The story of how Avraham took his son Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him to God is iconic. It has been interpreted and re-interpreted so many times in so many different ways from Christianity to Leonard Cohen. Early Christianity saw the failure of Abraham to actually kill his son as a sign of weakness. They believed that when their…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Avram’s Journeys
When does a journey begin? When you plan it? When you start? When you get half way? Or when you complete the voyage? All these possibilities, might apply to Avram’s journey ( he was Avraham after he was Avram). When did God command him to go? In Chapter 11 the Torah says Avram was living in Ur of the Chaldees,…
Predictions, Blessings Are Not Always Immediate
Avram is promised success and a wonderful land by God. But no sooner does he arrive there when he is beset with difficulties. There is famine. He has to go down to Egypt with all its challenges. He nearly loses his wife but it all works out for the best. When he returns to Canaan, there is a conflict between…
Avraham’s Treatment of Women
Avram’s relationship with the women in his life is not an easy one. Fearing for his life he presents Sara, his wife and life partner as his sister because in ancient society wives were dispensable and disposable but blood relatives took priority. He puts her in a very difficult position yet she out of loyalty and love, does as he…
Avraham and Lot
The Torah contrasts two very different personalities, that of Avraham and that of Lot his nephew. Both born into the same society, both wanted to escape the corruption of Ur and Haran and both migrated together to Canaan. They become shepherds, an interesting change of career given that initially they were city dwellers. Famine forces them down to Egypt where…
Covenants
God’s promises to Abraham are expressed in this week’s reading of the Torah. He tells him to leave his birthplace, that he will succeed and be blessed. Later there are two covenants in which God promises that the land from the Mediterranean to the Two Rivers would be his and his children’s. And at the same time, he promises that…