Chasidut על משלי 1:8
Chovat HaTalmidim
It is not enough to just teach the lad that he is obligated to listen to the educator, and nothing more. For in the end, he will [still] see his rabbi as his opponent and as a foreign tyrant, as mentioned earlier. The main point is to bring this opinion into his heart: To know that he - the child himself - is the main educator. He is not a minor and a lad. Rather, he is the sprout of God's planting in the garden of Israel. And God has placed the responsibility to nurture and educate this sprout upon him, himself - to be a great tree of life and to make himself into a servant of God, a tzaddik and a Torah great. But since his mind and spirit are young, there is much Torah that he has not learned and his evil impulse is active. So if he is God-fearing and does not want to sin towards God and to destroy the vineyard of the the Lord of hosts - he will need to listen to the Torah of God and His path from his rabbi and his father, both regarding that which is explicit in the Torah and in the Shulchan Arukh and that which is not. The Torah was not sparing in warning about [the importance of] listening to the father and the educator: "Ask your father and he will tell you; your elder, etc." (Deuteronomy 32:7); "you may not veer, etc." (Deuteronomy 17:11); "Listen, my son, to the rebuke of your father" (Proverbs 1:8). And the wayward and rebellious son (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) has not done any sin that is explicit in the written or oral Torah; and yet the Torah is very stringent about it, because his father and mother said, "He did not listen to our voice." And his very identity is not called, glutton and drunkard, based on his actions; but rather, wayward and rebellious, because he is rebellious towards his father and his educator. And [other examples] can be found in the verses.
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Kedushat Levi
Everything that has been handed down to us about Avram suggests that he was unwavering in his faith in G’d from his very youth, and certainly did not have any theological relapses. Nachmanides stated with absolute certainty, basing himself on Genesis 25,8 that Avram had always considered anything that happened to him as being G’d’s desire and meant for his own good. Nachmanides understood this as being the meaning of the words: זקן ושבע ימים, “of old age, satisfied and satisfied in years.” Contrary to most people, who are described in Kohelet Rabbah, 5,9 as leaving behind many unfulfilled aspirations when they die, Avraham died fully fulfilled. In Baba Batra 117, as well as in Sanhedrin 91 the meaning of the word מורשה is discussed, there being different opinions of how the distribution of the ancestral plots in the Land of Israel was determined by lottery; if the lottery only applied to the tribal allocations, or to families. The discussion also concerns whether only Jews who partook in the Exodus or their offspring were allocated land, or whether the allocation included Jews who had lived before that period, including Avram, Yitzchok, etc. Avram’s question of במה אדע כי אירשנה, meant: “how will I know that I personally will be included in the distribution of the land at that time? He knew that he would not inherit a plot of land in Israel as part of his father Terach’s merit, as he had been the first convert to Judaism, something that was confirmed in Sukkah 49. Since he did not endure slavery in Egypt as did the generation of the Exodus, he was not sure that he would qualify at the time of the distribution.
Avram’s question had been triggered by G’d saying to him:, לתת לך את הארץ הזאת לרשתה, “to give to you this land in order to inherit it.” (15,7) Avram wanted to know if he would live long enough to take part in the distribution of the land in Joshua’s time, or how he was to understand the words: לתת לך, “to give to you.” The Talmud in Sukkah 49 quotes psalms 47,10 where we encounter the expression עם אלוקי אברהם, “the nation that worships the G’d of Avraham”; a sage raised question whether G’d perhaps is not also the G’d of the people of Yitzchok and the G’d of the people of Yaakov.” The answer given is that Avraham was the first convert from which the Jewish people developed, so that he enjoys a special status. As a reward, G’d gave the land of Israel especially to him. Avraham wanted to know if, since the land of Israel becomes a מורשה, his share would be due to his father bequeathing it to him. The term ירש, “to inherit,” always implies that one inherits from a father. If Avram’s question had been במה אדע כי תתן לי, “how will I know that You give it to me,” it would have been inappropriate, of course. G’d had spoken about “giving;” Avram asked only about the hereditary aspect, אירשנה.
We will deal with the expression במה אדע, somewhat later in this paragraph. When G’d introduced His reply to Avram’s question with the words: ידוע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך, “you must truly realize that your descendants will be strangers, etc.,” this can best be understood when referring to a commentary by the Zohar I 87 on the verse: (Genesis 2,4)אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם . The letter ה in smaller script in the middle of this word alerts the reader not to read the word as a single word, but as באברהם ברא, i.e. G’d created the universe on account of, or with the eventual assistance of Avraham.” Had G’d not foreseen that someone like Avram will be born, He would not have considered it worth His while to create the human race. The fact that Avraham, on his own, without prompting, would proclaim the name of the Creator, made it worth G’d’s while to put up with all the sins man would commit. Avraham would be the one to acquaint his peers with the concept that G’d is One, is unique, is in charge of the universe and yet had granted the creatures he made in His image freedom of choice to choose their own path in life. The fact that this Avraham would sire a Yitzchok, and Yitzchok in turn would sire a Yaakov who raised 12 sons who would form the nucleus of the Jewish nation, a nation of priests, made it all worthwhile for G’d. When the Jewish people collectively accepted G’d’s Torah, without critically examining what was written therein first, this was a crowning moment not only for the Jewish people, but it enabled G’d to converse with a mortal human being, Moses, as if he were on His own level, i.e. פנים אל פנים, face to face.
When G’d introduced His reply to Avram’s question with the words: ידוע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך, “you must truly realize that your descendants will be strangers, etc.,” this can best be understood when referring to a commentary by the Zohar I 87 on the verse: (Genesis 2,4)אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם . The letter ה in smaller script in the middle of this word alerts the reader not to read the word as a single word, but as באברהם ברא, i.e. G’d created the universe on account of, or with the eventual assistance of Avraham.” Had G’d not foreseen that someone like Avram will be born, He would not have considered it worth His while to create the human race. The fact that Avraham, on his own, without prompting, would proclaim the name of the Creator, made it worth G’d’s while to put up with all the sins man would commit. Avraham would be the one to acquaint his peers with the concept that G’d is One, is unique, is in charge of the universe and yet had granted the creatures he made in His image freedom of choice to choose their own path in life. The fact that this Avraham would sire a Yitzchok, and Yitzchok in turn would sire a Yaakov who raised 12 sons who would form the nucleus of the Jewish nation, a nation of priests, made it all worthwhile for G’d. When the Jewish people collectively accepted G’d’s Torah, without critically examining what was written therein first, this was a crowning moment not only for the Jewish people, but it enabled G’d to converse with a mortal human being, Moses, as if he were on His own level, i.e. פנים אל פנים, face to face.
Moses reminded the people in Deut. 5,4 how 40 years earlier, when most of them had not yet been alive, G’d had addressed the whole nation on the פנים אל פנים “face to face level,” [until the people asked Moses to be their interpreter instead. Ed.] At that time all creatures on earth were in awe of their Creator. When the people had consecrated the Tabernacle in the desert as a “home” for Hashem in the lower parts of the universe, G’d took delight in the world He had created, as we know from Taanit 26 where the Talmud understands Song of Songs 3,11 ביום חתונתו וביום שמחת לבו, “on His wedding day, the day when His heart rejoices,” as referring to G’d’s feelings on the day of the revelation at Mount Sinai, and the day when the Tabernacle was consecrated, respectively. This is the kind of נחת רוח, “pleasure, satisfaction,” that man in the lower part of the universe can contribute to G’d in the loftier spheres, in heaven. On both of these occasions the joy was reciprocal, G’d showing that He can associate with earthlings and take pleasure from this. The Israelites’ enthusiastic response after the splitting of the sea and their miraculous and escape from Pharaoh’s pursuing armies, was another occasion when the reciprocal nature of the relationship between G’d and His “chosen” people was demonstrated publicly. Nowadays, almost 4000 years later, we recall these events and praise the Lord every week when we pronounce the blessings over wine. Not a day goes by without our giving thanks to the Lord for the Exodus from Egypt.
At the time when Avram lived, the world, i.e. the planet earth and man on it, was still in a state of semi-collapse, its continued existence far from assured, until Yitzchok and Yaakov continued the work that Avram had started when he kept proclaiming the power and goodness of the Creator. This assurance of the earth’s continued existence was only confirmed with the creation of the Jewish people, and this people’s leaving Egypt as G’d’s people, after having slaughtered the Passover, and proven that they considered the Creator as their highest authority.
The Tur, commenting on why we mention the Exodus of Egypt in the weekly Kiddush, as opposed to the Kiddush on the festivals whose link to the Exodus is self-evident, explains that the Sabbath harbours within it the כח המוליד, the power that enables creatures to regenerate themselves by producing offspring. This “power” is conditional on the observance of the Sabbath (in some form). Terach, Avram’s father, while able to produce physical offspring, was unable to produce offspring equipped with the kind of soul that would be active in spreading the message that G’d is the one and only Creator. [I have not been able to find where the Tur writes this, although he writes about man as well as most other living creatures becoming endowed with the ability to procreate bodies in his Torah commentary. (Genesis 2,3)
Avram’s question had been triggered by G’d saying to him:, לתת לך את הארץ הזאת לרשתה, “to give to you this land in order to inherit it.” (15,7) Avram wanted to know if he would live long enough to take part in the distribution of the land in Joshua’s time, or how he was to understand the words: לתת לך, “to give to you.” The Talmud in Sukkah 49 quotes psalms 47,10 where we encounter the expression עם אלוקי אברהם, “the nation that worships the G’d of Avraham”; a sage raised question whether G’d perhaps is not also the G’d of the people of Yitzchok and the G’d of the people of Yaakov.” The answer given is that Avraham was the first convert from which the Jewish people developed, so that he enjoys a special status. As a reward, G’d gave the land of Israel especially to him. Avraham wanted to know if, since the land of Israel becomes a מורשה, his share would be due to his father bequeathing it to him. The term ירש, “to inherit,” always implies that one inherits from a father. If Avram’s question had been במה אדע כי תתן לי, “how will I know that You give it to me,” it would have been inappropriate, of course. G’d had spoken about “giving;” Avram asked only about the hereditary aspect, אירשנה.
We will deal with the expression במה אדע, somewhat later in this paragraph. When G’d introduced His reply to Avram’s question with the words: ידוע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך, “you must truly realize that your descendants will be strangers, etc.,” this can best be understood when referring to a commentary by the Zohar I 87 on the verse: (Genesis 2,4)אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם . The letter ה in smaller script in the middle of this word alerts the reader not to read the word as a single word, but as באברהם ברא, i.e. G’d created the universe on account of, or with the eventual assistance of Avraham.” Had G’d not foreseen that someone like Avram will be born, He would not have considered it worth His while to create the human race. The fact that Avraham, on his own, without prompting, would proclaim the name of the Creator, made it worth G’d’s while to put up with all the sins man would commit. Avraham would be the one to acquaint his peers with the concept that G’d is One, is unique, is in charge of the universe and yet had granted the creatures he made in His image freedom of choice to choose their own path in life. The fact that this Avraham would sire a Yitzchok, and Yitzchok in turn would sire a Yaakov who raised 12 sons who would form the nucleus of the Jewish nation, a nation of priests, made it all worthwhile for G’d. When the Jewish people collectively accepted G’d’s Torah, without critically examining what was written therein first, this was a crowning moment not only for the Jewish people, but it enabled G’d to converse with a mortal human being, Moses, as if he were on His own level, i.e. פנים אל פנים, face to face.
When G’d introduced His reply to Avram’s question with the words: ידוע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך, “you must truly realize that your descendants will be strangers, etc.,” this can best be understood when referring to a commentary by the Zohar I 87 on the verse: (Genesis 2,4)אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם . The letter ה in smaller script in the middle of this word alerts the reader not to read the word as a single word, but as באברהם ברא, i.e. G’d created the universe on account of, or with the eventual assistance of Avraham.” Had G’d not foreseen that someone like Avram will be born, He would not have considered it worth His while to create the human race. The fact that Avraham, on his own, without prompting, would proclaim the name of the Creator, made it worth G’d’s while to put up with all the sins man would commit. Avraham would be the one to acquaint his peers with the concept that G’d is One, is unique, is in charge of the universe and yet had granted the creatures he made in His image freedom of choice to choose their own path in life. The fact that this Avraham would sire a Yitzchok, and Yitzchok in turn would sire a Yaakov who raised 12 sons who would form the nucleus of the Jewish nation, a nation of priests, made it all worthwhile for G’d. When the Jewish people collectively accepted G’d’s Torah, without critically examining what was written therein first, this was a crowning moment not only for the Jewish people, but it enabled G’d to converse with a mortal human being, Moses, as if he were on His own level, i.e. פנים אל פנים, face to face.
Moses reminded the people in Deut. 5,4 how 40 years earlier, when most of them had not yet been alive, G’d had addressed the whole nation on the פנים אל פנים “face to face level,” [until the people asked Moses to be their interpreter instead. Ed.] At that time all creatures on earth were in awe of their Creator. When the people had consecrated the Tabernacle in the desert as a “home” for Hashem in the lower parts of the universe, G’d took delight in the world He had created, as we know from Taanit 26 where the Talmud understands Song of Songs 3,11 ביום חתונתו וביום שמחת לבו, “on His wedding day, the day when His heart rejoices,” as referring to G’d’s feelings on the day of the revelation at Mount Sinai, and the day when the Tabernacle was consecrated, respectively. This is the kind of נחת רוח, “pleasure, satisfaction,” that man in the lower part of the universe can contribute to G’d in the loftier spheres, in heaven. On both of these occasions the joy was reciprocal, G’d showing that He can associate with earthlings and take pleasure from this. The Israelites’ enthusiastic response after the splitting of the sea and their miraculous and escape from Pharaoh’s pursuing armies, was another occasion when the reciprocal nature of the relationship between G’d and His “chosen” people was demonstrated publicly. Nowadays, almost 4000 years later, we recall these events and praise the Lord every week when we pronounce the blessings over wine. Not a day goes by without our giving thanks to the Lord for the Exodus from Egypt.
At the time when Avram lived, the world, i.e. the planet earth and man on it, was still in a state of semi-collapse, its continued existence far from assured, until Yitzchok and Yaakov continued the work that Avram had started when he kept proclaiming the power and goodness of the Creator. This assurance of the earth’s continued existence was only confirmed with the creation of the Jewish people, and this people’s leaving Egypt as G’d’s people, after having slaughtered the Passover, and proven that they considered the Creator as their highest authority.
The Tur, commenting on why we mention the Exodus of Egypt in the weekly Kiddush, as opposed to the Kiddush on the festivals whose link to the Exodus is self-evident, explains that the Sabbath harbours within it the כח המוליד, the power that enables creatures to regenerate themselves by producing offspring. This “power” is conditional on the observance of the Sabbath (in some form). Terach, Avram’s father, while able to produce physical offspring, was unable to produce offspring equipped with the kind of soul that would be active in spreading the message that G’d is the one and only Creator. [I have not been able to find where the Tur writes this, although he writes about man as well as most other living creatures becoming endowed with the ability to procreate bodies in his Torah commentary. (Genesis 2,3)
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Kedushat Levi
The belief that the thoughts that cross the minds of parents engaged in marital intercourse influence the spiritual focus of a child conceived as the result of their union, is universally accepted in the writings of our sages, and especially so in Nachmanides’ essay האמונה והבטחון, chapter 15, page 395 in כתבי רמב'ן, published by Mossad Harav Kook. [The authorship of this volume has not been determined with accuracy even nowadays. Rabbi Chayim David Chavell, whose edition I am using, devotes 11 pages to his introduction when he explains that there is some genetic spiritual input by both the father and the mother into the soul of the child they produce.
If I understand the message in these words, it is that this input is transmitted only at the time when the parents conceive the child, and it outweighs what the parents try to teach the youngster after he or she has been born. It follows that if the parents are interested in transmitting their own and their ancestors’ good characteristics to their own children, they must not only live according to these principles, but even conduct themselves according to these principles in the privacy of their bedrooms. Perhaps this sheds some light on the lament of many parents who have one or more children who do not follow in their footsteps and who fail to understand this. Ed.]
Pessachim 50 urging us to be careful to perpetuate the good practices of our forefathers meticulously, the Talmud quotes Proverbs 1,8 שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך, “my son, hear the moral instruction of your father, and do not forsake the teachings of your mother.” It is clear from the Torah’s description of Terach before he had sired children (assuming he became a monotheist later) that the thoughts we have described did not occur to him when he and his wife conceived Avram. In fact, if Terach had been a believer in the one and only G’d, much of the credit Avraham accumulated would have been due to his father.
Avraham was the first human being, who, by absorbing some of the “sparks” of the Shechinah which we discussed on pages 21-22 was able to transmit such spiritual values by means of his semen. He himself had absorbed only the kind of material input from his father and mother as is capable of being defined through DNA in our days. In the parlance of our sages this input of physical matter by the mother is known as אודם, primarily cells which produce blood, whereas the input by her male partner consists primarily of לובן, albumen.
Terach and his wife contributed only elements of the material terrestrial part of the universe to the fetus of Avraham, whereas G’d, anxious to see an eventual Jewish people emerge from that embryo, contributed characteristics that stemmed from the spiritual spheres of the universe. This is the meaning of Avram’s question “how do I know that I will inherit?” The word דעת or ידע always describes a close attachment to the subject or object it describes. Avram wanted to know which spiritual characteristic links him to his existence in the terrestrial world, a link described in Proverbs 1,8 as אבי in the verse שמע בני מוסר אביך, in which Solomon cautions his listeners to carefully perpetuate the moral lessons absorbed from אביך, your father, i.e. your roots. His question was prompted by his realization that he could certainly not be expected to perpetuate the moral lessons that he had been taught in the house of his father Terach. If he were to do this, how could he possibly bequeath to his offspring the qualities needed to become G’d’s people? He knew instinctively that this could happen only if he had in his genes spiritual input from a higher world. The characteristic that represented this spiritual input is know as אב, part of the name אברהם. The word ירושה, inheritance, is always used in connection with inheritance from one’s father; hence seeing that the word אב, father, was part of his name this was the link that enabled him to become the first patriarch of the Jewish people. Avram understood that the origin of the Jewish people, a concept in G’d’s mind and the contribution He had made as the third partner in any human being to Avram’s genes, were of the same kind, so that the Jewish people could truly be described as having its terrestrial root in Avraham, as he would be called shortly before Yitzchok was born.
When G’d told him that he should realize that his offspring would begin their collective life as “strangers,” i.e. as a new nation in the families of nations, it was this strain that he shared his spiritual origin with. He would henceforth have to concentrate on his role as the spiritual root of that nation as and when it would become such. G’d reminded him already in verse 7 that this was the purpose for which He had saved him from the fiery furnace in Ur Kasdim continuing this theme in verse 18 when He entered into a sacred covenant with Avram. He had given him a preview that the development of this nation of which he would become the founding father, would undergo a difficult “adolescence” and that these difficulties once endured and overcome with His help would qualify them for their historic mission as trailblazers of monotheism. Although Terach is credited with having sired Avram, (Genesis 11,26) this was merely a biological phenomenon; he was in no way an ancestor of Avram in the sense that Avram as the son would continue a tradition sacred to his father.To the question of how we are to understand Genesis 15,15 ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום תקבר בשיבה טובה, “as for you, you will join your “fathers’ in peace and will be buried in a ripe old age,” the word אבותיך does not refer to Terach; but is an assurance that Avram would die without sharing the servitude his descendants would experience.
The Zohar I 78 commenting on Genesis 12,5 ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, writes that Terach became a penitent, but that this does not mean that Avraham would be reunited with his father in the life after death, but since our sages had difficulty in how to understand the words: ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום, they understood this as Terach sanctifying the name of Avraham’s G’d while still alive. The name of “G’d” in that verse therefore is אב, the spiritual genes that we described above as having been injected by G’d into the ovum that eventually developed into Avram.
[We may understand this as Terach establishing a horizontal spiritual bond with his son through his penitence instead of the vertical bond created when a father passes on his spiritual values to his son. Ed.]
If you find it difficult to accept the argument that Terach is not to be regarded as Avram’s “father” in verse 15, consider the following statement in Yevamot 22. גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי, “a convert after conversion is comparable to that of a newly born baby.” He has no residue of the spiritual input normally transmitted by the respective genes of his father and mother. The only spiritual force active within him is that of the soul which has been given to him by his Creator. He is no longer called after his father, when called up to the Torah, the name of his father, the gentile, is not even alluded to. The reason is that he no longer contains the spiritual input his father had transmitted to him at birth. The separation of such a convert from his biological father is so absolute, that according to Biblical Jewish law the convert is free to marry his biological mother, or sister, (assuming either of them has converted). [If the Rabbis forbade this, it is because it raises suspicions that the conversion had ulterior motives. Ed.]. Avram/Avraham both because he was a convert, and because his name was changed by G’d before he sired Yitzchok, was no longer connected to Terach at all. When the Torah writes in Genesis 25,19 ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק, “and these are the generations of Yitzchok; son of Avraham; Avraham had sired Yitzchok,” the Torah makes a point of describing Yitzchok as descendant of Avraham, whereas it never described Avraham as a descendant of Terach. The term “father,” is mentioned in the Torah only in connection with the characteristic אב which G’d had supplied to Avram, and which helped him to sanctify G’d’s Holy name to large groups of people as we explained previously.
If I understand the message in these words, it is that this input is transmitted only at the time when the parents conceive the child, and it outweighs what the parents try to teach the youngster after he or she has been born. It follows that if the parents are interested in transmitting their own and their ancestors’ good characteristics to their own children, they must not only live according to these principles, but even conduct themselves according to these principles in the privacy of their bedrooms. Perhaps this sheds some light on the lament of many parents who have one or more children who do not follow in their footsteps and who fail to understand this. Ed.]
Pessachim 50 urging us to be careful to perpetuate the good practices of our forefathers meticulously, the Talmud quotes Proverbs 1,8 שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך, “my son, hear the moral instruction of your father, and do not forsake the teachings of your mother.” It is clear from the Torah’s description of Terach before he had sired children (assuming he became a monotheist later) that the thoughts we have described did not occur to him when he and his wife conceived Avram. In fact, if Terach had been a believer in the one and only G’d, much of the credit Avraham accumulated would have been due to his father.
Avraham was the first human being, who, by absorbing some of the “sparks” of the Shechinah which we discussed on pages 21-22 was able to transmit such spiritual values by means of his semen. He himself had absorbed only the kind of material input from his father and mother as is capable of being defined through DNA in our days. In the parlance of our sages this input of physical matter by the mother is known as אודם, primarily cells which produce blood, whereas the input by her male partner consists primarily of לובן, albumen.
Terach and his wife contributed only elements of the material terrestrial part of the universe to the fetus of Avraham, whereas G’d, anxious to see an eventual Jewish people emerge from that embryo, contributed characteristics that stemmed from the spiritual spheres of the universe. This is the meaning of Avram’s question “how do I know that I will inherit?” The word דעת or ידע always describes a close attachment to the subject or object it describes. Avram wanted to know which spiritual characteristic links him to his existence in the terrestrial world, a link described in Proverbs 1,8 as אבי in the verse שמע בני מוסר אביך, in which Solomon cautions his listeners to carefully perpetuate the moral lessons absorbed from אביך, your father, i.e. your roots. His question was prompted by his realization that he could certainly not be expected to perpetuate the moral lessons that he had been taught in the house of his father Terach. If he were to do this, how could he possibly bequeath to his offspring the qualities needed to become G’d’s people? He knew instinctively that this could happen only if he had in his genes spiritual input from a higher world. The characteristic that represented this spiritual input is know as אב, part of the name אברהם. The word ירושה, inheritance, is always used in connection with inheritance from one’s father; hence seeing that the word אב, father, was part of his name this was the link that enabled him to become the first patriarch of the Jewish people. Avram understood that the origin of the Jewish people, a concept in G’d’s mind and the contribution He had made as the third partner in any human being to Avram’s genes, were of the same kind, so that the Jewish people could truly be described as having its terrestrial root in Avraham, as he would be called shortly before Yitzchok was born.
When G’d told him that he should realize that his offspring would begin their collective life as “strangers,” i.e. as a new nation in the families of nations, it was this strain that he shared his spiritual origin with. He would henceforth have to concentrate on his role as the spiritual root of that nation as and when it would become such. G’d reminded him already in verse 7 that this was the purpose for which He had saved him from the fiery furnace in Ur Kasdim continuing this theme in verse 18 when He entered into a sacred covenant with Avram. He had given him a preview that the development of this nation of which he would become the founding father, would undergo a difficult “adolescence” and that these difficulties once endured and overcome with His help would qualify them for their historic mission as trailblazers of monotheism. Although Terach is credited with having sired Avram, (Genesis 11,26) this was merely a biological phenomenon; he was in no way an ancestor of Avram in the sense that Avram as the son would continue a tradition sacred to his father.To the question of how we are to understand Genesis 15,15 ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום תקבר בשיבה טובה, “as for you, you will join your “fathers’ in peace and will be buried in a ripe old age,” the word אבותיך does not refer to Terach; but is an assurance that Avram would die without sharing the servitude his descendants would experience.
The Zohar I 78 commenting on Genesis 12,5 ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, writes that Terach became a penitent, but that this does not mean that Avraham would be reunited with his father in the life after death, but since our sages had difficulty in how to understand the words: ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום, they understood this as Terach sanctifying the name of Avraham’s G’d while still alive. The name of “G’d” in that verse therefore is אב, the spiritual genes that we described above as having been injected by G’d into the ovum that eventually developed into Avram.
[We may understand this as Terach establishing a horizontal spiritual bond with his son through his penitence instead of the vertical bond created when a father passes on his spiritual values to his son. Ed.]
If you find it difficult to accept the argument that Terach is not to be regarded as Avram’s “father” in verse 15, consider the following statement in Yevamot 22. גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי, “a convert after conversion is comparable to that of a newly born baby.” He has no residue of the spiritual input normally transmitted by the respective genes of his father and mother. The only spiritual force active within him is that of the soul which has been given to him by his Creator. He is no longer called after his father, when called up to the Torah, the name of his father, the gentile, is not even alluded to. The reason is that he no longer contains the spiritual input his father had transmitted to him at birth. The separation of such a convert from his biological father is so absolute, that according to Biblical Jewish law the convert is free to marry his biological mother, or sister, (assuming either of them has converted). [If the Rabbis forbade this, it is because it raises suspicions that the conversion had ulterior motives. Ed.]. Avram/Avraham both because he was a convert, and because his name was changed by G’d before he sired Yitzchok, was no longer connected to Terach at all. When the Torah writes in Genesis 25,19 ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק, “and these are the generations of Yitzchok; son of Avraham; Avraham had sired Yitzchok,” the Torah makes a point of describing Yitzchok as descendant of Avraham, whereas it never described Avraham as a descendant of Terach. The term “father,” is mentioned in the Torah only in connection with the characteristic אב which G’d had supplied to Avram, and which helped him to sanctify G’d’s Holy name to large groups of people as we explained previously.
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