Introduction
Introduction to Second Part of Likutay Moharan [The Collected Teachings
of Our Teacher HaRav Rabbeinu Nachman]
Master of the World, Who knows hidden things. Who is the esssence of
Truth and desires Truth. Close to those who call to You in Truth. You
alone know everything that has happened to me each and every day. Those
who stand up against me every day, physically and spiritually, to
prevent and obstruct me, G-d forbid, from the Way of Life. Hashem, how
numerous are my enemies. Many have risen against me. You know how many
obstacles and obstructions and enticements and seductions and confusions
overwhelm me all the time, to block me, G-d forbid, from the Path of
Truth, from coming near to You and to True Tzaddikim. And in my strong
degradation and numerous sins and horrible spiritual diffusion and
mental confusion that I bring upon myself, the obstacles and hindrances
from all the people of the world overpower and afflict me all the time.
Those from my family and relatives, those from other people in the
world, due to the great number of opinions and arguments in the world
concerning the point of ultimate Truth.
And now Hashem, G-d of Truth, help us and strengthen us and save us and
make us brave in Your service in Truth, and merit us to come near to
those who fear You and who go with sincerity in Your Ways of Truth. And
do not give power to any person in the world to obstruct me from the
path of Truth in any way in the world, no matter who he is, whether near
or far, and strengthen my mind in Your faith always. And let me appear
in my eyes as though I am alone in the world, as it is written: "one was
Abraham." And do not let me hear at all or see any obstacle and
hindrance and scorner and cynic and confuser in the world. And do not
let any person confuse me from the true and straight path, even those
greater than me and more righteous than I. Just let me merit to conduct
myself in the way of truth, according to what I learned in my youth from
our holy and true Teachers, and let me regularly say in my soul that I
do not know at all what will be done in the world with each and every
person. J ust that I want to go in simple sincerity, in the way of
truth, according to my level, as I learned through Your chosen and true
Tzaddikim, who are the point of truth of all the worlds. And do not let
me look at any opinion and desire that opposes their desire, which truly
is Your desire. And even when I am forced to meet with people, whether
in matters of Heaven or this world, even so do not let my mind become
confused from the ultimate truth at all. And let me merit truly to
fulfill the verse that is written: "Who is for me in Heaven and with
You, I did not desire on earth." "May the words of my mouth and the
meditations of my heart be favorable unto you, Hashem, my Savior and
Redeemer." Be Strong!
[Prayer 149, Section 1, from Likutay Tefillos [Selected Prayers],
accompanying the lessons in Likutay Moharan [Collected Teachings of Our
Teacher HaRav Rabbeinu Nachman], by Rabbi Nosson of Nemirov, chief
disciple and scribe of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.]
"Ten tests our Father Abraham was tested with, and he stood up to all of
them, to show us how beloved our Father Abraham is." Pirkay Avos
[Chapters of the Fathers] 5:4
In loving memory of:
And he would make statues in his form and image, and people would bow
down to the statues in the image of Nimrod.
And Nimrod was an astrologer and wise in the science of the stars, and
he saw in the stars that a man would be born in his days who would stand
up against him to refute his belief and to vanquish him.
And he was full of great fear and sent for his ministers and told them
the matter and asked them what to do about this child who woud be born
in the future.
They said to him: "The advice that we give to you about this is that
every woman who gives birth to a son, kill him. And if she gives birth
to a daughter, let her live and give presents to her mother, clothing
her in royal garments and calling out before her: 'So will be done to a
woman who gives birth to a daughter.' "
And when he heard their advice he was very happy and did what they said.
And more than 70,000 male babies were killed because of this.
When the angels on high saw the killing of these children, they said
before Hakadosh Boruch Hu [the Holy One Blessed be He]: "Master of the
Universe! Have You not seen what that wicked heretic, Nimrod son of
Cana'an, has done, killing so many children and spilling their blood on
the earth with no evil in their hands?" The Holy One Blessed Be He said
to them: "Holy angels! I know and have seen, for I do not slumber or
sleep, and I see and know the hidden and the revealed. But you will see
what I shall do to this wicked heretic, for I shall put My hands on him
to afflict him."
At that time Terach [see Genesis 11: 24-32] married Amathlai daughter of
Karnavo, and she became pregnant and bore a son. And due to her great
terror she left the city and went towards the wilderness near a river,
and there she found a large cave, and when she went inside the whole
cave lit up like the sun from the radiance of the child's face. And she
opened her mouth and said: "Woe that I bore you at this time, when King
Nimrod killed 70,00 male children because of you. And I am very afraid
for you, that if he will find out about you he will kill you. And for
this reason it is better that you die in this cave and that Nimrod not
hurt you." And she left him in the cave and said: "May your G-d be with
you. He will not weaken you or abandon you." And she went to her
home.
This child was our Father Abraham, may the peace be upon him, and he had
no one to give him food, and he started to cry. And HaKodesh Boruch Hu
sent the Angel Gabriel, who gave him food and drink.
Until Abraham was ten days old, when he already started to walk in the
world, and he left the cave and walked by the river, and he already had
the wisdom and understanding of a grown man. And he started to think:
"Behold! I see such a beautiful creation, mountains and hills, rivers
and seas. Who made and created them, and who is the Higher Power?" He
thought perhaps the sun that shines is G-d, and if so, "I shall serve
it."
At night, when the sun was darkened, he said, "It appears that the sun
is not G-d." And then he saw the moon with the stars, and he saw that
the stars seemed to be serving the moon, and he said, "Apparently this
is G-d, and I am obliged to serve it." In the morning, when the moon
vanished, he said: "Certainly the moon is not G-d. If so who is G-d?"
And he was very agggrieved that he did not know who was G-d and whom to
serve.
He was still thinking and behold, the Angel Gabriel came and said to
him: "Shalom Aleicha [Peace unto you] Abraham." He answered him:
"Aleicha Shalom. Who are you?" He said to him: "I am the Angel Gabriel,
sent to you by The Holy One Blessed Be He, who is the G-d, and He
created the sun and the moon and everything that you see in the world."
At that moment he walked to a spring and washed his face and hands and
feet, and he prayed there to the Blessed G-d with bent knee and
prostration.
A few days passed and Abraham's mother, Amathlai daughter of Karnavo,
remembered her son whom she had left behind in the cave, and she wept
greatly and left the city to search for her son in the cave in which she
had abandoned him. After all the searching she did not find him there,
and she wept even more over him, and she said: "Woe is me that I bore
you to be prey for the animals of the field, to bears and lions."
And she left the cave and walked along the river and found her son, and
she did not recognize him because he was very tall. She said to him: "I
left the city to search for my son whom I left behind here, and I have
not found him." He said to her: "How many days has it been since you
left your son here?" She said to him: "About three weeks." He said to
her: "And is there a mother in the world who would abandon her son for
twenty days in the wilderness, alone and without food, and then would
come to search for him? Surely he already has died or an animal has
eaten him." She said to him: "Perhaps G-d will pardon." He said to her:
"You should know that I am your son Abraham, whom you abandoned twenty
days ago." She said to him: "And how could it be that you have grown so
tall?" He said to her: "It is true. And know, my mother, that there is a
great and awesome G-d in the world, living and enduring, who sees and is
not seen, and He is in Heaven and the whole earth is filled with His
Glor y, and He is the one who sent His angel, who fed me and gave me
drink and guarded me. And because of this I have grown to such an
amazing height."
She said to him: "And is there another god besides Nimrod?" [So she
thought, and so had Nimrod confused her.] He said to her: "Nimrod is a
human being like you and me, and he is not G-d. But there is the G-d of
the Heavens and the earth, Who created everything and created me and you
and Nimrod and everything that you see in the world. Go, my mother, to
Nimrod and inform him about all this."
She went to the city and told her husband,Terach, how she had found her
son. Terach was a great minister in the house of Nimrod the king, and he
went to the king's palace and bowed before the king with his face to the
ground. The king said to him: "Lift up your head and ask your desire."
He said to him: "May the king live. I have come to notify you that what
you saw with knowledge of the stars, that a child would be born in your
kingdom who would undermine your beliefs, and for whom you killed 70,000
male babies; I am informing you that he is my son, and his mother
concealed from me that she bore him. And she took him to the wilderness
and left him there, and in twenty days he has grown to be like a grown
man, and he walks along the river and says that there is a G-d in Heaven
Who sees and is not seen, Alone with no other."
When Nimrod heard these words he became very terrified and asked his
advisors and ministers what to do with this child. His advisors and
ministers said to him: "Our king and god, how can you fear a small child
when, in your entire kingdom, there are thousands and thousands of
ministers and police without number. The least of the ministers will go
and bring him and put him in the prison."
He said to them: "Have you ever seen in your days a child of twenty days
who walks on his feet and speaks with his mouth and with his tongue
proclaims that there is a G-d in Heaven, Alone with no other, and that
He sees and is not seen?"
All the ministers who were there were very bewildered by these words. In
the meantime the Satan came in the form of a man dressed in silk, and he
went and bowed before Nimrod the king, and the king said to him: "Lift
up your head and say your desire." He said to him: "Our lord the king!
What are you worried about that all of you are bewildered by a small
child? I will advise you what to do. Open the armories and give weapons
into the hands of all the ministers and all the soldiers and let them go
and bring Abraham to you to serve you and be under your dominion."
And so the king did, and a very large throng with weapons went to bring
Abraham. When Abraham saw that such a large crowd was coming to him, he
was gripped with great trembling and fear, and he cried out to G-d in
Heaven to save him from them.
And G-d heard his cry and sent him the Angel Gabriel to save him from
their hand. The Angel said to him: "What is the matter, Abraham?" He
said to him: "I was afraid of those people that are coming to kill me."
He said to him: "Do not fear and do not be terrified, for G-d is with
you and He will save you from the hand of all your enemies."
And G-d commanded the Angel Gabriel to put a cloud and fog between him
and them. When they saw the cloud and fog, they were afraid and returned
to Nimrod their king and said to him: "Let us go and leave this
kingdom." When the king heard this, they arose and travelled to the land
of Bavel [Babylon].
After their journey from the East, G-d said to Gabriel: "Go tell Abraham
to go after the enemy Nimrod to Bavel." Abraham said to him: "I have no
horse or chariot or provisions for the way, and no soldiers to make war
with him." Gabriel said to him: "You do not need anything, for you will
ride on my shoulders, and I shall carry you to Bavel."
And Abraham arose and rode on the shoulders of Gabriel, and in the flash
of an eye arrived at the land of Bavel. The Angel said to him: "Enter
the land and call out in a great voice: 'Hashem is the G-d in Heaven
Above and on earth below. There is no other. He is One and there is no
other besides him. He has no bodily form and no body. And He is the G-d
of Heaven and earth, and the G-d of Nimrod, and I am Abraham His
servant, trusted in His house.' "
And he entered into the land and proclaimed verbally to all the people
of the land these words mentioned before, and he proclaimed: "All of you
should bear witness to these words." And he went into the marketplaces
and streets, found his father and mother, and, behold, the Angel Gabriel
stood in front of him and said to him: "Tell your father and mother that
they, too, should believe, and they should bear witness that you are
proclaiming that Hashem is the G-d; there is none other besides Him."
And when Abraham heard the words of the Angel, he said to his father and
mother: "You are worshhiping a man like yourselves, and you are
prostrating yourselves to him and to idols in the image of Nimrod. Do
you not know that they have a mouth and they do not speak, an eye and
they do not see, an ear and they do not hear, and they do not walk with
their legs, and they have no purpose or value, neither for themselves
nor for others?"
When Terach heard his words, he persuaded him to come to his house. And
Abraham told him that he had travelled a distance of forty days' journey
in one day. When Terach heard this, he went to Nimrod and said to him:
"Our lord the king, you should know that the youth, my son, from whom
you were fleeing, behold he has come. And I asked him how long he has
been travelling on this way, and he said to me: 'Today I started my
journey and today I arrived here.' "
When Nimrod heard this he became extremely terrified, and he said to his
wise men and advisors, "Give me advice! What shall we do with this
boy?"
And they answered him with one mouth: "May Nimrod the king live forever!
Command and proclaim throughout the land a drinking celebration for
seven days, and that the whole land should be full of joy and happiness,
and that everyone should wear finely embroidered clothing. And do so
similarly in the inner and outer palace courtyards. And sit on your
throne, and let every man come to prostrate himself before you and to
worship you." And the king commanded that this be done, and they did
so.
And while the king was sitting on the throne of his kingdom, he sent for
Abraham, and he came to him with his father Terach. And Abraham passed
by the low-level ministers and assistants until he reached the king's
throne. And he grabbed onto the throne and shook it with a powerful,
strong, and awesome voice, saying these words:
"Woe to you, Nimrod, the despicable and the heretic, who denies the
living and enduring G-d and Abraham His servant, trusted in His house.
Testify and say like me that Hashem is the G-d, Alone with no other, and
He has no body, and He lives, and He does not slumber or sleep, and He
created the whole world in its entirety."
At that moment all the idols fell to the ground and broke. When the king
and the ministers saw them fall, and also the shouting of Abraham, they
all fell on their faces to the ground, with Nimrod their king, and their
hearts melted within them, and it was some two hours until their spirits
returned.
And the king said: "Is your voice that of Abraham, or the voice of G-d?"
And he answered him: "This voice is the voice of the smallest creature
of all the creation that HaKodesh Boruch Hu has created." At that moment
Nimrod said: "Truly your G-d, Abraham, is a great and powerful G-d, the
King of all the kings." And he told Terach his father to go with his son
and to depart from him. And Terach and Abraham went to their city.
And it was afterwards that Abraham grew until he was about twenty years
old. And his father Terach became ill, and he told his sons, Haran and
Abraham: "By your lives, my sons, each one of you should sell for me two
idols, for I have no money to pay for medical treatment."
Haran went and sold the idols and brought the money to his father. And
Abraham went and took two idols, and tied a rope on their necks, and
dragged them in the street with their faces to the ground. And he went
and announced: "Who wants to buy an idol that has no value, neither to
itself nor to the one who purchases it to worship it? It has a mouth and
does not speak. It has eyes and does not see. It has ears and does not
hear." When people heard the words of Abraham they were very
surprised.
An old lady approached him and said to him: "Please chooose for me a
very good and big idol to serve and to love." Abraham said: "Old lady,
old lady. Did you not buy from my brother Haran yesterday an idol, and
where is it?" She said to him: "Robbers came at night and stole
everything in my possession, and also this idol they stole." He said to
her: "If so, how can you serve an idol that cannot save itself from
falling into the hands of robbers, and how can it save you, and how
canyou say that the idol is G-d?" She said to him: "If so whom shall I
worship?" He said to her: "Serve the G-d of all gods and the Lord of all
lords, the Creator of Heaven and earth, the sea and evrything init. He
sees and is not seen. He has no body, and He cannot be sensed by any of
the physical senses of the body. And who is Nimrod thedog to make
himself G-d to serve him?" Said the old lady: "From now on I shall not
serve anything except your G-d, the G-d of Abraham. And if I shall serve
Him how will I be nefit?" Said to her Abraham: "Everything that they
stole from you will return to you. And also you will save your soul from
Gehinnom [Hell]." Said the old lady: "What should I say to save my soul
from Hell?" He said to her: "Say, 'Hashem is the G-d in Heaven Above and
on earth below. Alone with no other. He kills and brings to life. He
lives and never will see death, and also I, Abraham, am His servant and
trusted in His house.' "
His words went into the ear of this old lady, and she returned in
repentance, and she regretted that she had served the idol. And after a
few days she found the robbers and they returned to her what they stole,
including the idol. What did she do? She took a rock and smashed its
head and said: "Woe to you and to the one who will still serve you, for
you have no value and not for the one who will serve you."
And she left her house and was proclaiming in the marketplaces and
streets: "Whoever wants to save his soul from Hell and to succeed in all
his actions should serve the G-d of Abraham." And she would proclaim and
speak in this manner until she had caused many people to return to
G-d.
The king heard this, sent for her, and brought her before him. He said
to her: "Why did you abandon me? Why do you not serve me? For I am your
god, and I formed you and even maintained you." She answered and said:
"You are from the liars, and you deny the One G-d Who created you. And
you eat from His goodness, and you serve another god and deny Him and
Abraham His servant."
When the king heard her words he commanded that they killed her.
And the king was very terrified of Abraham, who was destroying his
beliefs, for the majority of the people already believed then in the G-d
of Abraham. And when the ministers saw his agony they advised him thus:
"Proclaim that all the people of the land should make a drinking
celebration for seven days and wear silk and embroidered garments, and
should reveal their wealth to show to everyone. And also you should open
up your treasure-houses to the outside and show everyone the power of
your wealth. And when Abraham sees your great wealth and the power of
most people of the land and their great wealth, he will come to accept
your beliefs."
And when Nimrod heard their advice he was very happy, and he commanded
that they proclaim to all the people of the land to go to the assembly
place [Va'ad] where they usually gathered there every year for their
garden holiday, and that they should bring there the idols and make
there days of drinking and celebration and festival more than they were
accustomed previously.
And during the days of celebration the king told Terach to bring his son
to see his majesty and the wealth of his glorious kingdom and his
numerous ministers and servants. And Terach said to Abraham "Come with
me to Nimrod the king's festival." Said Abraham, "I cannot go out from
here." Terach said to him: "If so, stay with the king's idols until we
return from there," and so he did.
And Terach went, and Abraham sat with the figures, and also statues of
the king were there. And Abraham saw that the king had gone to the
assembly place, and he took in his hand an axe and broke all the figures
of the king, starting with the biggest and finishing with the smallest.
To one he cut off his leg, to another he cut off his head, and to
another he broke his hands, and he put the axe in the hand of the
biggest idol, and Abraham left.
When the days of celebration ended and the king came to his house and
saw his idols broken, he said: "Who was here and whose heart was filled
to do such a thing?" All the people answered him in tears, "Abraham was
here and probably he broke the statues." And the king commanded to bring
Abraham, and the king said to him: "Why did you break our gods?" And
Abraham said: "I did not break them, but rather the biggest one with the
axe in his hand. And you should ask him to tell you."
When the king heard his answer he was furious and he ordered them to put
him into the prison where the criminals were imprisoned. And he ordered
not to give him anything to eat or drink so that he would die there. Our
Father Abraham lifted up his eyes to Heaven and said: "Hashem my G-d,
You know the hidden things, and You know that I have not arrived here
except for Your Glory."
Hashem heard his prayer and sent him the Angel Gabriel, and at that
moment a spring of living water was created there, and the Angel brought
him all sorts of food, and he stayed with him for a full year.
And it was that at the end of the year the king's ministers and advisors
came to eat and drink with the king. And the conversation turned to
Abraham, who had turned the people away from worshiping the king. The
king answered: "If he is still alive, my advice is to bring him and
throw him into a fiery furnace." The ministers answered: "So be it."
And the ministers said to the king: "Build a large compound and announce
that everyone should bring a lot of wood, and afterwards they would
ignite the wood with fire until the flame would reach to Heaven, and
they would throw Abraham into it and he would be burned up, and all the
people will return to your faith."
And the king commanded that this should be done, and for forty days they
collected a lot of wood and they ignited a huge fire unto the Heavens.
And the king sent to call to the warden of the prison in order to bring
Abraham before him.
And the warden came to prostrate himself to him, and he said to him:
"How can you ask me to bring to you a man who, for an entire year, no
one has brought him any food, and probably he already has died?" Said
the king to him: "Go and see, and if he already has died then bury him
and let his name not be mentioned again. And if he is alive bring him
and we shall throw him into the fire."
The warden went to the opening of the pit and called in a great voice:
"Abraham are you alive?" And he answered him: "I am alive." He said to
him: "Who gave you food and drink up to now?" Answered Abraham: "G-d
sent His Angel and He fed me and gave me drink. He sustains and supports
everyone, and He created the whole world and He is the G-d of the whole
world." When the warden heard his words, he also came to believe in the
G-d of Abraham, and he proclaimed: "Everyone should accept that the G-d
of Abraham is the G-d, and Nimrod is a heretic."
And they came and told the king, and when he heard this thing he was
stunned, and he sent to bring the warden to the king and he said to him:
"How could you deny me and say that the G-d of Abraham is true?" He said
to him: "True and proper is the thing, and you, Nimrod, deny the G-d of
Truth." And the king was filled with rage and he commanded to cut off
his head with a sword. And when they raised the sword over his head he
shouted and said: "Hashem is the G-d. He is the G-d of the whole world,
and He created everything, and even Nimrod the heretic." And a miracle
occurred and the sword did not cut his neck, and the sword broke, and
the king was stunned.
And he ordered the ministers who were with him to bring Abraham, and one
of the ministers went and brought him, and the king commanded to throw
him into the fiery furnace. And he arose to throw him in and fire left
the furnace and burned up the minister. And another minister got up from
before Nimrod to throw him, and he too was burned up, and similiarly
everyone who tried to take him to throw him into the furnace was burned
up, until many had died.
And the Satan came in the form of a man, and bowed before the king, and
the king said to him: "What is your advice?" He said to him: "I can do a
trick to throw Abraham into the furnace. Prepare for me wood and nails
and ropes, and I shall make from this a catapult, which is a cart with
springs which, when they move, can throw into the furnace from far away,
and no one will be burned up except for him."
And the king ordered to give him wood and nails and ropes, and he made
the catapult. And they tested it and threw stones into the furnace. And
they took Abraham and tied him up and put him into the catapult to throw
him.
And when Abraham saw that they had tied him, he raised his eyes to
Heaven and said: "Hashem my G-d, the whole earth is filled with Your
Glory. Do you not see what Nimrod the king has done to me?" And also the
angels above cried out bitterly.
Said to them The Holy One Blessed Be He: "How can I not know, when I see
all the hidden things? But I shall show you my vengeance against Nimrod
the heretic, and I shall save my servant Abraham."
And the Satan came to Abraham, in the form of a man, and said to him:
"If you want to be saved from the fire of Nimrod, bow down to him." And
when Abraham heard his words he rebuked him, and the Satan left him.
And Abraham's mother came to him to kiss him, and she said to him: "My
son, bow down to Nimrod and enter his faith, and be saved from the
furnace of fire." And Abraham said to her: "My mother, go away from me,"
and he pushed her away from him and said to her: "My mother, water will
extinguish Nimrod's fire, but the fire of the G-d of the Universe is
never extinguished." When she heard his words she said to him: "The G-d
that you worship, He will save you from Nimrod's fire."
And it was afterwards that the ministering angels sought mercy from
before The Holy One Blessed Be He, to go down to save Abraham from
Nimrod's fire, and Gabriel came to him and said to him: "Do you want me
to save you from the fire?" Abraham said to him: "The G-d that I trust
in, He will save me." And when The Holy One Blessed Be He saw his good
intent, He turned to him with mercy.
And when they threw Abraham with the catapult into the furnace of fire,
Hashem said to the fire: "Be cool and calm on my servant Abraham." And a
miracle occurred and the fire was extinguished without water, and
immediately the wood blossomed and produced fruit, and the furnace
became like one of the king's gardens, and the angels were sitting with
Abraham inside.
And the king turned and saw the garden and the angels sitting with
Abraham inside the garden. And the king said to Abraham: "Are you a
sorcerer, that the fire does not have power over you?" And all the
ministers of Nimrod answered: "No, our lord. This is not sorcery. But
rather the power of a great G-d, the G-d of Abraham. And there is no
other G-d besides Him. And we are bearing witness to this, and also that
Abraham is His servant in truth."
And at that moment all the ministers of Nimrod and all his people
believed in Hashem, the G-d of Abraham. And they said: "Hashem is the
G-d of the Heavens above and the earth below. There is no other."
All the sages and astrologers came together with Nimrod and said to him:
"At this moment a son was born to Terach. In the future will descend
from him a People who will inherit this world and the world to come. If
it is your desire, give his father a house full of silver and gold and
kill him [the child]."
Immediately Nimrod sent for Terach to come to him and said to him: "A
son was born to you yesterday. Give him to me and I shall kill him. And
I shall fill your house with silver and gold."
Terach said to him: "I shall tell you a parable. To what is this
compared? To a horse to whom they said: 'Let us cut off your head and we
shall give you a house full of barley.' The horse said to them: 'Stupid
ones of the world! If you cut off my head, who will eat the barley?' And
if you will kill my son, who will inherit the silver and gold?"
The king said to him: "From your words I see that a son was born to
you." Replied Terach: "A son was born to me and died." He said back to
him: "I am speaking about a living son, not a dead one."
What did Terach do? He hid his son in a cave for three years. And in his
place he brought to the king the son of a maid-servant who was born the
same night. And the king gave an order, and they killed him. And the
king was consoled.
What did The Holy One Blessed Be He do? He brought to him two tubes.
From one came out oil and from the second fine flour. And he ate from
this all three years.
When he was three years old, he left the cave and saw the world and
everything in it, mountains and hills and seas and rivers. Abraham
thought in his heart: "Who created the Heavens and earth and me?" He saw
the sun shining on the world, he thought and said: "This is what created
the Heavens and the earth."
He prayed the whole day to the sun, and in the evening the sun set in
the west and he said: "This is not the Creator," and he saw that the
moon had risen in the east and that stars surrounded her. He said: "This
is what created the Heavens and the earth and me, and those stars are
its servants", and he stood all night in prayer to the moon.
At dawn he saw that also the moon had vanished, and he understood and
said: "Those do not have power, and surely there is a Master over them.
And to Him I shall pray and bow."
He came to his father and said: "My father, who created the Heavens and
the earth and me?" His father said to him:"My god created the Heavens
and earth and everything else." Abraham said to him: "Show me your god
and I will test if he has power to create all these." Immediately he
brought his idols and said to him: "This is my god."
Abraham went to his mother and said to her: "Make me delicious foods and
I shall bring them to father's gods. Perhaps they will accept from me my
offering." Immediately his mother made for him good foods and he brought
them to the idols of his father's gods. And he placed them before the
biggest of them, and there was no sound and no response.
He returned to his mother and said to her: "Make me better dishes." She
made more delicious dishes,and he brought them before the idols, and
there was no sound and no response.
Immediately the holy spirit came upon him, and he cried out about them:
"A mouth they have and they do not speak. Eyes and they do not see."
[Psalms 115] Immediately he took fire and burned them, and he took the
biggest one outside and put the fire in his hand.
When his father came home and found his idols burned up, he said to
Abraham: "Why did you burn up my gods?" He said to him: "I did not burn
them. Rather the biggest one became enraged at them and burned them." He
said to him: "Foolish son. And do they have strength, or do they have
the spirit of life that they can do all this? And did I not make them
out of wood?" He said to him: "Let your ears hear what your mouth is
saying. And if they do not have strength, why did you tell me that 'my
gods created the Heavens and the earth?' "
They said about Abraham that once his father gave him a basket full of
boxes of idols to sell in the market. A man came and said to him:
"Abraham, do you have an idol to sell?" Abraham said to him: "Which god
do you want to take?" The man said: "I am strong. Give me a strong idol
like me." Abraham took the biggest idol that was sitting on top and gave
it to him and said to him: "Take this one." The man said to him: "And is
this god strong like me?" And Abraham said to him: "Stupidest one in the
world! If this god were not stronger than them all, he would not be
sitting above them all. But I do not want to speak with you at all until
you pay me its price."
Immediately he gave Abraham the money and took the idol. When he wanted
to go, Abraham said to him: "How old are you?" He answered: "I am
seventy years old." Abraham said to him: "This god that you bought, do
you bow to it or does it bow to you?" He answered: "Certainly I bow to
it." Abraham said to him: "But you are older than your god, for you are
seventy years old, while he was made today with a hammer and anvil."
Immediately he gave back the idol and threw it into Abraham's box, and
he took the money and went on his way.
Afterwards came a woman, a widow, and she said to him: "I am a poor
widow, give me a poor idol like me." Abraham took the idol that was
sitting on the bottom and gave it to her and said: "Take this one." She
said to him: "This idol is difficult, and I cannot stand before him." He
said to her: "Stupid one! If he were not lowlier than them all why does
he sit on the bottom? And he does not want to leave his place until you
pay me the money." She gave him the money and took the idol. When she
wanted to leave, Abraham said to her: "How old are you?" She said: "Many
years." Abraham said to her: "The spirit of this old lady is foolish.
How can you, who were created many years ago, bow to this idol that
father made yesterday with a hammer and anvil?" Immediately she returned
that idol and she took back the money and went on her way.
Obviously Abraham returned with all the merchandise. The sons said to
their father: "Abraham cannot sell idols. Let us make him a priest." He
said to them: "What is the work of a priest?" They said to him: "They
clean the house for the idols and wash them with water and put food and
drink before them." Immediately Abraham gave them food and drink and
said to them: "Take and eat and drink so that you will know that you do
good to people because I have given you food and drink." And obviously
not one of them put out his hand to take.
Immediately Abraham opened up and said: "A mouth they have and they do
not speak. Eyes they have and they do not see. Ears they have and they
do not hear. Hands and they do not feel. Feet and they do not walk."
[Psalms 115]
What did Abraham do? He took a staff and broke all of them and burned
them all in a big fire. In the middle of this Nimrod came and caught
Abraham. He said to him: "Are you Abraham son of Terach?" He said:
"Yes." Nimrod said to him: "And do you know that I am the lord of all
things, and the sun and the moon and the stars and the constellations
and people all go out before me? And you, why did you destroy my
idols?"
At that moment The Holy One Blessd Be He gave understanding to Abraham
and he said to Nimrod: "My lord the king. The way of the world is such
that from the day the world was created until now the sun rises in the
east and sets in the west. Tomorrow command the sun to rise in the west
and to set in the east, and then I shall testify about you that you are
the lord of all things. And if not, then the One who raised my hand to
burn all the idols, He will raise my hand and I shall kill you."
And he also said to him: "If you are the lord of all things, surely you
know what is in my heart. Therefore tell me my thoughts and what I shall
do in the future."
And further he said to him: "If you are the lord of all things, why did
you not save your father from death? But rather just as you did not save
your father so too you will not be saved from death."
Nimrod began to argue with Abraham. And in the midst of the argument he
said: "My god is fire. Will you bow to him, for his power is great to
burn everything?" Abraham said to him: "If so perhaps we should bow to
water that extinguishes fire." Said to him Nimrod: "As you have spoken.
Water is stronger. Let us bow to water." Said to him Abraham: "If so
perhaps we should bow to the clouds that carry the water." Said Nimrod:
"As you have spoken. Let us bow to the clouds." Said Abraham: "And
perhaps we should bow to the wind, that scatters the clouds." Said to
him Nimrod: "I agree. Let us bow to the wind that scatters the clouds."
Said to him Abraham: "And perhaps we should bow to a person, who is full
of openings and contains the wind within him and it does not leave."
Said to him Nimrod: "Apparently you do not want to bow to anything
physical. You just want to beat me. Behold, I bow to fire. And behold I
am going to throw you into it, and let the G-d that you bow to save you
from it."
Immediately Nimrod called to Terach his father and said to him: "What
should be the sentence of your son Abraham who burned my idols? His
sentence is nothing other than fire. As he judged the idols so shall be
done to him."
Immediately Nimrod took Abraham and put him into prison and took him out
to cast him into the furnace of fire.
Immediately they forced and tied Abraham up and put him on a rock, and
they surrounded him with wood from all sides, five amos [about three
meters] wide on each side, and five amos tall,and they set fire to the
wood.
Haran, Abraham's brother, stood there and was unsure who was right. He
said to himself, "if Abraham is saved then I will accept his beliefs,
and if not then I will accept the beliefs of Nimrod."
And the neighbors and people of Terach's city came and hit him on the
head and said to him: "You should be ashamed with a great and terrible
shame. The same son that you said about him that he would inherit this
word and the next, Nimrod is incinerating him."
Immediately the mercy of The Holy One Blessed Be He was aroused and He
himself descended and saved him, as is written: "I am Hashem who took
you out of Ur Kasdim." [Genesis 15: 7]
When Abraham was saved they said to Haran: "With whom are you?" He said:
"With Abraham." They took him and cast him into the fire and his innards
were scorched. When he saw this then he said: "I belong to Nimrod.
Quickly save me!" And they took him out, but after a short time he died
in front of his father. [Genesis 11: 28]
[For there were those who said that perhaps fire has no power over
Abraham's family, therefore let us try Haran. And also in The Holy Zohar
it is written: "Some say that the nations said that Abraham was saved in
the merit of Haran, and a fire fell from Heaven and burned Haran." And
in Targum Yonasan it says: "That they said that Haran was full of
sorcery and he whispered that the fire should not burn up his brother.
Immediately a fire fell from Heaven and burned him up."]
When Terach saw that his son Abraham was saved from the furnace of fire,
he repented to do the will of Abraham, to serve One G-d. Terach said in
his heart: "Perhaps they will rise up and kill my son." Immediatley he
got up and left from there with Abraham his son, as it is written: "And
Terach took Abraham his son, and Lot son of Haran, son of his son, and
Sarah his daughter-in-law, wife of Abraham, and they left with them from
Ur Kasdim to go to the Land of Cana'an, and they came until Charan and
dwelt there." [Genesis 11: 31]
On that day all the peoples of the world knew that no one saved Abraham
except for The Holy One Blessed Be He himself. And that He is Alone in
his Universe. And they would bring their children to Abraham's tent and
say to him: "We saw you that you trust in The Holy One Blessed Be He,
Who is the Master of the Universe. Therfore we are asking you to teach
our children about your way that you know." And about this the verse
said: "The princes of the nations gathered together; the People of the
G-d of Abraham."
When Abraham was dwelling in Charan with tranquillity and security, with
his father's family and his relatives, G-d's command came to him: "Go
forth on your way from your land [that is the region] and from your
place of birth [that is the neighborhood] and from your father's house,
for the Land that I shall show you." [Genesis 12:1]
And if you will ask: "If he leaves his land then he already has left his
city and his neighborhood, and therefore why did He say to him
afterwards: "And from your place of birth?" And the answer is that the
pain of leaving his country is small in comparison to the pain of
leaving his neighborhood, and also the pain of leaving his father's
house is greater, therefore He mentioned to him everything, in order to
increase the test and to receive greater reward.
And further, because travelling is harder on a person than
everything.
And why did He not reveal to him to which place he should go? In order
to make the command precious in his eyes and to give him reward for each
and every step and for each and every word [of the command].
And another reason: to see if he would hurry to do the word of the king
when he did not yet know the destination, and he had an excuse: "Why
should I hurry? When I know where I should go then I shall leave." And
he did not do this; he just went immediately.
And another reason: so that the Satan should not know and accuse him and
obstruct him on the way, as he did at the Akeida [binding of Isaac].
And because travel causes three things: it reduces reproduction and
money and one's respect, therefore He blessed him with these three
things: "I shall make you into a great Nation, and I shall bless you
[with money], and I shall increase your name [that your reputation will
be throughout the world, and also a coin will be minted in your name]."
[Genesis 12:2]
And so you should not fear lest people degrade your honor, He said: "And
I shall bless whoever blesses you, and whoever curses you I shall
curse." [Genesis 12:3]
And further, that everyone will be blessed in your name. A man will say
to his son: "May you be like Abraham."
And you will find that when a man is in his land with his family and his
father's house, he has three things: One, he has friends and
acquaintances and neighbors. Two, that the people of his family will
glorify him and will crown him with honor and respect. Three, that he is
sustained by his father and by his family, who support him.
And with respect to these three things He said: "I shall make you a
great Nation," that you will have friends and acquaintances from your
descendants. "And I shall bless you, and I shall increase your name,"
that your name will be splendid without your father's family. "And you
will be a blessing," that abundance will come for your sake, and you
will support others, and you will not need the presents of flesh and
blood.
And with respect to the great test that He did not tell him the Land to
which he should arrive, and that he left his land with knowing where to
go, and he did not question or doubt, to this He promised him that he
would not need to fear anything. "And I shall bless whoever blesses
you," and in the place that he settles G-d will command blessing for
him. And every place that his foot will tread, success and status will
be with him.
Said Abraham: "If I leave this will descrate G-d's Name," for people
will say that he abandoned his father in his old age and left. Said G-d
to him: "I excuse you from the obligation of 'respecting father and
mother.' "
And Abraham went as G-d had spoken to him, and did not delay even for a
moment. And as soon as G-d had finished His words, immediately he went
and left his father's house and his place of birth.
And further, even though G-d promised him great promises if he would
leave, he went only to fulfill the word of G-d.
And he did not wait even until he could find a caravan, or someone to
show him the way, or until he could sell his belongings and buy what he
would need. Especially since people were going with him, he would need
to prepare for each and every one his needs and to prepare for them
provisions for the journey. About this it says: "And he went as G-d had
spoken to him" [Genesis 12: 4]; immediately following the word he went.
To show you his alacrity and trust in G-d.
Even though G-d had promised him great promises, yet after he had
travelled and left behind his whole family and the land of his birth and
his father's house, in the end when he came to the Land famine struck,
and he was forced to descend to Egypt. And he did not question the ways
of G-d, to say: "You said, 'And I shall bless you,' and where is the
blessing? And have I not seen only curse and famine since I came to the
Land, what was not even before?" But rather he trusted in G-d.
And from the day that the Heavens and the earth were created until then
there never was a famine. And even then it was only in the Land of
Cana'an.
And the people said to Abraham: "How can you say that G-d created the
Heavens and that we must serve Him? Is it not so that from the moment
you came here, famine came?" And they said: "From the time this refuter
of idolatry came, the famine struck." So great was the test that G-d
tested him, to see if he would doubt Him. And he did not doubt him.
The night that Abraham arrived in Egypt was the first night of Passover.
When he got to the gates of Egypt and his legs stood on the banks of the
Nile, Abraham saw the image of Sarah floating on the water like a
shining sun. He said to her: "Behold, now I know that you are a
beautiful woman. And if the Egyptians see you and say that 'she is his
wife,' they will kill me, and you they will let live. I shall put you in
a box and lock you inside, for I am afraid for myself. And if they will
open the box, say about me: 'he is my brother.' So that it will be well
for me for your sake and my soul will live because of you." [Genesis
12:10-13]
And why did he say: "Say about me, 'he is my brother,' " and he did not
worry that Pharoah would defile her? For Abraham had seen an angel
walking ahead of her, and not in front of him. Therefore he feared for
his life, that he did not have Divine protection as she did. Therefore
he depended on her merit, and trusted also that the angel would save her
from being defiled. And this is what he said: "In order that it be well
for me [in this world, that they give me their money], and that my soul
should live for your sake [in the next world, that she would not be
defiled]."
After they did this, he came to pass over the border to enter the city.
The customs collectors came and said to him: "What do you have inside
the box?" He said: "Barley." They said: "It must be wheat." He said to
them: "I shall pay you duty for wheat." They said to him: "They must be
peppers." He said to them: "I shall pay you duty for peppers." They said
to him: "They must be gold." He said to them: "I shall pay you duty for
gold." They said to him: "They must be jewels." He said to them: "I
shall pay you duty for jewels." They said to him: "You must open it up
so we can see what is inside." Since they forced him, they opened the
box and saw her like a shining sun. They said: "It is not proper for a
commoner to be involved with her." And they acclaimed her to Pharoah,
and she was taken to the Pharoah's palace, and he wrote to her in the
Ketuba [marriage document] all of his silver and gold, and he also wrote
to her the Land of Goshen [the choicest part of Egypt], and he gave many
gifts to Abraham.
Abraham started to cry before G-d and said: "This is a result of my
trust that I trusted in You. And now act for the sake of Your mercy and
lovingkindness and do not put me to shame from my hope."
And also Sarah was crying and saying: "I did not know anything. And
since you told my husband to leave his land, I believed in Your word.
And now I am left alone from my father and mother and husband, and this
wicked man will come to abuse me. Act for the sake of Your great Name
and for the sake of my trust in Your words."
The Holy One Blessed Be He said to her: "By your life, nothing evil will
touch you or your husband. And as for Pharoah and his household, I shall
make an example out of them that everyone in the world will see and will
be afraid to touch you."
"And G-d afflicted Pharoah and his household with terrible plagues, on
the word of Sarah, wife of Abraham."
And the angel hit him, and he would consult with Sarah about each and
every blow, and she would say to him: "Hit!" and he would hit him. And
if she would tell him to wait a little, he would wait.
And even the ministers and all the members of his household were
stricken. And even the servants and even the walls, and even the
utensils and all the objects that were there.
And all the plagues that ever have come and that in the future will come
upon humanity, came upon him.
And everyone said to him: "Everything has come upon us because you took
Sarah, wife of Abraham. Return the woman to her husband!"
"And Pharoah called to Abraham and said: 'What is this that you have
done to me? Why did you not tell me that she is your wife?' "
And Pharoah commanded and they sent him, and everything he had, away.
And to Sarah he gave Hagar, his daughter from his concubine, to be a
maidservant in Abraham's house. He said: "Better that my daughter be a
maidservant in this house, and that she not be a mistress in another
house."
"And it was in the days of Amrafel king of Shin'ar [he is Nimrod, and
was called "Amrafel" because "he said to throw down" {double meaning
from the Hebrew: "amar vehifil"} Abraham into the furnace of fire],
Aryoch king of Elasar, Kedarla'omer king of Eylam, Tid'al king of
Goyim." They made a war with the kings of Sodom and Gemorah, where Lot
was dwelling amongst them.
And the whole intent of Nimrod was to kill Abraham. Therefore he said:
"We shall start with Lot, his nephew, and afterwards we shall start up
with him. [When Abraham will come to fight with us in order to rescue
Lot, we shall smite him.]"
And they were successful in the war, and they smote them and captured
them in the war. And for Lot, they captured all the property of Sodom
and Gemorah, and afterwards they captured Lot and his property.
And their intent further was that Lot looked exactly like Abraham, and
they would go and boast that they had captured Abraham.
The angel Michael came and told Abraham, and he is called "the refugee"
[hapalit in Hebrew; Genesis 14:13], for when The Holy One Blessed Be He
threw down the Satan and his group from the place of holiness, the Satan
held onto Michael to pull him down, and The Holy One Blessed Be He saved
him from his hand.
And some say that "the refugee" is Og, who fled and was saved from the
Flood, and lay on the Ark, and Noah would feed him through the window,
and thus he was called "the refugee." And his intent was that Abraham be
killed and he would marry Sarah. Said to him The Holy One Blessed Be He:
"For what you said to Abraham [that Lot had been captured] your reward
is that you will live a long time. And for your thought that Abraham
would be killed, by your life you will see thousands and tens of
thousands and hundreds of thousands of his descendants, and your end
will be to fall only through their hands."
And Abraham heard that his brother had been captured and said: "I shall
go out and fight with them. If I shall defeat them good, and if not then
I shall sanctify G-d's Name when I fall."
And he took with him his three disciples: Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, and
Eliezer his servant. And when he left the doorway of his house he saw
the Divine Presence, and with her was a great warrior. Immediately he
realized that G-d would help him, and he chased after them until Dan,
that is Banias [a lush area of springs and waterfalls in northern
Israel; one of the three sources of the Jordan River].
And they were throwing at him swords that turned into dust, arrows that
turned into straw. And he threw at them stones that turned into
boulders, dust that turned into swords, straw that turned into
arrows.
And in Dan he hesitated, for there he was told that in the future his
descendants would serve idolatry there, and his strength weakened.
And there he left his students and took Eliezer alone with him, and he
chased after them until the outskirts of Damascus, until midnight. That
night was a night of guarding, the first night of Passover.
And he returned all the property, and Lot and his property, and all the
women and the people. And he returned the women and the people to the
king of Sodom. But the children he held onto and converted them.
And Abraham was afraid and said: "Is it possible that I killed all those
people and there was no righteous man amongst them?"
The Holy One Blessed Be He said to him: "Do not be afraid Abraham. Those
people were cut down thistles."
And still he was afraid: "Perhaps all the world will gather together
against me because I killed the kings."
G-d said to him: "Do not fear. I shall shield you. Just as this shield
stands up against all the swords in the world, so even if all the
peoples in the world will gather against you to fight against you, I
shall oppose them."
And still Abraham was afraid: "Perhaps I have received my reward in this
world, and I have nothing in the World to Come?"
Answered him G-d: "Your reward is very great."
When Abraham was seventy years old he saw the following visions, and he
was then in Eretz Yisroel [the Land of Israel]. (And to this day this
location is known in the Galilee.)
G-d said to him: "I am G-d who took you out of Ur Kasdim to give you
this Land to inherit."
And Abraham said: "How will I know that I shall inherit it? Inform me in
what merit they [my children] will be able to stay there."
And G-d said to him: "Take for me three calves, and three goats, and
three rams, and a turtle-dove, and a chick." (He implied to him that in
the merit of the sacrifices they would inherit the Land.)
And he took all these, and he cut them in two. And he placed each
animal, part on the right side and part on the left side, and the bird
he did not divide.
And the vulture descended on the pieces, and Abraham chased it away.
And the sun started to set, and a deep sleep fell on Abraham. And behold
a terrible dark terror fell upon him. And here He hinted to him that his
children would be in great difficulties and in the darkness of exile.
Terror is Babylon. Darkness is Persia. Terrible is Greece. Fell is Edom
[Rome]. And some say otherwise: Fell is Babylon. Terrible is Persia.
Darkness is Greece. Terror is Edom.
G-d then showed him Hell and Exile, and the Giving of the Torah and the
Holy Temple.
He said to him: "So long as your children are involved with the last
two, they will be saved from the first two. And if they separate from
the last two, they will be judged with the first two. And in the future
the Holy Temple will be destroyed and the sacrifices will be annulled.
If so how do you want your children to be punished when they sin, with
Hell or with Exile?"
Abraham sat the whole day and did not know what to choose. G-d said to
him: "Remove the worry from your heart and choose exile." And he chose
exile.
And some say that He also showed him the Dividing of the Sea of
Reeds.
"And He said to Abraham: You surely will know that your seed will
strangers in a land not theirs, and they will enslave and torture them
for four-hundred years."
"You know that I will scatter them in exile; you surely will know that I
will gather them in and redeem them."
"And also the nation that they will serve I shall judge, and afterwards
they will leave with great wealth." [All the above refers to Egypt.]
And He hinted to him the rest of the exiles, and that they also would be
destroyed for the fact that they enslaved Israel.
"And you will come to your fathers in peace; you will be buried in good
old age, and you will not see all this."
"And the fourth generation will return here, for the sin of the Emorites
will not be complete until then."
"And the sun set, and there was fog, and behold a smoking oven and a
fiery torch passed between these pieces." (He hinted to him that the
gentile nations that enslaved Israel would descend into Hell.)
On that day G-d cut a Covenant with Abraham saying: "To your seed I
shall give this Land, from the Egyptian River until the Euphrates."
And Abraham was ninety-nine years old and G-d appeared to Abraham and
said to him: "Go before me and be faultless. Until now, while you have
foreskin, you are blemished before me. Remove the foreskin and become
faultless. For the foreskin is a disgrace, and it is defiled more than
all defilements."
"Until now your name was Avram, which in numerology equals 243, meaning
that you have control over only 243 organs and you are king over them.
And through the circumcision [Milah in Hebrew] all the organs will be
under your control and you will rule over them." And He added to him his
two ears and two eyes and the tip of his sexual organ, that he should
control also these organs, meaning to hear only what the Creator wills
and to see only what the Creator wills. Together these make 248 organs,
which equals the numerological value of the name "Abraham."
Said Abraham: "If the Milah is so dear, why was it not given to the
first man and his sons, and to all the peoples?"
Said to him the Holy One Blessed Be He: "Abraham, it is enough for you
that I and you are in the world, and I do not desire that the nations be
circumcised. And if you do not accept upon yourself Milah, then enough
for My world. 'And if not for My Covenant [of circumcision] day and
night, I would not have created Heaven and earth.' And enough for
foreskin that it controlled the world without limits, and enough for
[the commandment of] circumcision, that she is sad, and the time will
come when people will fulfill this commandment in the world."
Said Abraham: "Until I was circumcised, people would come from all ends
of the earth and desired my friendship, and in this way I would inform
the world of Your Nature. And now if I shall circumcise myself, people
will stop coming to me when they hear that I took a step like this."
Said to him G-d: "Even if all the people in the world will avoid you, My
friendship is enough for you, and it is enough for you that I am your
G-d."
Said to him Abraham: "Perhaps when they hear that I am weakened, they
will come to fight against me."
Said to him The Holy One Blessed Be He: "It is enough for you that I am
your supporter and that I shield you and save you all the time."
"And I shall put my Covenant between Me and you, and I shall make you
very numerous."
"And Abraham fell on his face, and G-d spoke with him to say." And why
did he fall? Until he circumcised himself, whenever the Divine Presence
spoke to him he would fall. After he was circumcised, He would speak
with him and he would stand, as it states: "And Abraham still was
standing before G-d."
And G-d said to him: "And I have made My Covenant with you and you will
become the father of a huge nation."
"This is the Covenant that you should guard between Me and you, and with
your seed after you: circumcise every male and let it be for a sign of
the Covenant between Me and you."
"And an eight day old child you should circumcise, every male born at
home and bought with money [a servant], from every foreign son who is
not of your seed."
Abraham sent and called for Shem, son of Noah, to circumcise him, and he
circumcised him and his son, Yishmael. Abraham was circumcised on Yom
Kippur [the Day of Atonement], and each and every year [on Yom Kippur]
The Holy One Blessed Be He sees the blood of the circumcision of our
Father Abraham and atones for all our sins.
And in the place that Abraham was circumcised and the blood was left
(that was absorbed into the ground), there was built the Altar [in the
future Holy Temple], and a hint to this is: "And all its blood he should
spill on the base of the Altar" [refering to the sacrificial service of
the Priest in the Holy Temple].
And when Abraham circumcised all the children of his household (Yishmael
and the servants and the converts; this was one year before the birth of
Isaac, his son from Sarah], he piled up a mound of foreskins, and the
sun shone upon them and they steamed, and their scent arose before The
Holy One Blessed Be He like the scent of the Holy Incense and like a
burnt offering that was totally consumed with fire. Said The Holy One
Blessed Be He: "When Abraham's children come to sin and to do evil
things, I shall remember this scent, and I shall be filled with mercy
for them, and I shall have mercy upon them."
"And in the middle of the day Abraham was circumcised," so that the
people of his generation should not say that they would not have let
him. Therefore he was circumcised in the middle of the day, so to say:
"Whoever wants to protest should come and protest."
And to Abraham's objection that after he would be circumcised no one
would come to him, G-d said to him: "Before you circumcised yourself
uncircumcised people came to you. Now I am coming to you in My Glory,
and I am revealed to you." Immediately: "And G-d appeared to him."
[Genesis 18:1] And that day was the third day after the Milah, and The
Holy One Blessed Be He came and asked about his peace.
And all who get circumcised, on the third day they hurt very much. And
Abraham also was in great pain, in order to test him if he would doubt
G-d who had commanded him about the circumcision. And he was looking for
guests, and G-d wanted not to bother him with guests, and he opened a
hole in Hell and heated the day like the day of the wicked [the Day of
Judgement], and some say that The Holy One Blessed Be He took the sun
out of its case.
And Abraham went outside and sat in the opening of the tent to get air
and also to see if guests were coming. Said The Holy One Blessed Be He
to the ministering angels: "Come and let us visit the sick man." And
three angels descended and visited Abraham, and the Angel Rafael healed
him.
Abraham circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old [a year after his
own Milah] and made a party on the day of the Milah (and from this the
Sages learned that we need to make a meal and celebration on the day of
the Milah). [Genesis 21:1-5]
And Isaac circumcised Jacob.
And Jacob cleaved to the commandment of Milah, and he circumcised his
sons and grandsons, and he bequeathed it to them as an eternal law.
Until Pharoah arose and decreed upon them harsh decrees, and withheld
from them circumcision.
And on the day that Israel left Egypt everyone was circumcised, from
young to old, and they took the blood of Milah and the blood of the
Passover lamb and put it on the door-posts of their houses. And when G-d
passed over to smite the Egyptians, He saw the blood of the Passover
lamb and the blood of Milah, and He was filled with mercy for Israel.
And in their merit in the future they will be redeemed in the end of
days.
"And Abraham journeyed to the land of the south and dwelt in Grar."
When they came to the gate of the country, people asked him about Sarah:
"Who is she?" Immediately Abraham became fearful and thought: "A guest
who comes to the city, they ought to ask him about eating and drinking,
if he has something to eat. And here they ask him about his wife. Surely
there is no fear of G-d in this place, and they will kill me over my
wife," and therefore he said: "She is my sister."
And even though he saw that he was saved once before in Egypt, even so
he did not want to rely on the miracle. And for Sarah he was not afraid,
for he saw the Divine Presence always in Sarah's room, and it did not
depart from there, and therefore Abraham relied on this and said: "She
is my sister." And also when he said, "She is my sister," his intention
was about the Divine Presence, as in the verse: "Say to wisdom you are
my sister."
When Avimelech heard that she was his sister, he sent and took her for
his wife. Immediately G-d revealed Himself to him in a dream at night
and said to him: "Behold you will die over the woman that you took, for
she is married." And G-d smote him and his whole household and all his
servants with constipation, and G-d stopped up every womb in Avimelech's
house. And also He smote him with terrible plagues like Pharoah, and
similarly G-d prevented him from touching Sarah.
And all their openings were sealed shut: the mouth from speaking, the
throat from eating, the ear from hearing, inability to urinate or to
defecate.
And Avimelech said: "Will You kill even a righteous man? For I have not
yet touched her, and also he told me, "She is my sister," and she said,
"He is my brother." And in the innocence of my heart I have done
this."
And the angel of G-d said to him: "Also I know that in the innocence of
your heart you have done this, and I have spared you from sinning. But
cleanliness of hands you do not have, just that I prevented you."
And He said to him: "And now return the man's wife, for he is a Prophet
and he will pray for you and you will live. And if you do not return
her, know that you surely will die, you and all that you have."
All that night the angel was standing with a strap in his hand and was
hitting him, and he would ask Sarah and she would say, "Hit!", and he
would hit, and if she said to wait he would wait.
And Avimelech sent to call for Abraham and said: "What have you done to
us? For you have brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin."
And Abraham said: "For I said there just is no fear of G-d in this place
and they will kill me over my wife. And also she really is my sister,
the daughter of my father but not my mother, and the sister from the
father [but not the mother] is permissible for a son of Noah [gentile]
to marry." And he said the following: "Since she is the daughter of my
brother, and children of children are like children, then she is like
the daughter of my father and like my sister."
And Avimelech took sheep and cattle and men-servants and maid-servants
and gave them to Abraham, and he returned to him Sarah his wife, and he
gave him 1000 pieces of silver to show that he did not touch her. And
Abraham prayed to G-d, and G-d healed Avimelech and his wife and his
servant girls, and their orifices opened up.
ABRAHAM WAS ONE
"Abraham was one" [Ezekiel 33]. Meaning that Abraham served Hashem
Yisborach [the Blessed G-d] only through being one, meaning that he
thought in his mind that he was the only one in the world, and he did
not look at all on the people of the world who turn away from Hashem and
obstruct him. And not his father and the other obstructers. As though he
was just alone in the world. And that is the explanation of "Abraham was
one." And similarly for everyone who wants to enter into Service of
Hashem; it is impossible except through this idea: that he should think
that there is no one in the world except he alone, unique in the world,
and he should not look at any person who obstructs him, such as his
father and mother, or father-in-law and wife and children, and so on. Or
the obstacles that are from other people of the world who scorn and
entice and obstruct from Service of Hashem. And he should not look upon
them at all. Rather just be like "Abraham was one," as though he is
unique in the world, as mentioned above.
TORAH LESSON FROM REBBE NACHMAN OF BRESLOVPRAYER
Turn to me and pardon me, for I am alone and impoverished. I have
hurried and am like a bird alone on the roof. Master of the World! What
can I say or speak? Look to Your right and see that no one recognizes
me. I have lost my refuge. No one cares about my soul. I have cried out
to you, Hashem. I said You are my refuge and my portion in the Land of
the Living. Listen to my song, for I have become very impoverished. Save
me from my pursuers, for they have overwhelmed me.ABRAHAM'S TEN TESTS
[BASED ON RABBI OVADIAH OF BARTENURA IN CHAPTER FIVE OF PIRKAY
AVOS]
Mr. Abraham Richter, son of Esther and Menachem Mendel,
27 Marcheshvan 5754 [1993]
and his wife Fannie (Fruma), daughter of Jacob Pollack
16 Kislev 5738THE FIRST TEST: UR KASDIM
When Nimrod threw him into the furnace of fire and he was saved
[Genesis 11: 26-32]Version One
Before Abraham was born, Nimrod [see Genesis 10: 8-10; Genesis 14:1 in
Rashi] denied Belief in Hashem Yisborach [the Blessed G-d], and was
arrogant and said that he was god. And the early people of his time
would bow down to him, and the seat of his kingdom was in the lands of
Kutha.
[Based on the book, Sheivet Mussar, chapter 52]Version Two
On the night that Abraham was born, a very amazing thing was seen in the
Heavenly firmament. One large star came out of the east and swallowed
four stars from the four directions of the heavens.
[Based on Rabbeinu Bechayay on Lech Lecha (15); Tanna d'Vay Eliyahu
Zuta, chapter 25; Midrash Rabba; The Holy Zohar]THE SECOND TEST: GO AWAY FROM YOUR LAND
[Genesis 12: 1-4]THE THIRD TEST: AND THERE WAS FAMINE IN THE LAND
[Genesis 12: 10]THE FOURTH TEST: SARAH'S ABDUCTION BY PHAROAH
[Genesis 12: 10-20]THE FIFTH TEST: THE WAR OF THE KINGS
[Genesis 14: 1-24, 15:1]THE SIXTH TEST: THE COVENANT BETWEEN THE PARTS
When G-d showed him his children's enslavement to the gentile kingdoms
[Genesis 15]THE SEVENTH TEST: THE CIRCUMCISION
[Genesis 17]THE EIGHTH TEST: SARAH'S ABDUCTION BY AVIMELECH [KING OF THE
PHILISTINES]
[Genesis 20]