadorial level to the next phase, in which Lebanon would push for an Israeli withdrawal, the return of Lebanese detained in Israel, and a delineation of the land border.
Israel says its objectives in the talks with Lebanon include securing the dismantlement of Hezbollah and creating conditions for a peace deal. Israel has sought to make common cause with the Lebanese government over Hezbollah, which Beirut has been seeking to disarm peacefully for the past year.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend Thursday’s meeting along with Vice President JD Vance and the US ambassadors to Israel and Lebanon. Israel was represented by its ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter.
Rubio hosted the first meeting between Leiter and Moawad on April 14 – the highest-level contact between Lebanon and Israel in decades.
Washington has denied any link between its Lebanon mediation and diplomacy over the Iran war.
Hezbollah says the Lebanon ceasefire was the result of Iranian pressure rather than US mediation.
Aoun has cited goals including halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon and securing the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
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Germany’s Hesse Moves to Criminalize Denial of Israel’s Right to Exist Amid Rising Antisemitism
Anti-Israel protesters march in Germany, March 26, 2025. Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa via Reuters Connect
The German state of Hesse is preparing to introduce legislation that would criminalize denying Israel’s right to exist, as authorities move to confront a surge in anti-Israel demonstrations and a growing tide of antisemitic rhetoric and attacks that have intensified pressure on Jewish communities across the country.
On Thursday, Hesse Minister-President Boris Rhein and Justice Minister Christian Heinz of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) announced the new initiative in the western German state, saying they plan to bring the draft law before the Bundesrat, the legislative chamber known as the Federal Council where Germany’s 16 state governments are represented, next month.
The proposed legislation would close what officials describe as a legal loophole by explicitly criminalizing the denial of Israel’s right to exist, with penalties of up to five years in prison or a fine, aligning it with existing provisions that punish Holocaust denial.
“This legislation sends a very clear signal to Jewish people in Germany that we stand firmly by their side, that their protection is our responsibility, and that we are serious about it,” Rhein said at a press conference.
Under current German law, denying Israel’s right to exist is not explicitly a criminal offense, though it can in some cases be prosecuted as incitement to hatred, meaning the legal framework does not directly outlaw calls for Israel’s elimination.
Benjamin Graumann, chairman of the board of the Jewish community in Frankfurt, welcomed the initiative, saying it marks an important step toward stronger protection for Jewish life in Germany.
“Since Oct. 7, 2023, we have experienced outbreaks of antisemitism that have surpassed our worst nightmares. And we hope that this law will help to better protect Jewish life,” Graumann said, referring to the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel more than two years ago.
Like most countries across Europe and the broader Western world, Germany has seen a shocking rise in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, in the wake of the Oct. 7 atrocities.
According to recently released figures, the number of antisemitic offenses in the country reached a record high in 2025, totaling 2,267 incidents, including violence, incitement, property damage, and propaganda offenses.
By comparison, officially recorded antisemitic crimes were significantly lower at 1,825 in 2024, 900 in 2023, and fewer than 500 in 2022, prior to the Oct. 7 atrocities.
Officials warn that the real number of antisemitic crimes is likely much higher, as many incidents go unreported.
In another attempt to address rising antisemitism, authorities in the eastern German state of Brandenburg last year introduced a new requirement that applicants for citizenship must affirm Israel’s right to exist, a policy that took effect on June 1 for those seeking naturalization and a German passport.
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Israel Taps Christian Envoy After Jailing Soldiers for Smashing Jesus Statue
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, left, and Geroge Deek, Israel’s newly appointed special envoy to the Christian world. Photo: Screenshot
Israel’s foreign minister said Thursday he had appointed former ambassador George Deek as a special envoy to the Christian world, amid a series of recent incidents involving Christian sites and leaders that have left ties strained.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the new role would focus on deepening Israel’s ties with Christian communities worldwide. Deek, who served as Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan and was the country’s first Christian ambassador, brings nearly two decades of diplomatic experience to the post. The appointment comes following fragile ceasefires with both Iran and its Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah.
Minister of Foreign Affairs @gidonsaar Appointed @GeorgeDeek as Special Envoy to the Christian World
Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar has appointed George Deek as Special Envoy to the Christian World. The appointment is intended to deepen Israel’s ties with Christian… pic.twitter.com/GvCQPucywO
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) April 23, 2026
It follows tensions in Jerusalem last month, when authorities initially prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to conduct Palm Sunday prayers, citing wartime restrictions and security concerns. The episode, which came days after an Iranian missile attack struck near the church, triggered anger in Italy and among Catholic leaders, eventually prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue a reversal allowing the Latin Patriarch to hold services “as he wishes.”
Deek’s appointment also comes days after an Israeli soldier was filmed smashing a statue of Jesus in a village in southern Lebanon, footage that circulated widely and drew condemnation. The soldier and the individual who filmed the act were both sentenced to 30 days in prison and removed from combat duty, according to the military. The incident prompted a rare, swift response from across Israel’s political and military leadership, underscoring concerns about the potential diplomatic fallout.
Following the completion of an initial examination regarding a photograph published earlier today of an IDF soldier harming a Christian symbol, it was determined that the photograph depicts an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon.
The IDF views the incident with great… https://t.co/U6P3x8KWBb
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 19, 2026
The military said it deeply regretted the incident, stressing that its operations in Lebanon are directed at Hezbollah and other militant groups, not civilians. It moved quickly to install a replacement statue in the southern Lebanese village, called Debel, though that was later swapped out for a replica of the original, arranged by the Italian UNIFIL contingent after residents of Debel reportedly objected to receiving one from the IDF.
In this instance too, Netanyahu intervened, saying he was “stunned and saddened” to learn of the incident.
“I condemn the act in the strongest terms,” he wrote on X on Monday. “Military authorities are conducting a criminal probe of the matter and will take appropriately harsh disciplinary action against the offender.”
Christian activist Maj. (res.) Shadi Khalloul, a one-time Knesset candidate who founded the Israeli Christian Aramaic Association, called the act “reprehensible,” but emphasized that the response from Israeli authorities had been decisive.
“These soldiers represent themselves. They do not represent the spirit of the IDF or the spirit of the state,” he said.
Khalloul contrasted the response with what he described as a lack of accountability in parts of the Middle East where violence against churches and Christian communities is met with silence or denial.
“The steps taken were very good,” he said. “The state didn’t evade responsibility, as most countries do, but made a strong and unequivocal statement, one that not only educates but also shows the beautiful spirit of Israel.”
More than 150 Jewish leaders from across the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform movements condemned the IDF soldier’s act, calling it a “desecration of God’s name” and “an affront” to Christian communities and to Jewish-Christian relations at a particularly sensitive time.
Khalloul described Deek’s appointment as “worthy and respectable,” calling the envoy “capable and successful.”
The timing of the envoy appointment suggests a recognition within Israel’s leadership that incidents involving Christian institutions, even when isolated, can quickly take on international significance, he added, but cautioned that its impact would depend on how the role is defined and executed.
As a member of Israel’s Arab Christian minority from the mixed Jewish and Arab city of Jaffa, Deek has often spoken about his identity and the role of Christians in Israeli society, framing it as a bridge between different communities. His tenure in Azerbaijan, a Muslim-majority country with ties to Israel, was seen as a test case for such outreach.
Khalloul said he hoped Deek could help strengthen ties between Israel and Christian communities abroad while accurately reflecting the perspective of Israel’s Christian citizens, including their support for “preserving Israel as a strong Jewish and democratic state.”
“In the end, this is about the strength and security of the state for all of us,” he said.