and Steve Israel
Table of Contents
BIBLICAL TEXTS – Genesis 11-12, 18 PAGE 8
INTRODUCTION:
The First Jew – A Journey Begun with a Fateful Choice PAGE 13
PART ONE: THE CHOICE OF AVRAHAM PAGE 15
Introducing Avraham and the Chosen People
(Gen 11:24-32 and Genesis 12:1-9)
The Big Questions: PAGE 17
Why a Chosen people? Who is Abram? And why was he chosen?
Avraham was not God’s First Choice!
What is God’s History of Choosing? PAGE 22
The Missing Chapters of Avraham’s Biography: PAGE 25
The Family Crisis of Avram and Sarai:
What traumas did his family suffer?
Midrashic Gap-filling in Abraham’s Biography
Fact or Fiction:
What do we make of these Fantastic Reconstructions of Avram’s Childhood?
Is Lekh l’kha a command and difficult test, or a Divine rescue o r a stellar possibility for blessing? PAGE 32
Was Avraham following God’s call or following in his father’s footsteps? PAGE 35
EXERCISE: FOLLOWING IN FATHER’S and MOTHER’S FOOTSTEPS?
PART TWO:
THREE AVRAHAMS
I. Avraham the Intellectual Rebel, the Religious Philosopher – A Conversation: PAGE 40
EXERCISE: ENTER MIDRASH
EXERCISE: ENTER MAIMONIDES
EXERCISE: ENTER GEORGE STEINER, YEHUDA AMICHAI and ARI ELON
Appendix: Hillel Zeitlin – Lech Lach from Narrow Nationalism
II. Avraham’s Journey of Faith (Genesis 12:1-9)
Avraham’s Calling – The Text and Questions PAGE 54
Genesis 12:1-9
Avraham as a Faithful Response to A Divine Calling
QUESTION ONE: What is the nature of the call that Avraham receives? PAGE 58
What does it mean to be called?
Jeremiah 20: 7-9 / Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel / Chana Senesh / Eugene Rivers, Black Protestant Minister / Conversation on “Being Called”
EXERCISE: CALL AND RESPONSE
QUESTION TWO: Why does God so emphasize the leaving? PAGE 64
Why is it so difficult? Why is it essential?
Genesis 12:1 and Ramban
EXERCISES: TALKING WITH THE IMMIGRANTS and Bintel Brief
Avraham’s Life Change: Existential Crisis or Potential for Transformation
Naomi Rosenblatt, Wrestling with Angels
Peter Pitzele – Abraham is called to his Vocation, from Our Father’s Wells
EXERCISE: MAKING CHANGES – Writing An Obituary
EXERCISE: CASE STUDY OF MIDDLE AGE CHANGE and YEHUDA HALEVI
QUESTION THREE: What is the motivation of Avram to set forth immediately on this journey? What indirect evidence can you marshal for this hypothesis (since the text does not open a direct window into Avram’s consciousness) PAGE 76
EXERCISE: WHAT MAKES AVRAHAM RUN?
EXERCISE: JOIN ABE’S ELITE CORPS
Avraham as a Faithful Response to a Calling
The Search for Self and The Journey as a Value in Itself
Aviva Zornberg / Mordechai Gafni
EXERCISE: ALONG FOR THE RIDE – AVRAHAM AS SPIRITUAL SEARCHER
QUESTION FOUR: What is the nature of the blessing that is promised? What is the meaning of the blessing to the world PAGE 82
Rashi / S.R. Hirsch / Radak /
EXERCISE: RELATING TO THE WIDER WORLD
The Meaning of Separation
III. Avraham as the Advocate for Humanity and a Parental Educator – the Moral Mission
Comparing the Traits of Noah and Avraham (Gen 5:22,24 and Gen 6:9 for Noah and Gen 12:1,4,9; Gen 15:6; Gen 17:1; Gen 18:19) PAGE 87
Avraham as the First Biblical Prophet (Genesis 20:7) PAGE 91
The Choice, The Calling: Establishing God’s personal, dialogical relationship with Avraham (Gen. 18: 17-19) PAGE 92
Modeling the Teaching of Tzedakah umishpat (Gen. 18:21-22) PAGE 94
What is the Sin of Sodom? Why might that undermine the right of that society to exist? PAGE 96
The Bargainer: The Prototypical Jewish Lawyer (Genesis 18:23-33) PAGE 98
EXERCISE: THE ARGUMENT FROM THE WARSAW GHETTO
TEXT ANALYSIS EXERCISE: ASSESSING AVRAHAM’S PERFORMANCE AT SODOM AND COLLECTING QUESTIONS.
Avraham’s Style and Strategy: An Analysis
Avraham demands Justice (Gen. 18:23-25) PAGE 104
EXERCISE: A DIVINE CONTRACT – Alan Dershowitz
EXERCISE: THE GUILTY AND THE INNOCENT – Alan Dershowitz
A. Avraham Pleads for Mercy (Gen. 18: 26-32) PAGE 112
EXERCISE: TZADDIK IN SODOM – Elie Wiesel
Theological Reflections – What have we learned about the ideal Jew and ideal God and their relationship? PAGE 115
APPENDIX: CURRICULUM:
Will the “Real” Avraham Please Stand Up? PAGE 117
Adapted from Yonatan Yussman’s Curriculum
1. Text Overview – Sodom Story
2. Background Concept: Brit as two-sided Covenant
3. Avraham’s Mission: Tzedek U’Mishpat
4. Testing Avraham: Can a Human Being be like God?
5. Summary: Reasons why God would consult with and listen to Avraham
6. “But I was just obeying orders…”
7. Imitatio Dei
The People’s Advocate: Prayer as Moral Protest
Adapted from Yonatan Yussman, Spiritual Judaism Curriculum PAGE 125
The Hassidic Prayer of Protest
The Tanakh Tradition of Protest Prayers
Biblical and Rabbinic Prayer of Channah
Modern Protest Prayers and Theologies
APPENDIX: Theology of Chosenness PAGE 132
1- Meir Soloveitchik, God’s Beloved: A Defense of Chosenness
2- The Chosen People in the Tanakh by Benjamin Oppenheimer
3- Israel Knoll’s lecture on Sanctity and the Election of Israel
4- Chosenness in Yehuda Halevi and in Rambam by Micha Goodman
5- Chosenness Ideas in Israel and the Nations by Shmuel Ettinger
6- Modern Critique of Chosenness and A Response by Mordechai Kaplan
7- David Hartman – Chosenness as Calling for Help
8- The Theology of Criticizing God – Menachem Fisch
9- Abraham – The Charismatic Personality – J.B. Soloveitchik
