Though his legacy is long, Avraham himself was no one’s legacy. He appears seemingly out of nowhere. This is not accidental and it’s not insignificant. Arguably, among the most important features of Avraham’s life is the way the Chumash springs him upon us. What are we to make of this?
Now, it’s understood that he’s not entirely unknown before Hashem says Lech Lecha. His birth and marriage were described at the end of last week’s Parasha. But nothing that happened there prepares us for the way Hashem engages and addresses him.
There is of course only one other figure in the Chumash who appears literally out of nowhere: Adam HaRishon. The parallel is entirely intentional. After 20 generations, the Chumash finally has a figure who stands as Adam 2.0. What marks him as an analog to Adam is the way he is hinted at in the beginning of the Chumash.
To understand this, it is good to have fuller context. The book of Bereisheet is dominated by one overall theme: birth. There are several episodes I often describe as “begat sections” devoted to describing the birth of generations before Avraham and after. Not just the lineages that led to the Jewish people but also for Yishmael and for Esav are listed.
The operative Hebrew word in all of these sections is “Toledot,” a word which relates to birth generations as it comes from the verb Laledet, or to give birth. This word is repeated so often that it would be appropriate to name the whole book “Toledot.” And in fact, the choice of the Greek word “Genesis” (genisee) for this book means both “origin” and “reproduction” (as in, the words in English “to generate generations”).
No fewer than nine times the Torah begins a section of Bereisheet with the phrase “Aileh Toledot,” or “these are the generations of.” It occurs for Noach, the children of Noach, Yaakov, Esav -- the list is long. There are two exceptions to this, both of them quite strange. Both Adam and Avraham never get a formal “Aileh Toledot Adam/Avraham.” The two major progenitors of the Torah -- one of mankind and the other of the Jewish people, do not get the same formal “begat” section as everyone else.
But there are two places that are close to “Aileh Toledot Adam.” One is in chapter two, verse four:
אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם .
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created
The Chumash goes on to tell us the story of the creation of Adam and Chava, and what happens to them. The phrase comes up again in chapter five, verses one-two.
זה ספר תולדת אדם ביום ברא...זכר ונקבה בראם ויברך אתם ויקרא את שמם אדם ביום הבראם
This is the book of the generations of Adam on the day Hashem created Adam….male and female he created them and he blessed them and he called their name Adam on the day of their creation.
Both of these sections are revealing, as both contain the same telling hint. In both, the Torah uses the word “B’hibar’am.” In 2:4, it means, “in their creation,” meaning the creation of the heavens and the earth, which came from nothing. The same word -- B’hibar’am -- appears in only one other place, in 5:1-2. There it refers to the creation of Adam and Chava.
The Midrash points out the first time the word appears that it contains the letters of Avraham’s name. Not his Gematria but the actual letters of his name. In other words, in speaking about the “Bri’a,” the creation from nothing of the heavens and the earth and of Adam, the Torah hints at Avraham. The Torah is foreshadowing his role as the Adam figure who comes from nothing.
But why does the Torah cast him as Adam? It is because Avraham’s uniqueness cannot come from anyone but himself. In fact, this is what sets him apart. Recall that Avraham was not the first monotheist; others including Noach had recognized Hashem and had sacrificed for Him and to Him. The difference between Avraham and even his contemporary monotheists is captured in the Midrash quoted by Rashi at the end of Parashas Noach. The Midrash describes his persecution for his beliefs while his brother Haran looks on. As Avraham is thrown into a fiery furnace, Haran decides that he will stand with him if he survives. When Avraham is saved miraculously, Haran does not hesitate to declare his allegiance to the same G-d. Whereupon he too is thrown into the furnace, where he perishes.
Why didn’t Haran merit the same miraculous protection? He too after all pledged allegiance to the same one G-d. The difference is that he was an imitator while Avraham’s faithfulness came from within and, as such, suffused his every fiber. The contemporaries who recognized Hashem did so merely as continuations of earlier generations. They were imitators.
This is the message of Avraham as someone who sprang from no one. He is never an imitator, and he teaches us that no matter what we have received from those who came before, we can never rely on that. We must all forge a relationship with Hashem that is our own.
