Abraham: The Master of Personal Transformation
In reading the Torah’s (Bible) account of Abraham, we cannot but be surprised and disturbed by the obvious omissions. Abraham appears upon the stage of history as a virtually anonymous character, without lengthy introduction or background or any real character references. The Torah recounts his genealogy and the migration of his family from one Mesopotamian city to another. It mentions his wife Sarai (who is later renamed Sarah) and her barrenness. It also mentions the death of his father and brother. But these are all mundane vital statistics that do not hint at Abraham’s spiritual status.
Suddenly, yet in an oddly matter-of-fact way, the Torah relates a momentous revelation, one of the most crucial scenes in the entire Torah. G-d bursts into the personal life of this one man, calling to him, demanding of him a radical renunciation and promising that he will become prosperous, famous, the progenitor of a great nation which will be no less than the conduit of blessing for all of humanity. In just a few words, this relatively unknown character becomes the father of the future “chosen people,” the origin of the most fascinating national history, with far-reaching universal implications.
So it is remarkable that prior to this astounding revelation there is no mention of Abraham’s personal merit, special character traits, or unique innate qualities. We meet a man with a meager past who is transformed, virtually overnight, into the father and leader of a nation with a pivotal future, centrally significant to the entire world’s history.
The Midrash, tells us that Abraham belonged to an idolatrous society. In fact, he was the son of a successful idol distributor. Although an heir to a prosperous business, Abraham was a troubled soul, unable to accept Divinity attributed to statues made of wood and stone. He did his best to convince people not to buy idols. Eventually his thinking led him to action