In ancient times our ancestors served idols: There are many questions raised by this passage. First why does it use the word avoteinu, ‘our forefathers’ to describe our ancestors? We are told that we only use the word, avoteinuto describe Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.¹⁰⁹ Second, why does the passage go on to tell us that ‘God brought them to His service,’ something that is obvious. The repetition of language is also strange: “I brought your father, Abraham.” Why is it necessary to say both our forefather and Abraham? If this verse mentions Abraham, why doesn’t it also mention Isaac and Jacob? Finally, the verse says, “(Mei’olam) your ancestors dwelt on the other side of the Jordan.” What does the word mei’olam add to the verse? Before the Patriarchs, people referred to their ancestors in the chain of generations as “forefathers.” Once Abraham arose, and brought illumination to the world by teaching others about the existence of God, the term, ‘forefather,’ was now applied only to him. We no longer called the previous generations as our forefathers; only Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are our forefathers. Because of their great importance as well as their deep love of God and the contribution they made to future generations, we think of everything beginning with them. This is what we find in the book of Joshua and in the Haggadah. “In ancient times” our ancestors who worshipped idols were considered “our forefathers” but now that God brought us closer to His service, we are like converts whose lineage begins from the moment of their conversion. The future lineage begins from a convert. Terach may have been Abraham’s father but only Abraham is our forefather because his father was an idolater. The verse from the book of Joshua mentions Terach and Nachor who were known idolaters but it doesn’t mention Charan, Abraham’s other brother because there is a question about whether he was an idolater or not.¹¹⁰ The verse goes on to say, “And I took your father…” The word ‘took’ implies that God created him anew so that those who came before him would no longer be called forefathers. That is why our first forefather’s name is Avram, Av Ram – literally exalted father. Through him the name ‘forefather’ was exalted, as though he were the very work of God’s hands. God then bequeathed a letter to him from His great name – the letter hei– so that his name became Avraham. The text alludes to this earlier: “This is the generations of heaven and earth in their creation. The letter hei in the word *b’hibaram, “*in their creation,’ is an allusion to the future when God would give Abraham the letter hei from His name and make Abraham a new creation. And I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac: Jacob’s name is placed before Esau, even though he is technically the younger child, because Jacob was the first one formed in their mother’s womb.¹¹¹ Isaac had been sanctified through his being bound on the altar. However, it was necessary for Rebecca to give birth to Esau so that all the impurity would be given to him and all the purity to Jacob. In this way Esau would not be worthy of inheriting their holy land while Jacob and his descendents would. Instead, Esau inherited a land that had no holiness – Mount Seir. Jacob and his children went down (yardu) to Egypt: The verb yarad also has a connotation of ‘reigning over.’ Jacob and his family came to Egypt through the government, since Joseph ruled over all of Egypt and he gave them authority. Pharaoh, too, saw that they were capable of ruling and so place them in charge of his herds. Even though Israel ascended to authority, God caused them to be diminished, as in the verse, “God brings low those that are exalted.¹¹²”

footnotes: ¹⁰⁹ BT Berachot 16b Here the term is used to describe idolaters as our forefathers! ¹¹⁰ Charan is said to be the father of Sarah – which would have made her Abraham’s first cousin. This might explain, as an aside, why Abraham could refer to her as his sister! See Midrash regarding Charan’s status, Genesis Rabbah 38:14 ¹¹¹ See Rashi on Genesis 25:26 Rashi uses the analogy of two precious stones that were placed in a tube. The one that went in first comes out last and the one that went in last comes out first. By the way, the same is true about luggage on an airplane! So too, with the order in which children are placed in a womb reflected an inverse order to which they were born. ¹¹² 1 Samuel 2:7