The Eternal said to Abram, "Go forth from your land, your birthplace, your father's house, to the land that I will show you." - Genesis 12:1
D'var Torah By: David Segal for ReformJudaism.com
Choosing to Be Chosen
Once, I was invited to address a local middle school class as they began a unit on the history of world religions. The teacher asked me to summarize Judaism in about 10 minutes. At least I had more time than Hillel when he explained the Torah "on one foot."1 But where was I to begin? I decided to start with Abraham, the first Jew.
I didn't have time then to analyze the complexities of Abraham's legacy and the questions raised by his call from God. Why did God choose him? Why did God make a covenant with a family rather than, say, anyone willing to behave in a certain way? Addressing these questions gets to the very heart of what it means to be Jewish.
The Torah gives us little indication about the reasoning behind God's choice of Abraham. We read simply, "The Eternal One said to Abram, 'Go forth from your land, your birthplace, your father's house, to the land that I will show you'" (Genesis 12:1). Midrashic tradition has offered various back stories to show Abraham's worthiness retroactively. In one midrash, "Abraham learned Torah all by himself" (Midrash T'hillim 1:13); in another, a three-year old Abraham comes to monotheism through his own intellectual insight (Beit HaMidrash 2:118-196). Then there's the famous story of Abraham smashing the idols in his father's shop (B'reishit Rabbah 38:13). These traditions seek to portray Abraham as a heroic monotheist, ahead of his time in devotion to the one God.
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