Lech Lecha: Zemer of The Week
“Yama” – Benny Friedman
https://www.jyrics.com/lyrics/yama-ימה/
A fun video about traversing Eretz Yisrael the way Avraham Avinu did, and showing many of the memorable sites from Israel.
“Avram Avinu / Cuando El Rey Nimrod” – Gerard Edery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVRIHuJD9Sc
According to its YouTube description, “Avram Avinu, or more commonly known as Cuando El Rey Nimrod, is as close to the Sephardic ‘national anthem’ as you’ll get.”
A traditional zemer connected to this parsha: “Yah Ribon”
The zemer for this week: י-ה רבון
R’ Yisrael Najara of Tzfat wrote this zemer in the 1500s. (“Yisrael” is the acrostic of its five stanzas.) He was the son of Jews who were exiled from Spain in the late 1400s. The zemer praises Hashem the Creator, asks Him to save Bnai Yisrael from enemies and return them from exile, and pleads for a return to Yerushalayim and the rebuilt Bais Hamikdash.
Major elements of this parsha include the war between the 4 kings and the 5 kings (leading to Avram’s/Avraham’s saving of Lot), the Brit Bein Habetarim (with Hashem’s promises to Avraham about his progeny), the bracha from Malkitzedek, and the birth of Yishmael.
Some of the connections to the parsha:
· 2nd line of 1st stanza: “מלכא מלך מלכא” (The King, King of kings) – Yes, those 9 kings were powerful (Bereishit 14:8-11), as was Par’oh (Bereishit 12:17-20), but Hashem is the King of all earthly kings.
· Last line of 2nd stanza: “חיות ברא עופי שמיא” (“Beasts of the field and birds of the sky”): The Brit Bein Habetarim included both beasts and birds (Bereishit 15:9).
· 3rd line of 4th stanza: “מגו גלותא” (“From the midst of exile”) – During the Brit Bein Habetarim, Hashem informed Avraham that He would rescue Bnei Yisrael from their exile in Egypt (Bereishit 15:13-14).
· Last line of 5th stanza: “בירושלם” (“In Yerushalayim”) – This parsha has the first reference to the city of Yerushalayim (then called “Shalem”), in the form of Malkitzedek the king of Shalem (Bereishit 14:18).
· 2nd line of 4th stanza: “פרוק ית ענך מפום אריותא” (“Save Your sheep from the mouths of lions”) – Artscroll cites the Bais Yaakov that “lions” refers to the descendants of Yishmael, who is born in this parsha (Bereishit 16:15).