וַיָּמָת הָרָן עַל פְּנֵי תְּרַח אָבִיו וגו' בְּאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים (יא, כח)
And Haran died by the face (during the lifetime) of Terach, his father, in Ur Kasdim. (11:28)
Mocking Avodah Zara:
Rashi states that when it says that Haran died "by the face of Terach" it means that he died because of him. Terach had given his son, Avrohom, to Nimrod because he had broken his idols. Nimrod then threw Avrohom into the fiery furnace. Haran was standing at the side and thinking: If Avrohom wins, I am with him. If Nimrod wins, I am on my side. When Avrohom emerged unscathed, Haran was asked whose side he was on, and he said that he was with Avrohom. He was then thrown into the fire, and he died.
The Medrash (Tanna D'Bei Eliyahu, Parshah 6) describes how Avrohom dealt with his father's idols.
Terach would make idols and sell them in the marketplace. One day, he went out and put Avrohom in charge of his store. A man came in and asked how much a certain idol cost, and Avrohom told him the price.
Avrohom then asked him, "How old are you?”
The man answered that he was 30 years old. Avrohom then said, "You are 30 years old, and you want to worship an idol that I made today?"
The man then left and went on his way. Another customer came in and asked how much a certain idol cost. Avrohom told him the price and then asked his age, and the man said that he was 50. Avrohom again asked, "You are 50, and you want to worship an idol that I made today?"
Upon hearing this, this man left as well without purchasing anything. In this way, Avrohom made a mockery out of idol worship.
The Ben Ish Chai zy "a related a story of a man in his times who successfully made a mockery of idol worship. He writes that there was a man who suffered a financial loss and became very poor. On erev Pesach, he still had no matzohs, and he couldn't afford to buy any.
He decided that he no longer wished to live, but he knew that it is forbidden for a Jew to take his own life. He came up with what he thought was a great plan. He would go out to the middle of the desert, where he might be accosted by gangsters who would murder him.
He then changed his mind. He said to himself: Why should I go all the way out to the desert? I don't even know if that plan will work anyway. What if I don't even find any crooks? And what if I do find some but they don't want to kill me?
He decided instead to go to the Christian neighborhood, knowing how much they hated Jews and that they'd probably kill him. He did just that. He wandered around the Christian neighborhood for two hours, but no one paid any attention to him.
He then decided to go into their house of worship. He knew that if the priest saw him, he would accuse him of coming to steal their sacred items, which is punishable by death. He tried that, but no one was there.
He decided to go into the innermost room, where they kept their religious symbols, assuming that the priest must be there. He entered that room and saw how fancy and magnificently it was decorated, and he was impressed by the splendor.
When he saw the priest wasn't there either, he thought perhaps making a commotion would bring someone. He took a ladder and climbed up to the ceiling, where he ripped off the fancy chandelier and threw it down to the floor. But still, no one came.
He then had a different idea. He thought, "I already have the gold chandelier, and no one is around. Why don't I just take it and use it to become rich?"
He took off his coat, wrapped the chandelier in it, and went on his way. When he got to the Jewish neighborhood, he went to a deaf-mute metalworker and wrote him a note, asking him to melt down the chandelier and make it into four gold bars. He told him to keep one of them as his payment, and to hide the other three under his bed.
The next morning, the priest came to the house of worship and was shocked to see that the chandelier was gone! He ran to the mayor to tell him that there had been a theft. He added, "I am certain that the thief is a Jew. A Christian would never steal from his deity! We should summon the rabbi and tell him that if the chandelier isn't returned in a week, all the Jews will be expelled from town, and 10 of the distinguished Jewish men will be hanged in the public square!"
The mayor agreed to the plan.
This occurred on erev Pesach. When the Rov heard what was happening, he gathered all the Jews and told them that he was calling a public fast day on Chol Hamoed. The thief was present at the gathering. He approached the Rov and said, "There's no need for a fast day. I am the one who stole the chandelier. I will take care of it."
He went to the mayor's mansion and said that he wanted to see him. When the guards asked what he wanted, he said, "I need to speak to him about the stolen chandelier."
He was allowed in, and he told the mayor, "I took the chandelier."
The mayor asked, "Did you really take it or are just risking your life to save the other Jews?"
He answered, "No. I really stole it. You can send people to look under my bed, and you'll find two gold bars that I made out of it. I also had a third gold bar, but I used that one to buy shoes for my children and matzoh for Pesach."
The mayor said, "You do know, don't you, that you will be given the death penalty?"
The man said, "I don't think I deserve to be killed. Let me tell you exactly what happened, and then you can decide what to do with me."
He told him, "I lost all my money. I was in a very difficult situation. I prayed to my G-d, but He didn't help. I decided to try to pray to your god to see if that would work. I thought: The majority of the world worships this god, so there must be something to it. Even if most people are fools, the priests are definitely smart. And even if they are, the mayor is certainly a smart man. If he worships this god, it must be real.
"I entered the cathedral and saw it in all its glory. I was very emotional when I saw how beautiful it was. I was speechless. The most impressive thing was the golden statue of your god, which was truly magnificent. Suddenly, it began to speak. It said, 'My son, don't cry.'
"When your god spoke to me, I got so emotional that I cried even more. He then told me, 'My son, please stop crying. I know that you are sad because you have no money. Take the chandelier.'
"I said, 'How could I do that? I can't take something that is here to honor you.'
"Your god then went on his own, took the ladder, climbed up, detached the chandelier, and handed it to me. That's exactly what happened. Now you can decide if I deserve the death penalty or not."
The priest asked the mayor to speak with him outside. They asked each other what to do with this man. They knew his entire story was nonsense, but if a Jew was saying that their god is goodhearted, how could they say he was wrong? They therefore concluded that they had no choice but to let him go. They came back in and said, "If our god personally gave you the chandelier, it is yours to keep."
18 Cheshvan