Moriah: The Completion of Abraham's Journey

And God said: take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go (v’lech l’cha) to the land of Moriah …                                                          Genesis 22:2

The first and last times we hear God speak to Abraham, it is with the words lech l’cha. In our verse “lech l’cha” is preceded by the conjunctive vav, which my father suggested connects the two divine commands of “lech l’cha, to teach us that the Land of Israel can be fully acquired only through sacrifice.

Our Sages taught that the origin of “Moriah” is the word “hora’ah” (teaching), for it Mount Moriah is the source of teaching. The purpose of Abraham’s journey was not merely to reach the Land, but to sanctify the Land through Torah and to be sanctified by the Land. Thus, as Abraham taught the world that there is only one God, his journey to Mount Moriah was essential to the completion of his mission.