The Erie Canal was not built in a day or two or three. The idea for it was generated in the 1780s. Construction officially started in 1817 and went until 1825, but the canal continued to be developed until 1918. 363 miles of terrain, which included differences of 570 feet in elevation, along with rapids and other natural obstacles. The problems had to be solved step by step, how to navigate through forests and mountains, along with raging rivers. It was a technological marvel at the time and helped make Buffalo the eighth largest American city at the turn of the 20th Century.
Monotheism similarly wasn’t created overnight. While Abraham and Sarah received God’s call at the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, the journey began at last week’s Torah portion with Abraham’s father Terach leaving Mesopotamia. In this early period, our ancestors worshiped one God but did not fully discount Gods of other nations. That would take time, lots of it, maybe upwards of a thousand years, until Roman times when monotheism was fully in place.
We are in the shadow of millions of years of human ingenuity, each generation expanding knowledge from the last. When faced with an impossible task, the only thing we can ever do is put one step in front of another and another and another, until we reach where we were hoping to go. This was the secret to the Erie Canal, as well as Abraham and Sarah’s journey, and any of our journeys today. May we continue to strive as individuals, as communities and as a world, never knowing exactly where our paths will lead.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex