Path to Success
Now we have to know that this practice of Avraham, of not kowtowing to the majority, became one of the calling cards of our nation. Avraham HaIvri, by standing by his principles even when it meant to be on the other side, taught us that for every Jew, in one way or another, that’s his path to true success.
But not only against the ideals and attitudes and opposition of the world. That’s important but it’s only a small part of it; because even among ourselves, among the frummeh, in order to excel, a person has to stand up to opposition. It’s true, if you want to be a Jew, a simple Jew, who doesn’t achieve much in life so as long as you do what everyone else does – you’re frum, you’re shomer Torah u’mitzvos – so after 120 years you’ll be rewarded in Olam Haba; absolutely. But that doesn’t mean you accomplished all that you can in this world.
Being a Loner
To accomplish, to excel, means you have to be a yachid. If you’re going to accomplish big things you have to know that sometimes you’ll be standing alone. Sometimes it will be like by Yehoshua and Kaleiv, ten against two, and sometimes it might be like Avraham HaIvri – it might feel like it’s the whole world on one side and you’re standing on the other. But whatever it is, that’s one of the principles of excelling in the Eyes of Hashem.
Now, what was the derech of Avraham that made him a yachid? What was the area that he excelled in against the world?
Avraham instituted the science that we call bechinah, the practice of recognizing Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the world. From an early age he saw that the world is not silent; that it’s speaking and it’s saying with a very loud voice, “Look at me and you can discover the Creator in every natural object in the universe.”
But not just a one-time thing, to discover the Creator. It’s a lifetime project! Avraham reasoned as follows: “If there are so many testimonies in Creation that are speaking of a Creator it means the Creator wants me to study them. Not only to see Him once and to discover that the world is wrong; no, there’s a much bigger purpose than that. The purpose is to see the Creator always.”
Studying the Orange
That’s why he didn’t stop when he discovered Hashem. ֹו‡¿רֹוּב ̇∆‡ ירƒּכƒה יםƒנָׁ ̆ '‚ ן∆ּב – At the age of three he recognized the Creator. As a child, he said, “Why is it that the orange is yellow on the outside of the skin but the underside of the skin has no color; is it an accident?”
That’s enough to overthrow all the universities and textbooks. Why shouldn’t it be colored on the underside and the outside should be plain? Think
