The name of the Parshah, "Lech Lecha," means "Go Forth" and it is found in Genesis 12:1.

G‑d speaks to  Abram, commanding him, “ Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your  father’s house, to the land  which I will show you.” There, G‑d says, he will be made into a great nation. Abram and his wife,  Sarai, accompanied by his nephew  Lot, journey to the land of Canaan, where Abram  builds an altar and continues to  spread the message of a one G‑d.

A  famine forces the first Jew to  depart for Egypt, where beautiful  Sarai is taken to Pharaoh’s palace; Abram escapes death because they present themselves as brother and sister. A plague prevents the Egyptian king from touching her, and convinces him to return her to Abram and to compensate the brother-revealed-as-husband with gold, silver and cattle.

Back in the land of Canaan, Lot separates from Abram and settles in the evil city of  Sodom, where he falls captive when the mighty armies of Chedorlaomer and his three allies conquer the five cities of the Sodom Valley. Abram sets out with a small band to  rescue his nephew, defeats the four kings, and is blessed by  Malki-Zedek the king of Salem ( Jerusalem).

G‑d seals the  Covenant Between the Parts with Abram, in which the exile and persecution  (galut) of the people of Israel is foretold, and the  Holy Land is bequeathed to them as their  eternal heritage.

Still childless ten years after their arrival in the Land,  Sarai tells Abram to marry her maidservant  Hagar. Hagar conceives, becomes insolent toward her mistress, and then flees when Sarai treats her harshly; an angel convinces her to return, and tells her that her son will father a populous nation.  Ishmael is born in Abram’s eighty-sixth year.

Thirteen years later,  G‑d changes  Abram’s name to Abraham (“father of multitudes”), and  Sarai’s to Sarah (“princess”), and promises that a son will be born to them; from this child, whom they should call  Isaac (“will laugh”), will stem the great nation with which G‑d will establish His special bond. Abraham is commanded to  circumcise himself and his descendants as a “sign of the covenant between Me and you.” Abraham immediately complies, circumcising himself and all the males of his household.

Learn:  Lech Lecha in Depth
Browse:  Lech Lecha Parshah Columnists
Prep:  Devar Torah Q&A for Lech Lecha
Read:  Haftarah in a Nutshell
Play:  Lech Lecha Parshah Quiz