From the Rabbi's Desk

Avram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold.  He proceeded in stages from the Negeb to as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai, the site of the altar he had built there at first; and there Avram invoked GOD by name. Lot, who went with Avram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so the land could not support them staying together; for their possessions were so great they couldn’t remain together and there was quarreling between the herders of Avram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle. The Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land. Avram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herders and yours, for we are, after all, kin. Is not the whole land before you? Let us separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.” (בראשית י''ג:ב-ט)

Avram and his family arrived in the Land of Canaan (what will eventually be Israel) and a famine began almost immediately. At that point, they went to Egypt to be able to survive and returned to their homeland sometime later. When they came back, it became apparent they couldn’t live with each other because their different camps argued at length and got in each other’s way. Avram made the difficult decision to divide up the land so there would be space for each of them. 

It’s impossible to read this without looking at the world we live in today. We each have a perspective that’s our unique identity. All too often, we think others are wrong for not thinking like we do. All too often, we want a world of those who think and act just like we do. This is patently wrong. God didn’t create a world of one but a world of many. Avram made it clear to Lot, and thus to us, that there was enough space for both of them. Avram made it clear that for the sake of peace and security they needed to sit in their separate places but they could be together. This move was made because they were shepherds and their herds needed vegetation to eat and space to move around. It was natural that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep each herd separated both then and now. Resources needed to be preserved for each group. It wasn’t a case where they couldn’t live together because of their ethics, values, interests, identities, or anything else. Their animals needed to be separate to avoid getting mixed up and causing problems. This is the model we need. We need to find space for each other. We need to find space for ourselves. I’m not sure this is a physical need as much as a spiritual one. We need to make room for others in our lives.

On another note, it shouldn’t be lost on us that the text talked about splitting up the Land of Israel. It shouldn’t be lost on us that time and again Israeli governments have tried to extricate themselves from the land dispute with the Palestinians and have made offers to split the land to be able to live in peace. I was struck when I recently saw President Bill Clinton talk about his final attempt to get Yasser Arafat to accept a Palestinian State in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and how Arafat refused. It cannot be lost on us that we’ve recognized we cannot live together; we’ve tried time and again to partition the land so Israelis and Palestinians can have a peaceful and secure future. And time and again absolutists on the other side have rejected this because they won’t accept anything other than everything. Avram, their ancestor as well, made clear there needed to be space for both, and that remains true today.

We all of have a lot of work to do to find space in our worlds for those we both agree and disagree with. We all need to find the space in our lives to help make our world better.