Parashat Lech Lecha · Genesis 12:1–17:27

Lech Lecha: A Visual Journey

Illustrated teaching slides from Benei Avraham walking through Parashat Lech Lecha, portion by portion: Hashem’s call to Avram, “Go forth”; the journey from Charan into Kena’an and the altars at Shechem and Beit-El; the famine and the descent to Mitzrayim; Sarai in Par’oh’s house; Avram’s return to the altar, where he calls on the name of Hashem; and the crossroads with Lot, who chooses the plain toward Sedom, while Hashem promises Avram all the land he can see. Tap any image to open the slideshow; use the arrows (or swipe) to move through every slide. More portions are added as they are finished.

Rishon · Genesis 12:1–13

First Portion

“Go forth from your country”: Hashem’s call and promise to Avram (Genesis 12:1–3)

Avram departs from Charan at seventy-five, with Sarai, Lot and all they had gathered (Genesis 12:4–5)

At the oak of Moreh in Shechem, Hashem appears: “Unto your seed will I give this land” (Genesis 12:6–7)

Avram pitches his tent between Beit-El and Ai, builds an altar and calls on the name of Hashem (Genesis 12:8–9)

A famine in the land: Avram goes down into Mitzrayim to sojourn there (Genesis 12:10)

Nearing Mitzrayim, Avram asks Sarai to say she is his sister (Genesis 12:11–13)

Map of Avram’s journey: Charan, Shechem, Beit-El and Ai, and down to Mitzrayim

The divine promises and the immediate reality: the trials facing Avram (Genesis 12:2–12)

Closing slide: the first portion of Lech Lecha completed

Sheni · Genesis 12:14–13:4

Second Portion

Five movements: the threat, the compromise, the divine intervention, the reversal and the return

The Mitzrim see that Sarai is very beautiful (Genesis 12:14)

The princes of Par’oh praise her, and Sarai is taken into Par’oh’s house (Genesis 12:15)

Par’oh treats Avram well for her sake: sheep, oxen, donkeys, servants and camels (Genesis 12:16)

Hashem plagues Par’oh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai (Genesis 12:17)

Par’oh confronts Avram: “Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?” (Genesis 12:18)

“Now therefore, behold your wife; take her, and go your way” (Genesis 12:19)

Par’oh’s men send Avram away, with his wife and all that he had (Genesis 12:20)

Avram goes up out of Mitzrayim into the Negev, and Lot with him (Genesis 13:1)

Avram is very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold (Genesis 13:2)

Avram journeys from the Negev back to Beit-El, where his tent had been at the beginning (Genesis 13:3)

At the altar he had made at the first, Avram calls on the name of Hashem (Genesis 13:4)

Entering and leaving Mitzrayim: the crucible of Mitzrayim (Genesis 12:14–13:4)

Shlishi · Genesis 13:5–18

Third Portion

Lot also has flocks, herds and tents, and the land cannot bear them dwelling together (Genesis 13:5–6)

Strife between the herdsmen of Avram and of Lot, while the Kena’ani and the Perizzi dwell in the land (Genesis 13:7)

“Let there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you … for we are brothers” (Genesis 13:8)

“Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I pray you, from me” (Genesis 13:9)

Lot lifts up his eyes and sees the well-watered plain of the Yarden, before Hashem destroyed Sedom and Amorah (Genesis 13:10)

Lot chooses the plain of the Yarden and journeys east, and they separate from one another (Genesis 13:11)

Avram dwells in the land of Kena’an; Lot pitches his tent toward Sedom, whose men were wicked (Genesis 13:12–13)

Two paths, sight and faith: Lot’s choice and Avram’s path

After Lot separates from him, Hashem tells Avram to look northward, southward, eastward and westward (Genesis 13:14)

“For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever” (Genesis 13:15)

“I will make your seed as the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16)

“Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its breadth” (Genesis 13:17)

Avram moves his tent to the plain of Mamre in Chevron and builds an altar to Hashem (Genesis 13:18)

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