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Wisdom for Living
Rabbi Noah Weinberg on the Parashah
7 min read
The Mishnah tells us that Abraham withstood 10 tests. But why did the Almighty have to test him? Didn’t He know who Abraham was?
The test was not for God’s sake – every test was perfectly calibrated to help Abraham grow. That's what all tests are about. Every test you'll ever have in your life, every challenge, is sent by the Almighty to help you grow. Let’s carefully examine Abraham's first test and see what it teaches us.
The Torah says: “Hashem said to Avram, ‘Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing’” (Bereishis 12:1-2).
What is the test? Is it really so impressive that Avraham left his home? Every year thousands of people move to Israel – or elsewhere, for that matter. Furthermore, if the Almighty would speak to you and tell you to leave the United States to go to Israel, wouldn't you drop everything and go? Even if you would already be living in Israel and Hashem would tell you to go to China, isn't it obvious that you would go? It’s the Almighty telling you to go! So what’s the big deal here? Why is this considered one of the 10 tests Avraham had to go through?
Let's focus on the words of the Torah to find the answer. We find something very strange in the verse. “Hashem said to Avram, ‘Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.'" This is similar to saying: “Leave the United States, leave New York City, and leave 314 East 4th Street to go to Israel.” Is this how you would phrase the command to leave?
If you left the United States, haven’t you already left New York City? And if you left New York City, haven’t you already left your father's house on East 4th Street? The verse is not written in a logical order, and it seems redundant. First you leave your father’s house, then the city you live in, and then your country! So why does God reverse the order?
It must be that God is not describing a physical departure. Rather, He is giving Abraham the more difficult challenge of leaving behind the spiritual impact these places have on him. From that perspective, the order now seems perfectly logical – it’s going from the lesser sphere of influence (his country) to the most intense one (his home).
The Torah is teaching us that values and beliefs come from three primary sources – your society (land), your social group (birthplace), and your home.
To forge a relationship with God, you first need to leave the influence of your general society; your beliefs can’t be just an accident of birth. You've got to become fiercely independent and learn to think for yourself. You have to leave behind the false ideas you’ve inherited from the society you are submerged in – whether it’s the secular, western civilization of America, or the polytheistic society that Avraham was raised in.
The next step is to leave your birthplace. This is more difficult. It means leaving behind the values you absorbed from your immediate society, your school, the media that surrounds you. Whom do your friends respect? How do they define success? That no longer determines whom you respect and how you define success.
And lastly, you have to leave behind the impact of your father’s house. That doesn’t mean to abandon your parents and sever contact with them. It means to leave behind the identity they gave you, the limitations they may have placed on you, and the expectations that may not have been in your best interest. Examine them. Be independent. Lech Lecha means go for yourself, discover who you really are and what you really believe in. Don’t compromise your aspirations and clarity of what is right.
By understanding God’s test of Abraham as the challenge of attaining independence, we can appreciate why this is indeed a serious test. It wasn’t just a matter of physically leaving a country. The Almighty was telling Avraham to completely rethink all of his values and the way he viewed the world and himself, to become fully independent. That is no small undertaking.
There is another question concerning Abraham’s first test. According to the Midrash (Bereishis Rabba, 38:13), before Hashem appeared to Avraham and told him to leave his country, Avraham smashed his father's idols and began to teach people about monotheism. Nimrod, the king of Shinar, perceived this as a threat, and he gave Avraham an ultimatum: bow down to idols or be thrown into a fiery furnace.
What would you have done? You could save your life by bowing down to the idols. After all, it’s just an external action; in your heart you know it’s nonsense.
But Abraham understood, even before the Torah was given, that the obligation of Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying Hashem's Name) requires one to give up his life rather than commit any of the three cardinal transgressions: idol worship, murder, and illicit relations (Pesachim 25a). The prohibition against idolatry includes even outward acts of worship to an idol you don't believe in.
Abraham refused to bow down, and was thrown into the fire. He expected to die, knowing that one may not depend on miracles. But the Almighty performed a miracle and he walked out of the fiery furnace alive.
This was an incredible act of mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice). Abraham was willing to die for what he knew was right. Yet the Torah doesn’t mention a word about this story. Why not? Isn’t this test far greater than the first test of leaving Ur Kasdim mentioned at the beginning of this parashah?
There’s no question that Abraham’s willingness to die rather than bow down to idols was a sign of tremendous commitment. But which is harder: to die for a cause or to live for a cause?
Many people are willing to give up their life in order to do the right thing. In 1967, when Israel's existence was threatened, Jews came out of the woodwork to volunteer and fight, risking their very lives. Even today, if you were ordered to kill one hundred children or be killed, would you kill them or choose to die instead?
We all understand that there are values and beliefs that are more important than life itself.
But does the recognition that a cause is important enough to die for automatically spur you to dedicate your life to that cause? If you care about the Jewish people so much that you’re willing to die for them, does that mean you’re willing to drop everything and dedicate your life to living for them?
Being moser nefesh, giving up your life for God, is a great act, but it is still only a one-time choice. It is far more difficult to undertake the constant struggle of living every single moment, day in and day out, according to what the Almighty asks of us.
There are many people who are willing to give up their life for a cause (often false ones, like jihad). But there are very few heroes who dedicate their entire lives to the cause they are willing to die for.
Abraham's willingness to die in the furnace al Kiddush Hashem isn't mentioned in the Torah or included in the list of 10 tests because dying for a cause is not what the Torah wants to emphasize. The ideal is to live for a cause. The test of Lech Lecha was a greater challenge than the ordeal of Ur Kasdim because it demanded that Avraham become independent and totally dedicate his life to Hashem. This is the first test of every Jew, and it was Avraham’s first step towards becoming the father of the Jewish People.
