A Contrarian - CHRONICLE Online/The WORD 10/30/25

Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah

October 30, 2025

8 Cheshvan 5786

Parashat Lech Lecha

Warren Buffet is well known for being a contrarian investor. His famous advice is, “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” Needless to say, he’s done pretty well with that strategy of not just following the crowd.

In this week’s Torah portion, we are introduced to another well-known contrarian—our patriarch Abraham. When everyone else was worshiping idols, he decided to worship one invisible God. When it would have been easy to stay in Ur where he had lived for decades, he listened to that invisible God, got himself up, and moved to the Land of Canaan. He didn’t just do what everyone else expected him to do.

As a result, in Genesis 14:13, he was called “Avram the Hebrew—אַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי.” It is the first time we hear this word “Hebrew—עִבְרִי.” The rabbis wondered what it meant.

One of the explanations—preserved by the great medieval biblical commentator Rashi—is that it comes from the word “eiver” which means “beyond or over.” The connotation is that Avram came from beyond the Euphrates River to the Land of Canaan. Avram was an outsider.

Another explanation, found in Midrash Breisheet Rabbah 42:8, is that “eiver” can also mean “the opposite side.” So, this adjective refers to Avram’s nonconformist ways—namely that the entire world was on one side, and Avram alone was on the other when it came to idolatry. Not only was he an outsider, but he was contrarian.

Obviously, I share a name with Avram, but lately, I have felt a strong connection to his contrarian vibe. For 2+ years, I’ve been screaming as loudly as I can that Israel has not been perpetrating a genocide and that there is/was no famine Gaza. Now that there is a (tenuous) ceasefire in place, it’s become even clearer that neither of those things happened.

First of all, there’s no video or photographic evidence of either a famine or a genocide. Think about the pictures or videos that we have seen of what Europeans looked like after World War II. Think about the images coming out of Yemen or Sudan today. We are seeing nothing like that in Gaza.

In addition, a careful analysis of the data used by the UN to declare a famine has shown some serious issues—perhaps intentional, perhaps not. Lastly, if one takes the Gaza Health Ministry number of deaths and subtracts expected natural deaths (in a population of over 2 million) and those killed by Hamas (either accidentally or intentionally), there were approximately 33,000 civilian deaths.  

If Hamas had not hidden behind or underneath those civilians, there would have been fewer. If Hamas had allowed civilians into what is essentially the largest shelter system in the world, there would have been even fewer. Even so, it is a historically low rate of civilian casualties. Each one is horrible and tragic, but that is true in every war. It was a terrible war—not a genocide. (You can find more details here.)

This week’s Torah portion is called “Lech Lecha” because those are the words that God spoke to Avram in order to get him to leave his homeland. The words can be translated as “Go yourself” or “Take yourself.” They remind us of Avram’s courage to go against conventional wisdom. They remind us that it’s okay to stick to our convictions even when it seems like the whole world seems to be on the other side of an issue. In other words, don’t be afraid to be a contrarian now and again.

Shalom,

RAF