Abraham's Legacy: A Promise Fulfilled

The promise to Abraham encompassed far more than just inheritance of the land: "Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations, and I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Moreover, it was said to his descendants: "A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall emerge from your lineage."

In scientific terms, there is the idea of a "common ancestor" from whom different races or inhabitants of various continents sprang. But what does such a progenitor mean to his descendants? Nothing. Perhaps he was a dim-witted Neanderthal, half human, half ape. Abraham, however, is not just a common ancestor. He is the "father of many nations." His name is blessed; all the families of the earth will be blessed through him. Numerous nations abandoned their idols and sought to embrace the faith of the God of Abraham. To this day, most of the world's inhabitants believe in the revelation of Hashem to Abraham and recognize him as a chosen patriarch for all humanity.

In the last two thousand years, great kings who ruled the world often took the title "King of Holy Jerusalem," as it was the most significant royal title. When a king saw himself as ruler over much of Europe, he proclaimed himself as a successor to the kingdom of Abraham's seed.

Beyond the "multitude of nations," there is also the "one nation" that continues in Abraham's path solely based on the revelation at the Exodus, a continuation of the Covenant Between the Parts. When the sons of this nation reach eight days old, they are circumcised, just as their illustrious forefather was over three thousand eight hundred years ago. Even if, regrettably, they do not follow the other commandments and laws of the God of Abraham, they all uphold this law, the sacred covenant of our ancestor Abraham. Through this mitzvah, we have the right to live in the Holy Land: "By the blood of your covenant, I have freed your prisoners from a waterless pit," the prophet assured us. The children of Israel will return from exile to their ancestral land only if they maintain the circumcision. Indeed, they have guarded it zealously, under all conditions and everywhere.

However, circumcision is merely a symbol of Abraham's great mission: faith in one God.

What seems so simple and logical to us, that there is one force behind the entire world, was once deemed impossible: a contradiction to reason and experience; ridiculed as dangerous heresy, warranting being cast into a fiery furnace.

Since mankind was expelled from Eden, it has faced a curse: the curse of the land, wild beasts, and the tribulations of family and its growth. Humanity saw only evil, hardship, unexpected disasters, diseases, and tribulations. Each human group focused on self-preservation. Defeat by another group led to torturous death. There was no empathy for a person simply because they were human; no inherent right of any human. Even within a group, there were disagreements, disputes, wars, and again, death. The modest aspiration of every ordinary person was a roof over their head, basic sustenance, and relative health. Most people did not even have that, and wars were fought over the most basic resources. Man was smarter than animals, but morally, he was similar to them, a struggle of everyone against everyone.

In such conditions, no one could imagine that there was one power behind the world. Could it be? If there is one power, why are there fertile and blessed places, and cursed and accursed ones? Why are children killed by the sword, while the wicked who kill them revel in their success? If someone created the world for people to dwell in, why does the sea rise and flood settlements? Why do the mountains smoke and poison their surroundings, spewing hot lava? If rain comes to bless the ground, why one year does it fail to arrive, and the next it comes with a vengeance, damaging the crops? Is the animal world designed? Is it beautiful? Yet snakes kill humans, wolves devour their flocks, and lions and bears threaten them as well. Is there any logic in what happens around us? One plan? Surely it cannot be.