Lekh Lekha 5775
This week’s parshah, Lekh Lekha, includes a fascinating supporting character: Melchizedek, king of Shalem. The geopolitical background to his story has a complexity worthy of contemporary cable drama: four kings have united to dominate the cities of five other kings; the five weaker kings rebel – unsuccessfully – and in the course of battle Abram’s nephew, Lot, is taken captive. Abram, who until now has remained uninvolved on the sidelines, musters his household into a small private army and marches into battle to rescue his nephew; in the process, he defeats the four kings and restores the others to their cities.In the aftermath of this battle, Melchizedek suddenly appears. We have seen no mention of him until now; although his city was in the same general area, he, like Abram, seems to have been uninvolved until now. Melchizedek, who is additionally described as a priest of God Most High (Gen. 14:18), brings wine and bread to meet Abram, and blesses him. Abram, in turn, gives Melchizedek a tenth of his war spoils. Then, just as suddenly, Melchizedek vanishes and our story resumes where it left off (see Gen. 14:17-21ff).
Who is this mystery man? While Israelite society separated the roles of priest and king, some other local cultures merged the two. Melchizedek, as a priest-king, was clearly a man of substantial power; and yet he comes to Abram with wine and bread – clearly ritual items – and blessed him in the name of El Elyon, “God Most High.”
Scholars have noted that the Divine name El Elyon is very ancient, appearing in some of the oldest Semitic texts available to us. Melchizedek, then, stands as one of the rare Biblical monotheists outside of Abraham’s family and the eventual Israelite nation. While we often think of Abraham as the person who brought monotheism to the world, Melchizedek’s appearance here reminds us that no person, culture, or nation has a monopoly on truth; Abraham might have done more than any other Biblical character to promote and spread monotheism, but even he was not the only one to recognize God’s role as Creator of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19).
This Shabbat, as Melchizedek briefly flashes across our consciousness, we have the opportunity to take this lesson to heart and to remember that wherever we go – at work, in our families, in the spheres of religion, politics, or society – we must walk humbly, recognizing that no person has an exclusive hold on the true, right, or best answers in life.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Abe Friedman
