The hero of these chapters is the patriarch Avraham who obeys God’s exhortation to leave the safety of his hometown and the warmth of his parents’ home to head to a new land which, at first, was not identified. The family initially heads to the city of Haran and only Avraham, his nephew Lot and their respective families continue the journey to the Promised Land, known in those days as Canaan.

Avraham is not the sole hero. His wife Sarai and his nephew Lot deserve honorable mention as well. Because they also made the decision to leave the comfort of a familiar environment and head to a strange and

possibly hostile land. This joint experience should have brought uncle and nephew closer together, both in a spiritual and in emotional way. Therefore, it is strange to witness a fight between their respective shepherds over lands and grass and then decide to separate. Avraham urges Lot to choose first and then he will take the opposite path. Initially, the monotheistic ideal had united them, now, the abundance of livestock produces separation.

Perhaps the first verse of our chapters needs to be better understood: Lech Lecha, “go away!”. Did Avraham have to break all ties with his relatives, including Lot? What had been the fundamental intention of the Divine instruction, when God commanded Avraham to abandon the home of his parents¿ Was it because he would not be able to consolidate his ideal in that environment, namely, the existence of only one God?

We must not forget that his nephew had lost his father and now he, his uncle Avraham had to become the surrogate father.

What was Lot’s fundamental motive to follow his uncle? Was it faith in God or an intriguing adventure? Or was it the unique family bond and security offered by the presence of Avraham?

The Midrash interprets the quarrel between Avraham’s shepherds

and Lot as a moral dispute. Lot’s shepherds were willing to seize the lands of the Canaanites by arguing that God had ceded these lands to Avraham, and since Lot was the rightful heir to the patriarch, his shepherds could take advantage of those lands immediately. The argument of Avraham’s shepherds, however, was that while the Canaanites inhabited the place, it was not appropriate to use what would legitimately belong to them in the future.

God had promised Avraham that he would be the father of a great nation, but his wife Sarai – a name that later would be changed by Sara did not conceive a descendant.

Avraham thought that perhaps his offspring would be produced through his nephew Lot and, therefore, considered that he should only separate from his father Terach and the rest of the family. Lot would be the exception.

While Lot appears as an integral part of the intimate surroundings of the patriarch, the abundance of possessions causes conflict. Their possessions are no longer held in common. Lot has his herdsmen and cattle and Avraham has his.

Is it possible that the abundant flow of goods was to cause a spiritual and emotional negative effect? Apparently yes.

While they shared possessions, they also shared ideals. However, once Lot gains financial independence also wants to assert his intellectual and spiritual independence.

In Avraham’s case, material goods play a secondary role. The fundamental motive of his life is his monotheistic ideal, for which he was willing to sacrifice his only child, as we will learn in future chapters. Spirituality could not be compromised.

The case of Lot is different. He shows his priorities by separating from Avraham and choosing the fertile valleys for his livestock, although the inhabitants of those places were steeped in idolatry and all kinds of sexual deviations. It is clear that the well-being and development of material goods are basic for Lot and are willing to take any spiritual risk in an effort to become a potentate of livestock.

The future of monotheism could not depend on the attitude of Lot. It was necessary to make a separation, a division to differentiate the future heirs that Sarai would engender, from the philosophy of life represented by the materialism advocated by Lot.