כו וַיְחִי-תֶרַח, שִבְעִים שָׁנָׁה; וַיּוֹלֶד, אֶת-אַבְרָׁם, אֶת-נָׁחוֹר, וְאֶת-הָׁרָׁן.
11,26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
ולבכתה לשרה לספוד אברהם ויבא “And Avrohom came to eulogize Sarah and to cry for her”
(based on derush from R' Nesanel Chalomish)
The Medrash on the Pasuk asks from where did Avrohom come?
The Medrash quotes R’ Levi who explains that Avrohom came from burying his father Terach, and now he came to Sarah. This statement is very puzzling as we know from Parshas Noach that Terach gave birth to Avrohom when he was 70 and died at the age of 205 which means that Avrohom was 135 when Terach died. Avrohom was 10 years older than Sarah, hence at Sarah’s death who died when she was 127, Avrohom was 137 years old.
This means that Terach must have died 2 years prior to Sarah’s death, so how can R’ Levi suggest that Avrohom came from burying his father Terach, to bury Sarah?
The question is so powerful that R’ Yossi himself challenged R’ Levi on this. The Medrash quotes R’ Yossi, who for this reason that the numbers don’t add up, argued with R’ Levi and said the famous explanation which Rashi quotes, that Avrohom came from Mount Moriah and Sarah died from the shock, hence the juxtaposition of the Parsha of the Akeida to Parshas Lech Lecha.
The Meforshim try to defend R’ Levi’s explanation but their explanations do not justify the power of the question.
The Pasuk says,ויחי תרח שבעים שנה ויולד את אברם את נחור ואת הרן ‘And Terach was 70 years old and he gave birth to Avram, Nachor and Haran’. The Pasuk is very difficult as since they weren’t triplets how was it possible to be 70 years old when all 3 sons were born? The simple and traditional explanation is that the births started when he was 70, i.e. Avram was born at 70 followed by Nachor some months later followed by Haran.
However, the Or HaChaim at the end of Parshas Noach has a novel approach and assumes that Avram was indeed born 2 years prior to Terach being 70 and at the age of 70 Terach had finished giving birth to his 3 sons which would come out that Terach was only 68 years older than Avram, and not 70 years older as generally assumed!
If this is the correct explanation of R’ Levi fits like a glove, as Avram was 137 years old when Terach died so Terach and Sarah died at the same time, therefore it would make perfect sense for R’ Levi to explain that Avram came to Sarah from burying Terach.
There are 3 possible ways to understand R’ Yossi,
- that he agrees in principle to the Or HaChaim but he held that Avram was the youngest but mentioned first because he was the greatest (see Sanhedrin 69b);
- that he held like Rashi in the sedra that they weren’t all from the same mother and therefore all of them could’ve been born when Terach was 70 years old;
- that he understood the Pasuk in the traditional way that the births started when Terach was 70 years old.
We can bring support that the 3rd possibility. R’ Yossi compiled the Seder Olam (Yevamos 82b and Nidah 46b) and in the 2nd Perek of Seder Olam R’ Yossi says clearly that Avrohom was the oldest and that there were two years between Avrohom and Haran (a year between each brother) which means they must have been born from the same mother. So we are compelled to say that he understood the Pasuk in Parshas Noach the simple way that the births started when Terach was 70 years.
