Leaving Your Source to Reach Even Higher

It says in this week’s Torah portion that Avraham (the Jewish patriarch Abraham) was tested by G-d ten times. The first test mentioned explicitly in the Torah was when G-d commanded Avraham to leave his land, his birthplace, and his father’s household, and go to the land that the Almighty would show him. The reason this command is explicitly written in the Torah is because it applies to the spiritual mission of every person.

In short, this concept contains two opposites when a soul descends into this lowly, materialistic world:

1. The descent: The soul is forced to leave its source in Heaven and lower itself into this world. For the soul, this is a painful descent from the Higher Worlds, where only G-dliness exists.

2. The benefit: On the other hand, the benefit of this descent is that if the soul fulfills its spiritual mission, it can reach an even higher level of G-dliness than before.

We can learn about these concepts from the verse in this week’s Torah portion. G-d told Avraham: “Go from your land, your birthplace, and your father’s household, and go to the land that I will show you.”

The words “go from” also refer to the soul leaving the highest spiritual worlds and coming down into the unfamiliar territory of this lowly world. But G-d tells the soul that it can accomplish much more than it could before. How so? By fulfilling Torah and mitzvos, which cannot be done in Heaven. Through Torah and mitzvos, the soul can reach a higher level of connection with G-d.

After the soul descends from the high spiritual realms, it must overcome the Yetzer Hara, which is present even before a person is born, in the mother’s womb. The Yetzer Hara influences and distracts the person, drawing him toward worldly pleasures instead of focusing on G-dly matters, which are the purpose of creation.

Earlier, when discussing the above-mentioned verse, we were talking about holiness coming down into this world. But here, we are discussing the soul within a person in this world elevating itself to higher levels!

This is what it means to leave one’s birthplace and father’s household. It means leaving behind the desires and mindset of worldly pleasures and going to the Beis Medrash to immerse oneself in holiness.

There is an even higher spiritual level. After a person has learned not to follow the desires of his Animal Soul, but instead to listen to the G-dly Soul’s desire for a lofty connection with the Almighty, he must now strive for an even deeper connection with G-d, beyond the limits of human comprehension.