Introduction
The Rebbe begins the sichah to follow with an obvious question: From early childhood on, we have been taught the story of Avraham breaking his father’s idols and his self-sacrifice in spreading the awareness of G-d in Ur Kasdim. Why then is this story not told – or even directly hinted at – in the Written Torah?
The Rebbe answers this question by explaining that, by beginning Avraham’s story with Lech Lecha, G-d’s command to him to leave his home, the Torah defines the fundamental nature of his relationship with G-d. By doing so, the Torah clarifies the core characteristics of G-d’s bond with Avraham’s descendants, the Jewish people, and what distinguishes them from other peoples.
Building on these concepts, the Rebbe delineates what makes Judaism different from other faiths. Extending the contrast, he distinguishes between the 613 mitzvos commanded to the Jews and the Seven Universal Laws Commanded to Noach and his Descendants. Moreover, the Rebbe not only speaks about the Jewish people as a whole but also explains how the lesson from the Torah reading relates to each individual as he begins his own personal journey as a Jew. How should one approach a Jew who is making his first strides in discovering and relating to his Jewish identity? And how should a Jew who is seeking to advance his Jewish practice to new horizons begin that process? As the father of our people, Avraham’s story provides guidelines for both those individuals and all others throughout the spectrum of the Jewish community.
Why the Torah Doesn’t Describe How Avraham Broke His Father’s Idols
On the verse, “Go out from your land, your birthplace.... And I will make you into a great nation...,” Ramban comments:
This passage does not explain the entire matter: It states that the Holy One, blessed be He, instructed Avraham to leave his land and promised him that He would grant him Divine favor that had never before been granted to anyone. Nevertheless, the Torah does not mention the reason for these blessings; it does not preface with the fact that Avraham was a servant of G-d, nor that he was a perfectly righteous man.... The manner in which Scripture generally speaks is first to say “Proceed before Me” or “Heed My voice,” and then – i.e., as a consequence – I will grant you favor, as is stated with regard to David and Shlomoh. Similarly, with regard to the entire Torah it is written, “If you walk in My statutes... I will grant you...,” and, “If you will certainly heed the voice of G-d, your L-rd... He will....” Also, our patriarch Yitzchak was promised Divine favor “for the sake of Avraham, My servant.”
However, there is no apparent reason for G-d to have promised Avraham such Divine favor merely because he would leave his land.
In resolution, Ramban explains that Avraham was granted this unique favor because of the commitment to G-d’s service that he had demonstrated beforehand. The inhabitants of Ur Kasdim:
...caused him great hardships because of his faith in the Holy One, blessed be He, and Avraham fled from them to go to the Land of Canaan. In the interim, he interrupted his journey and lingered in Charan. G-d also told him to leave that place, to do as he had originally thought, i.e., to go to Canaan, so that his service of G-d and his efforts to have people call upon G-d’s name would be carried out in the Chosen Land. There, Avraham’s renown would be amplified and the inhabitants of Canaan would be blessed through him.
Ramban continues, stating that the Canaanites would respond to Avraham in a positive manner, in contrast to the inhabitants of “Ur Kasdim, who denigrated and cursed him, placing him in a dungeon or casting him into a fiery furnace.” Ramban concludes:
Nevertheless, the Torah did not desire to elaborate upon the beliefs of the idol-worshipers and explain in detail the interaction between Avraham and the inhabitants of Ur Kasdim regarding faith, just as it curtailed the description of the generation of Enosh and the conception of idolatry that they contrived.
However, clarification is still called for: Why doesn’t the Torah mention, at least briefly, that Avraham was a servant of G-d or a perfectly righteous man as a preface to the verse, “And G-d said to Avram...”? Indeed, at the beginning of Parshas Noach, before relating how G-d spoke to Noach, the Torah states, “Noach was a righteous man,” and even before that, at the end of Parshas Bereishis, “And Noach found favor in the eyes of G-d.”
How much more so would it have been appropriate to make similar statements with regard to Avraham, since our Sages describe at length his greatness of character, his righteousness, and his service of G-d to the point of self-sacrifice in Ur Kasdim and in Charan. This Divine service was a preparatory step and the reason leading to G-d’s instructing him, “Go out from your land.” Nevertheless, Scripture mentions nothing whatsoever regarding this. Indeed, in describing how Terach and his family left Ur Kasdim, Avraham is mentioned only as a member of the family; he is not singled out from the others.
What Defines a Jew?
The resolution of this issue can be elucidated by the following preface: The existence of the Jewish people began with Avraham. He was the first Jew, as it is written, “Avraham was one,” i.e., unique among all the people living at that time. With regard to Avraham himself, his distinction from the other inhabitants of his birthplace and his parents’ home began when “G-d said to Avraham, ‘Go out from your land, your birthplace, and your father’s home...,’ ” as stated at the beginning of this parshah.
This is the manner in which the Torah begins describing Avraham’s uniqueness. True, well before then, “Avraham recognized his Creator,” drew close to Him, and made known “to all humanity that there is one G-d in the entire world and that it is fitting to serve Him.” Even while in Ur Kasdim, his commitment reached the level of self-sacrifice, but the Torah does not mention this. It begins the narrative of Avraham with Lech Lecha. By doing so, the Torah defines and highlights the nature of Avraham, (of his descendants, the Jewish people, and of every individual Jew).
All other nations define their closeness to and relationship with the Creator according to their knowledge and awareness of Him. On the basis of that understanding and awareness, they establish a bond with Him and fulfill His commandments. The Jewish people, however, follow a different motif. Their primary closeness to G-d and their identity as Jews do not originate in their own efforts at elevating themselves, to attain an awareness of G-d, and to establish a relationship with Him, but rather in G-d’s having selected them. To refer to our Sages’ words, “And now the Omnipresent drew us close to His service,” and “the Omnipresent drew us close to Him, distinguished us from the other nations, and drew us close to His unity.”
Since this relationship was initiated by the Creator, it is easily understood that the Jewish people are not merely another category of created beings, (similar to all other created beings,) but distinguished in that they have drawn closer to G-d than others. Instead, the Jewish people are of an altogether different nature. All other created beings are defined as just that – something that G-d created. The Jews are different. Fundamentally, a Jew is G-dliness that has been invested in the creation.
