This parsha is full of little vignettes about Abraham’s life: he builds some altars, goes to Egypt, splits up with Lot because their shepherds can’t get along, gets involved in a big war, and has this crazy dream where God makes him a lot of promises. It feels like a bunch of random episodes of “a day in the life of Abraham.” But what are we supposed to learn from all of these stories? Is there some central theme here that can teach us about why God chose Abraham and not someone else?

In this video, Rabbi Fohrman shows us that not only is there a common thread that weaves its way through all of these stories, but that together these stories make up the central, epic saga of how Abraham became the Father of Faith.

In each of these life events, Abraham faces a single struggle and this struggle holds the key to understanding why God chose Abraham in the first place, what his mission was about, and how Abraham came to be chosen as the Father of Faith.

Watch more:

• Ruth: A Story 30 Generations In The Making

• Abraham's Journey

God called to Abraham, “Lech lecha, leave your home and go to the land that I will show you!” It’s such a familiar story that we never stop to ask – why did Abraham follow God’s call? Was it because he was so pious? Because he was the first monotheist who devoted his life to God? Or maybe, just maybe, it was because God promised him a reward of children and a great nation.

It’s an uncomfortable thought to entertain, but it doesn’t seem so crazy when we read the text carefully. What was Abraham’s true motivation for following God’s command?

Join Daniel Loewenstein as he compares this story with another time when God called Abraham, “Lech lecha – go!” It turns out that reading these two stories together can hold a key to understanding the defining moments in how Abraham responded to God's call.

Check out Rabbi Fohrman’s course, "Akeidah: Was the Sacrifice of Isaac Heroism or Murder?"

We know what a brit milah is – it’s the circumcision ceremony that officially welcomes Jewish baby boys into the nation of Israel. But where did this whole thing begin? And what is its real significance today?

In this parsha we encounter the conditions of the covenant that God made with Abraham, and the very first circumcision that Abraham performed on himself and all the male members of his household. Why was circumcision the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham?

We can find some answers by taking a closer look at the story of the Abrahamic Covenant. In this video, Rabbi Fohrman finds clues in the language of the text to reveal the deeper meaning of God's covenant with Abraham. Exploring this covenant from the inside out reveals fascinating insights into what it means for us to be connected to God, and for God to be connected to us.

In Parshat Lech Lecha, we read many stories about Abraham's life: God’s promise to Abraham, his move to Canaan, his move to Egypt, his involvement in a battle of kings, the birth of Ishmael, the flight of Hagar, the covenant of circumcision – and lots and lots of traveling. Yet most of the stories seem to have nothing to do with each other, and many of them seem trivial. Are they just disconnected episodes that make up the story of Abraham? Or are they parts of a larger whole, chapters in an overarching story?

In this video, Imu and David argue that the stories about Abraham are all connected — and if we fail to understand how they relate to each other, then we’re missing the point.

They all work together to tell a larger story about Abraham's most important character trait, which rises from the hardest test in Abraham’s life… and we bet that you’ve never heard of it before. When you're through, you may never think about Abraham's character – or man's purpose in the world – the same way again.

• Dig Deeper: Abraham's Journey 1 and Abraham's Journey 2.

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