important decisions

Parshat Lech L'cha

Look how important a decision can be. In 13:8-12 we read about Avram and Lot splitting ways. Avram let Lot choose first which direction he wanted to go and Avram would go the other way.

What does Lot choose? How does he come to that decision? The Torah tells us he lifted up his eyes, saw the beautiful grazing land with rivers and babbling brooks and lush grass and fertile land and chose that direction.

Nothing else mattered. He did not consider the community or the type of people that lived there. He did not consider where he would want to raise and educate his children and in what society he would live. It did not matter that he would become a resident of a place like S'dom.

None of it mattered as long as he had good grazing land for his sheep. He was impulsive.

And look where it got him. We all know how the story progresses and what happens in S'dom.

It is important not to be impulsive, but make your decisions with careful consideration.