Parshat Lech Lecha

This week's parsha, like most of Bereshit (Genesis), is pack with action.  We emerged from creation, the fall of mankind, the flood and Noah's ark the last two weeks...and this week we become acquainted with Avraham and Sarah (or Abram and Sarai, as they are called for most of the Torah reading).  What I would like to focus on is Avraham and Sarah.  There was a very interesting discourse on their sorrows and joys in this weeks parasha that fascinated me. 

Rabbi Reuven Wolf gave a great sermon, which concludes with a comparison of Avraham and Sarah to body and soul.  What struck me was who was the body and who the soul.  As we have all heard before, men are more bodily, easily susceptible to physicality and immediate desires.  Women are more spiritual and able to focus on the larger picture.  For Avraham and Sarah, this is not the case, says Rabbi Wolf.  Avraham represents someone whose neshama is guiding their life; Sarah on the other hand is leading a life led by her body.  But for Rabbi Wolf the concept of leading a life more guided by "body" or "soul" is different than our normal understanding:

Living a neshama-centric life is certainly a life lived for God.  A life dedicated to Torah study, secluded from physical work and the surrounding world, can definitely be very rewarding!  But it is not a life that can elevate our world.  Only a life where we live with and through nature, where we understand our physical selves, can elevate the world.  A mitzvah isn't a miracle - it is an act of elevating the physical through natural means.  And as Jews we are meant to elevate our world; to put holiness into the mundane.  We have to guide our neshama with our body.  Yes, we should certainly give our neshama it's time of day -- we must daven and observe Shabbat and keep kosher.  We must do these things to avoid being overtaken by our physical selves and completely disregarding our soul.  We are, however, physically on earth to elevate the physical aspects of our world.  Our neshama must work through our body, not control our body.  We must be immersed in the material world, but always keep God on our mind - and observe God's commandments.  This is the ideal life.  This is how Sarah lived. Nonetheless, she needs an Abraham to reminder her of the importance of the neshama.  The soul and body are meant to be compliments, but the body has more potential for us to fulfill our duty in this world.