Avraham (אברהם) — The Patriarch
Core definition
Avraham, the first of the Patriarchs, is the middah of Chesed and the "merkavah" (chariot) to Divinity: the soul in whom the Divine attribute of kindness is perfectly enclothed. The verse of Nechemiah 9:7 — "You are Havayah Elokim which chose in Avram and took him out from Ur Kasdim and put his name Avraham" [58835/maamar_045 :: עב׳ 2] — anchors the maamarim's treatment: Havayah Elokim's choice, the trial by fire, and the added hei that transformed Avram into Avraham — "an added ma'alah upon Avram's madregah," specifically after Ur Kasdim [58835/maamar_045 :: עב׳ 21–23].
How the Rebbeim develop it
The name. "Behibaram" (Bereishis 2:4) is read as "b'Avraham" — "with the small hei": "in the merit of Avraham the world was created — that is, in the merit of Avram" [31675/maamar_009 :: עב׳ 396–397]. "Avram was the first tzadik who taught merit upon the world in general" [31675/maamar_009 :: עב׳ 398] — the merit by which the world stands is his universal advocacy. Bereishis 18:19, "ki yedativ — for I have known him — in order that he command his sons and his household after him, and they shall guard the way of Havayah, to do charity and justice" [31675/maamar_009 :: עב׳ 4], is his charter: the patriarch as founder of the household that guards Havayah's way.
The tests. The ten nisyonot (Rashi in Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer's name) are expounded as the forging of this advocacy: "the first nisayon is: that at the hour he publicized His Divinity in the world he was forced to hide 13 years; the second: the kivshan ha'eish (the fiery furnace)" [58835/maamar_045 :: עב׳ 39–41]. "My lover Avraham" — he was "the first to open the mesirus nefesh channel" [31608/maamar_009 :: Intro]. Yet his physical self-sacrifice was secondary: "they were not made a merkavah only to the upper will alone all their days — therefore Avraham's mesirus nefesh is milcha zutrasa (a small matter) regarding him — but the nisayon's main was that Avraham did not question (hirher) after His middos": at the Akeidah, "yesterday You said: 'ki b'Yitzchak yikarei lecha zera' — and now You say: 'v'ha'alehu l'olah'" [58835/maamar_045 :: עב׳ 234–238]. The ultimate test was the contradiction within the Divine word itself.
The spiritual structure. Avraham is "the aspect of shov (return), and Yitzchak the aspect of ratzu (running)" [31678/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 107]. His standing is the drawing "from above to below": "this is the level of Avraham — in the aspect of drawing down from above to below" [31678/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 343]. "Because Avraham's standing was from-above-to-below, therefore he loved Yitzchak, whose avodah was from-below-to-above: for it is known, the nature is to love the opposite" [58844/maamar_004 :: עב׳ 119]. The patriarchal succession is cumulative: "for the aspect of Yitzchak to be, it is through the aspect of Avraham" [31678/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 575] — "though Avraham too dug wells," the revelation from concealment is perfected by his son [31678/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 443].
Key distinctions
- Avram vs. Avraham: the added hei marks an added ma'alah, attained after Ur Kasdim [58835/maamar_045 :: עב׳ 21–23]; the world's creation is in the merit of "Avram" — the first who taught merit upon the world [31675/maamar_009 :: עב׳ 396–398].
- Shov vs. ratzu: Avraham = shov (the return/drawing down); Yitzchak = ratzu (the upward running) [31678/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 107].
- Above-to-below vs. below-to-above: Avraham's avodah draws the Divine downward [31678/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 343; 58844/maamar_004 :: עב׳ 63], which is why he loved Yitzchak's opposite avodah [58844/maamar_004 :: עb 119].
- The nisayon's main point: not the mesirus nefesh itself (a "small matter" for a merkavah) but the non-questioning of His middos at the Akeidah [58835/maamar_045 :: עb 234–238].
- The father's advocacy: impossible "to cover from Avraham" [31675/maamar_009 :: עb 60] — his merit argues for the world.
Related concepts
- Yitzchak
- Chesed
- The Akeidah
- The ten nisyonot
- Merkavah
- Ratzu v'shov
Sources
- 31675/maamar_009 — כי ידעתיו (Shabbos Vayeira 5686): Bereishis 18:19 [עb 4]; the name Avraham in Havayah's wonder [עb 23]; impossible to cover from Avraham [עb 60]; "behibaram" as b'Avraham [עb 396–397]; Avram the first to teach merit [עb 398]
- 58835/maamar_045 — Atah hu Havayah Elokim (Chayei Sarah 5700): Nechemiah 9:7 [עb 2]; the added hei [עb 21–23]; the ten nisyonot [עb 39–41]; mesirus nefesh as small matter; the non-questioning at the Akeidah [עb 234–238]
- 31678/maamar_011 — ואלה תולדות יצחק: Avraham as shov [עb 107]; drawing from above to below [עb 343]; Avraham's wells [עb 443]; Yitzchak through Avraham [עb 575]
- 58844/maamar_004 — אלה תולדות יצחק: Yitzchak's avodah vs. Avraham's [עb 63]; Avraham loving the opposite avodah [עb 119]
- 31608/maamar_009 — רשפי׳ רשפי אש: Avraham first to open mesirus nefesh [Intro]