Our ancestors certainly did. And in the story of Abraham, we find the ultimate tale of answering that call.
Think about it: God speaks to Abraham, then still Abram, and says, "Lekh lekha" – "Go you, from your land." (Genesis 12:1). Pretty straightforward, right? But why him? Why this particular man, living in that particular time?
The sages of the Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, saw this moment as the culmination of generations. They asked: What made Abraham so special that God chose him?
They find a clue in Ecclesiastes (7:19): "Wisdom will fortify the wise more than ten rulers who were in a city." What's that got to do with Abraham? Well, the rabbis connect it to the ten generations from Noah to Abraham. God could have spoken to any of them, but it was Abraham, with his unique wisdom and understanding, who was ready to listen. "From among all of them, I spoke only with you," God says. It’s a powerful reminder that readiness matters.
But Rabbi Azarya takes it even deeper, drawing a parallel to Jeremiah (51:9): "We sought to heal Babylon, but it was not healed; forsake it, and let us go, each to his land." He sees a pattern of brokenness and missed opportunities throughout early history.
"We sought to heal Babylon" – Rabbi Azarya says this refers to the generation of Enosh. We're talking about a time when, according to some traditions, humanity started to go astray, to profane God's name (Genesis 4:26). But "it was not healed" – that is, the generation of the Flood. A cataclysmic event, a reset button pressed on creation because humanity had become too corrupt. And then, "forsake it" – the generation of the Dispersion, the story of the Tower of Babel. They tried to build a tower to the heavens, to make a name for themselves, defying God's will.
Each generation failed to heal the world, to live up to its potential. So, what's the answer? "Let us go, each to his land" – and that brings us back to Abraham. "The Lord said to Abram: Go you, from your land." Abraham's journey wasn't just a physical one; it was a spiritual departure from a world that had repeatedly failed to heal itself.
The choice of Abraham, then, wasn't arbitrary. It was the result of a long chain of events, a series of missed opportunities. He was the one who finally said "yes" to the call, who was willing to leave behind the familiar and embrace the unknown, all for the sake of a higher purpose.
And isn't that the challenge for all of us? To recognize the brokenness around us, to resist the urge to repeat the mistakes of the past, and to answer the call to something greater? Maybe, like Abraham, we each have a "lekh lekha" moment waiting for us. A moment to leave behind what is, and journey towards what could be. What is your "lekh lekha" moment? What land are you being called from?