Parshas Lech Lecha for Kids: Avraham Avinu's Journey, the Tent & Emunah
Parshas Lech Lecha is the parsha where Avraham Avinu is told to leave everything familiar and go, and he goes. Here is how to retell it for a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old, what middah to pull out of it, and questions that work at the Shabbos table.
Published by Torah Tale.
Parshas Lech Lecha is the parsha where Hashem says go, and Avraham Avinu goes. He is not told where. He is told to leave his land, his birthplace and his father's house, and to travel to a place Hashem will show him. That is the whole shape of the parsha, and it is why it lands so well with children: they know exactly what it feels like to be told to get in the car without being told where you are going. The difference is that Avraham did it with joy, and out of that one word of trust, our whole nation begins.
What happens in Parshas Lech Lecha?
Hashem speaks to Avraham: leave your land, your birthplace and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. Hashem promises to make him into a great nation and to bless him. Avraham takes Sarah, his nephew Lot, and the people who had joined them, and they travel to Eretz Canaan.
There is a famine in the land, so they go down to Mitzrayim, and Hashem protects them there. They come back up wealthy, with flocks and cattle and silver. Avraham returns to the place where he had first built a mizbeach and calls out in the name of Hashem.
Then the flocks of Avraham and the flocks of Lot become too big for the land to hold both of them, and the shepherds begin to quarrel. Avraham does not fight. He tells Lot to choose whichever side he wants, and he will take the other. Lot chooses the lush plain near Sedom and goes to live there.
Four kings go to war against five kings, Sedom is defeated, and Lot is taken captive. Avraham hears, gathers his household, chases after the kings and rescues Lot. When Malki-Tzedek, the king of Shalem, comes out to bless him, and when the king of Sedom offers him the spoils, Avraham refuses to take anything for himself.
Hashem then promises Avraham children. Hashem shows him the stars and tells him his offspring will be like them, too many to count. Later in the parsha, Hashem gives Avraham the mitzvah of bris milah as the sign of the covenant between Hashem and his children forever, and Avram's name becomes Avraham, Sarai's becomes Sarah. Yishmael is born to Hagar, and Hashem promises that Sarah will have a son.
What is the middah in Lech Lecha?
The headline middah is emunah, and specifically emunah that moves your feet. Avraham Avinu did not ask for a map. Chazal tell us he had already recognized Hashem on his own, in a world full of idols, and that this command was one of his nisyonos, his tests. He passed it by packing.
But there is a second middah in this parsha that children usually love more, because it is something they can copy this Shabbos. The Midrash relates that Avraham Avinu's tent was open on all four sides, so that a traveler coming from any direction would see an open door and know he was welcome. Avraham ran to bring guests in, fed them himself, and then told them about Hashem. Hachnasas orchim is Avraham's signature, and it is a mitzvah a six-year-old can do by carrying a chair to the table.
And a third, quieter one: Avraham gives up the better land to avoid a fight with Lot. He is the older one, the one who could have insisted. He steps back instead. That is a very usable lesson for a house with siblings in it.
How do I explain Lech Lecha at different ages?
The story does not change. What changes is how much of it you carry.
Ages 2 to 4
One thread only: Hashem told Avraham to go, and Avraham went. Use the tent. "Avraham's tent had a door on this side, and this side, and this side, and this side. Why? So everyone could come in." Then ask who they would invite in. A board book with rounded corners is the right shape for this age, because the story is being handled as much as read.
Ages 5 to 8
Now add Lot. The fight between the shepherds, and Avraham saying "you pick first." Children this age have strong feelings about fairness, so ask them straight out whether Avraham got the worse deal, and what he got instead. Add the stars: Hashem took Avraham outside at night and told him his children would be like the stars. Say the words "that means us."
Ages 9 to 12
This is the age for the tension. Avraham is promised a land and immediately meets a famine in it. He is promised children and waits years. Ask what it means to keep believing a promise while nothing visible has happened yet. You can also introduce the war and the fact that Avraham refused to keep a single strap of the spoils, and ask why a person would turn down money he had honestly earned.
Shabbos-table questions for Parshas Lech Lecha
Pick two or three. Leaving room for a long answer beats getting through all of them.
- Hashem did not tell Avraham where he was going. Would that make it easier or harder to go?
- What is the hardest thing on the list Avraham had to leave: his country, his city, or his father's house?
- Avraham's tent had four doors. What would our house look like if it had four doors?
- Avraham let Lot choose the land first. Have you ever let someone else choose first? What happened?
- Lot chose the place that looked the nicest. Was that a good way to choose?
- Why did Avraham go to war for Lot, after Lot moved away from him?
- Why did Avraham refuse to take anything from the king of Sedom?
- Hashem showed Avraham the stars. Why stars, and not sand, this time?
- Name one thing you could do this week that Avraham Avinu would recognize.
If you want an activity for a weekday afternoon rather than Shabbos, build a four-door tent out of a sheet and four chairs and let the children run a guest house in it. The matching Torah Tale coloring book is for weekdays too - erev Shabbos, a Sunday, the days before Yom Tov - since coloring is melacha and not for Shabbos or Yom Tov itself.
What is a personalized Torah Tale book of Lech Lecha like?
Your child is in the story. Their name is on the page, and their likeness, illustrated in high-resolution 3D Pixar style from one photo you upload, appears on every page: walking with Avraham and Sarah toward Canaan, standing at the open tent, looking up at the stars. Up to four siblings can appear in the same book, which matters when the shepherds-and-Lot section comes around and the children reading it happen to share a room.
Every book is written with careful rabbinical guidance and strict tznius, and reviewed by our team before printing. And every book ends with a dedicated discussion page carrying 10 questions about the story, mixing comprehension with middos - what happened, and what it asks of the child. That page is the reason the book gets talked about at the table instead of just read at bedtime.
Reading it on Shabbos is exactly right. A Lech Lecha book on the couch on a Shabbos afternoon, with a child who is in it, does more for a parsha than a worksheet ever will.
Softcover 8″×8″
Hardcover 8″×8″
Board book 6″×6″
Coloring book 8.5″×11″
Which format and how do I order it in time?
Formats go by age. The 6"x6" board book with rounded safety corners suits ages 2 to 4. The 8"x8" softcover fits ages 4 to 8. The 8"x8" hardcover, square or landscape, is built for ages 5 to 12 and is the one people give as a gift. There is also an optional matching 8.5"x11" coloring book in black-and-white line art for weekday use.
Books come in English, Hebrew or Yiddish, and you can order more than one language. The book creator suggests next week's parsha, not this week's, with a live countdown to the order deadline for delivery before that Shabbos, so if Lech Lecha is coming up you are ordering it the week before. A double-parsha week produces one book covering both. Standard shipping is free and takes 5 to 7 business days, express is 2 to 3, and we ship worldwide. Order a single book, or a Weekly, Monthly (4 books) or Year Bundle subscription if you want the parsha to keep arriving.
If you want the parsha before and after this one, we have written up Parshas Bereishis for kids and Parshas Noach for kids as well, and how to choose the weekly parsha for your child's book explains the timing if you are starting a subscription mid-year.
Making the book takes about five minutes and eight short questions: name, boy or girl, age, one photo, siblings, story, language, printed format. You will need a free account. If you want your child to be standing next to Avraham Avinu under those stars this Shabbos, create the book at torahtale.com/create.
Frequently asked questions
What is the story of Parshas Lech Lecha for kids?
Hashem tells Avraham Avinu to leave his country, his birthplace and his father's house and travel to a land Hashem will show him, without telling him where it is. Avraham and Sarah go, and they teach people about Hashem wherever they stop. The parsha also includes the separation from Lot, Avraham going to war to rescue Lot, Hashem's promise that Avraham's children will be as many as the stars, and the mitzvah of bris milah.
What is the lesson of Parshas Lech Lecha?
The main lesson is emunah and bitachon: Avraham Avinu trusted Hashem enough to go even though he was not told where he was going. A second lesson is chesed. Chazal tell us Avraham's tent was open on all four sides so that guests could come in from any direction, and he ran to serve them himself.
How do I explain Lech Lecha to a 4-year-old?
Say it in one sentence: "Hashem told Avraham to move to a new place, and Avraham said yes right away, even before he knew where he was going." Then make it concrete with something the child knows, like moving to a new house or starting a new class. Add that Avraham's tent had doors on every side so anybody who was hungry could walk in and eat.
Why is Avraham Avinu called the first Yid?
Avraham Avinu recognized Hashem on his own, in a world where almost everyone served idols, and he taught others about Hashem. Hashem chose him and promised him a land and a nation, and the mitzvah of bris milah in this parsha is the sign of that covenant. That is why he is called Avraham Avinu, our father, and why we are all children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
When is Parshas Lech Lecha read?
Parshas Lech Lecha is read on the third Shabbos of the Torah reading cycle, after Bereishis and Noach, usually in the fall in the month of Cheshvan. It is the third parsha of Sefer Bereishit.
Can I get a personalized book for Lech Lecha for my child?
Yes. Torah Tale prints a personalized Lech Lecha storybook where the child is the hero, with their name and their likeness from one uploaded photo illustrated on every page. Up to four siblings can appear in the same book, and it comes as a board book, softcover, or hardcover depending on the child's age.