Bereishit Rabba 39 Core Texts To be used with https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/351292

(1) "G-d said to Abram, 'Go forth from your land…'" (Genesis 12:1)

Rabbi Yitzchak opened: "Listen, daughter, look, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house." (Psalms 45:11) Rabbi Yitzchak said: this may be compared to a man who was traveling from place to place when he saw a castle aglow. He said, "Is it possible that this castle lacks a person to look after it?" The owner of the building looked at him and said to him, 'I am the master of the castle.'" What happened with Abraham our father was similar. He said, “Is it possible that this universe lacks a person to look after it?," the Holy Blessed One looked at him and said to him, 'I am the Master of the Universe.'" "And let the king be aroused by your beauty since he is your master" (Psalms 45:12) And let the king be aroused for your beauty in the universe. "And bow to him" (Psalms 45:12) Hence, G-d said to Abram, [go forth...].

(2) "G-d said to Abram…" (Genesis 12:1) Rabbi Berekhyah opened: "Your perfumes have good fragrance, your name is poured-out oil" (Song of Songs 1:3) Rabbi Berekhyah said: to what was Abraham our father similar? to a flask of balsam-tree juice close with a tight lid, placed in a corner and its fragrance was not emitted. When it was moved, its fragrance was emitted.

Thus the Holy Blessed One said to Abraham our Father, move yourself from place to place and your name will become great in the world....

3. R. Berekiah commenced: We have a little sister — ahoth (ib. viii, 8): this refers to Abraham, who united (ihah) the whole world for us.

Bar Kappara observed:

Like a person who sews a rent together. 'Little': even while young he stored up pious acts and good deeds. And she hath no breasts (ib.): no breasts suckled him 1 in piety or good deeds. What shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for (ib.) ? i.e. on the day when the wicked Nimrod ordered him to be cast into the fiery furnace.

If she be a wall, we will build upon her (ib. 9) : if he resists [Nimrod] like a wall, He [God] 2 will build up [a defence] for him. 3 And if she be a door (deleth), we will enclose (nazur) her with boards of cedar (ib.) : if he is poor (dal) in piety and noble deeds, ' We will enclose (nazur) her with boards of cedar ' : and just as a drawing (zurah) [on boards] is only temporary, 4 so will I protect him only for a time. Said he [Abraham] to Him: 'Sovereign of the Universe! / am a wall (ib. 10): I stand as firm as a wall; And my breasts like the towers thereof (ib.): my sons are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.' Then was I in his eyes as one that found peace (ib.) : he entered [the fiery furnace] in peace and left it unscathed : hence, Now the Lord said unto Abram: Get thee.

4. Wisdom maketh a wise man stronger than ten rulers (Eccl. vii, 19) 5 : this refers to Abraham, [whom wisdom made stronger] than the ten generations from Noah to Abraham ; out of all of them I spoke to thee alone, as it is written, Now the Lord said unto Abraham. 6

5. R. 'Azariah commenced: We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed (Jer. li, 9). ' We would have healed Babylon ' — in the generation of Enosh ; ' But she was not healed' — in the generation of the Flood; Forsake her, and let us go every one into his country (ib.), as it is written, Now the Lord said unto Abram: Get thee. 7

(6) Rabbi Azariah in the name of Rabbi Acha opened: “You love justice and hate evil, therefore God, your God has anointed you with oil of joy over your peers” (Pslams 45:8). Rabbi Azariah solved this verse [as being in reference to] Abraham: at the time that Abraham our father stood to request mercy for the Sodomites, what is written there? “Far be it from you to do this thing – to kill the righteous with the evildoer so that [the righteous is like the evildoer] – should not the judge of all the earth do justly?” (Genesis 18:25) Rabbi Acha said: you swore and said that you would not bring a flood ever again – why have you violated your vow?! It is strange!

A flood of water you won’t bring, but a flood of fire you will bring?! If so, you have not fulfilled your vow. “Does not the judge of all the earth do justice”

If you want a world, you can’t have strict justice; if you want strict justice, you can’t have a world. How can you hold a world with two heads? You want a world and strict justice - Choose one of them! If you cannot give up a little, the world cannot exist.

The Holy Blessed One said to him: Abraham, “you love justice and hate evil… over your peers” Who is your peer? From Noah to you, [there were] 10 generation, and from all of them I have not spoken with one of them other than you.

(7) YHVH said to Abram, "Go forth from your land…" (Genesis 12:1) What was written prior to this matter? “…and Teraḥ died in Ḥaran.” (Genesis 11:32) Rabbi Yitzḥak said: if the matter is the math, then up to now [where Avram leaves, for Teraḥ to be dead,] it would need another 65 years, but initially, you can interpret that evildoers are called “dead” during their lives. It is because Abraham our father was afraid and said, “If I go out, they will profane the Heavenly Name through me and say that he left his father and went during his [father’s] old age. The Holy One Blessed Be He said to him, I exempt you from honoring father and mother, but I do not exempt [any] other from honoring father and mother. And not only that, but I moved forward his death to before your going out: first, “And Teraḥ died in Ḥaran.”, and afterwards “And YHVH said to Avram”

8. Get thee (lek leka). R. Judah said: 'Lek ieka 1 (Go, go) 3 is written twice, one passage [referring to his departure] from Aram Naharaim, and the other [to his departure] from Aram Nahor. R. Nehemiah said: 'Lek leka' is written twice, one passage [referring to his departure] from Aram Naharaim and Aram Nahor, and the other intimating that He made him fly from the Covenant between the pieces 4 and brought him to Haran. 5

It is written : Thy people ('ammeka) offer themselves willingly (nedaboth) in the day of thy warfare (heleka), etc. (Ps. ex, 3). This means: I was with thee {'immeka) when thou didst willingly offer (nadabtd) for My name's sake to enter the fiery furnace. 6

'In the day of thy warfare 3 [lit. 'retinue']; when thou didst bring Me all those bands. 7

In the mountains 8 of holiness : from the ancient mountain did I sanctify thee.

1 From the womb of the dawn — merehem mishehar (jb.): from out of the womb of the world 2 have I sought thee (shihartika) for Me.

Thine is the dew of thy youth (ib.) : because Abraham was afraid and said to him- self, 'Perhaps I bear guilt for having worshipped idols all these years,' God reassured him: ' Thine is the dew of thy youth*: even as dew evaporates, so have thy sins evaporated [disappeared] ; as dew is a sign of blessing to the world, so art thou a sign of blessing to the world. It is written: And I said: Oh thai I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest (Ps. lv, y). Why like a dove? Said R. 'Azariah in the name of R. Judan b. R. Simon: Because all other birds, when tired, rest on a rock or a tree, but when a dove is tired she draws in one of her wings 3 and fhes on with the other. 4

Lo, then I would wander far ojf(ib. 8) : exile after exile, journey after journey. I* would lodge in the wilderness. Selah (ib.) : better is it to lodge in the deserts of Eretz Israel than in palaces abroad. 5 And should you object, if he [Abraham] had no qualms but rejoiced [to go to Eretz Israel], 6 why did he not emigrate [sooner] ? Because he had not yet been permitted ; but as soon as he was permitted, it is written, So Abram went> as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him (Gen. xii, 4). R. Levi said: When Abraham was travelling through Aram Naharaim and Aram Nahor, he saw its inhabitants eating and drinking and revelling. 'May my portion not be in this country ! ' he exclaimed. But when he reached the promontory of Tyre and saw them engaged in weeding and hoeing at the proper seasons, he exclaimed, 'Would that my portion might be in this country I ' Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him: Unto thy seed have I given this land {ib. xv, 18).

9. R. Levi said: ' Get thee 7 is written twice, 1 and we do not know w T hich was more precious [in the eyes of God], whether the first or the second. 2

R. Johanan said : Get thee out of thy country means, from thy province; And from thy kindred — from the place where thou art settled; And from thy father's house — literally, thy father's house. Unto the land that I will show thee: why did He not reveal it to him [there and then]? In order to make it more beloved in his eyes and to reward him for every step he took. This agrees with another teaching of R. Johanan, for R. Johanan said: And he said: Take now thy son (ib. xxn, 2) — 'which one?' 'Thine only son.' 'Each is the only one of his mother?' ' Whom thou lovest.' 'I love them both: are there limits to one's emotions?' Said He to him: ' Even Isaac.' And why did He not reveal it to him [without delay] ? In order to make him even more beloved in his eyes and reward him for every word spoken, for R. Huna said in R. Eliezer's name: The Holy One, blessed be He, first places the righteous in doubt and suspense, and then He reveals to them the meaning of the matter. Thus it is written, To the land that I will shew thee; Upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of (ib.) ; And make unto it the proclamation that I bid thee (Jonah Hi, 2) ; Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there speak with thee (Ezek. in, 22).

10. R. Berekiah b. R. Simon said in R. Nehemiah's name : This may be illustrated by a king who was passing from place to place, when a gem fell from his head. Where- upon the king halted and stationed his retinue there, gathered the sand in piles, and brought sieves. He sifted the first pile but did not find it ; the second but did not find it; but in the third he found it. Said they: "The king has found his pearl/ Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham: 'What need had I to trace the descent of Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and Terah? Was it not on thy account?' 1 Thus it is written, And foundest his heart [Abraham's] faithful before Thee (Neh. ix, 8). 2 In like manner God said to David: 'What need had I to trace the descent of Perez, Hezron, Ram, Aminadab, Nachshon, Shalmon, Boaz, Obed, and Jesse ? Was it not on thy account ? ' Hence it is written, I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him (Ps. lxxxix, 21). (xii, 2).

Said he to Him: 'Yet hast Thou not caused the seventy nations to spring from Noah?' 3 He replied: 'That nation of which it is written, For what great nation is there, that hath God so nigh unto them (Deut. iv, 7), them will I raise up from thee/

R. Berekiah said : It is not written, 'And I will give thee/ or 'And I will set thee,' 4 but, And I will make thee: i.e. after I have created thee as a new creation 5 thou wilt be fruitful and multiply. R. Levi b. Ahyatha and R. Abba said: Thrice is 'great- ness' mentioned here, and 'blessings' four times 6 : He thus informed him that there would be three Patriarchs and four Matriarchs.

R. Berekiah said: Because travelling has three adverse effects, diminishing procreation, and reducing one's wealth and one's fame, [God gave him counter assurances]. Since it diminishes procreation [He said to him], And I will make of thee A great nation; it decreases one's wealth, hence, And I will bless thee; it diminishes one's name [fame], hence, And make thy name great. And though the proverb says, 'When you travel from one house to another, you lose a shirt; from one country to another, you lose a life,' 1 yet in truth thou wilt lose neither life nor property. R. Berekiah said in R. Helbo's name: It 2 means that his coinage was current in the world. There were four whose coinage became current in the world : (i) Abraham, as it is written, And I will make of thee, etc. And what effigy did his coinage bear ? An old man and an old woman on one side, and a boy and a girl on the other. 3 (ii) Joshua, as it is written, So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land (Josh, vi, 27), which means that his coinage was current in the world. And what was its effigy ? An ox on one side and a wild-ox on the other, corre- sponding to, His firstling bullock, majesty is his, and his horns are the horns of a wild-ox (Deut. xxxiii, 17). 4 (iii) David, as it is written, And the fame of David went out into all the lands (1 Chron. xiv, 17), which means that his coinage was current. And what was its effigy? A staff and a wallet on one side, 5 and a tower on the other, corre- sponding to, Thy neck is like the tower of David, builded with turrets (S.S. iv, 4). (iv) Mordecai, as it is written, For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went forth throughout all the provinces (Est. IX, 4) — this too means that his coinage was current. And what was its effigy ? Sackcloth and ashes on one side and a golden crown on the other. 6

R. Isaac said : [God promised Abraham] : ' I will set thee as a blessing in the Eighteen [Benedictions]. 1 Yet thou dost not know whether Mine is first or thine is first.'

2 Said R. Aha in R. Ze'ira's name : Thine is before Mine ; after having recited 'the shield of Abraham 3 , we then recite 'who resurrectest the dead.' 3 [And I will make thy name great; this means, I will add the letter he to thy name.]

4 R. Abbahu commented thereon : It is not written, ' Look now hashamayim ' (at the heaven), but, Look now hashamaymah — E.V. 'toward heaven' (Gen. xv, 5) 5 : with this he I created the world 6 ; behold, I will add it to thy name, and then thou wilt be fruitful and multiply. R. Judan said: The numerical value of the letters of thy name will equal those of w a - ABAREKEKA (AND I WILL BLESS THEE): jUSt as WA- abarekeka amounts to two hundred and forty-eight, so do the letters of thy name amount to two hundred and forty-eight. 7

R. Levi said: No man ever priced a cow belonging to Abraham [in order to buy it] without becoming blessed, nor did a man ever price a cow [to sell] to him without his becoming blessed. Abraham used to pray for barren women, and they were remembered [i.e. they conceived] ; and on behalf of the sick, and they were healed. R. Huna said: It was not necessary for Abraham to go to the sick person, for when the sick person merely saw him he was relieved. R. Etanina said: Even ships travelling the sea were saved for Abraham's sake. But did they not contain forbidden wine? 1 [There is a proverb]: 'Vinegar cheapens wine ' : 2 wherever Gentile wine is available, Jewish wine is cheap. R. Isaac said: To Job too He did thus, as it is written, Thou hast blessed the work of his hands (Job I, 10) : no man who took a farthing from Job had to take a second one from him. And be thou a blessing (berakah): this means, be thou a herekah (pool) : just as a pool purifies the unclean, so do thou bring near [to Me] those who are afar. R. Berekiah said: Seeing that it is already written, And I will bless thee, why is And be thou a blessing added? He [God] said to him: 'Hitherto, / had to bless My world; henceforth the blessings are entrusted to thee: whom it pleases thee to bless, do thou bless/

12. AND I WILL BLESS THEM THAT BLESS THEE (xii, 3). R. Jeremiah b. Eleazar said : The Holy One, blessed be He, was stricter in defence of the honour of the righteous than of His own honour. For in respect to His own honour it is written, For them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be disgraced (1 Sam. 11, 30), which means through others; whereas concerning the honour of the righteous it is written, And I will BLESS THEM THAT BLESS THEE, AND HIM THAT CURSETH THEE WILL I CURSE — I Myself. It was taught 3 : At these benedictions one must bow: at the beginning and end of the first, and at the beginning and end of ' We give thanks' ; and if a man bows at each benediction, he must be instructed to refrain. R. Isaac b. R. Nahman said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi: The High Priest bows at the beginning of each benediction, and a king must bow at the beginning and the end of each benediction. R. Simon said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi: Once he [the king] had bent the knee, he did not

straighten himself until he finished his entire prayer, as it is written, And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees, etc. (i Kings vm, 54). What is ken' ah and what is berikah? 1 R. Etfyya the elder showed Rabbi the action of keri'ah, and became lame, but was subsequently healed, Levi b. Susi showed Rabbi the action of keri' ah; he became lame and was not healed.

And in thee shall be blessed: rain and dew shall come for thy sake. Now it is written, And the thing became known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen, etc. (Est. 11, 22): he [Mordecai] was circumcised while the other [Ahasuerus] was uncircumcised, yet he had pity on him 2 ! R. Judah quoted : From my elders I receive understanding (Ps. cxix, 100) : He [Mordecai] reasoned thus : Jacob blessed Pharaoh, as it is written, And Jacob blessed Pharaoh (Gen. xlvii, 7); moreover, did not Joseph reveal his dreams to him, and did not Daniel reveal his dreams to Nebuchad- nezzar? So I too; hence, l And he told it unto Esther the queen.'* R. Nehemiah said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham: And in thee shall all the FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED. Now if that is meant in respect of wealth, they are surely wealthier than we ! But it was meant in respect of counsel : when they get into trouble they ask our advice, and we give it to them.

3. SO ABRAM WENT, AS THE LORD HAD SPOKEN unto him; And Lot went with him (xii, 4): Lot was merely joined on with him. And Abram was seventy and five years old. Thus it is written, And he brought up Hadassah (Est. 11, 7). Rab said: She was forty years old 4 ; Samuel said: She was eighty years old; the Rabbis of that place [i.e. Babylonia] said : She was seventy-five years old. R. Berekiah observed in the name of the Rabbis : The Holy One, blessed be He, assured Abraham: 'Thou didst leave thy father's house when seventy-five years old; by thy life, the redeemer whom I will raise up from thee shall be seventy-five years old/ this being the numerical value of Hadassah. 1

14. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot their brother's son, and all their substance which they had gathered, and the souls that they had made 2 in Haran (xii, 5). R. Leazar observed in the name of R. Jose b. Zimra : If all the nations assembled to create one insect they could not endow it with life, yet you say, And the souls that they had made! It refers, however, to the proselytes [which they had made]. Then let it say, 'That they had converted ' ; why That they had made? That is to teach you that he who brings a Gentile near [to God] is as though he created him. Now let it say, 'That he had made'; why That they had made? Said R. Ilunia: Abraham converted the men and Sarah the women. 3

15. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of shechem . . . and the Canaanite WAS THEN IN THE land (xn, 6): so far they still had a right in the land. 4 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said: Unto thy seed will I give this land; and he builded there an altar (xii, 7): what is stated here is on account of the good tidings about Eretz Israel. 5 And he removed from thence unto the MOUNTAIN ON THE EAST OF (MI-KEDEM) BETH-EL

(xii, 8): originally it was called Beth-el (house of God), but now it is called Beth-awen (house of iniquity). 1 R. Liezer said: He who does not merit being called ben he-amal is called ben he-amad? R. Isaac b. Nahman said: There [in Palestine] a good worker is called 'amela (industrious), while urine-soaked dung is called 'amidah. And pitched his tent (ahalo). R. Hanina said: Ahalah (her tent) is written 3 ; after having pitched Sarah's tent he pitched his own. 4

. And he builded there an altar unto the Lord (xii, 16). R. Leazar said: He built three altars: one on account of the good tidings about Eretz Israel, another for his possession thereof, 5 and a third [as a prayer] that his descendants might not fall at Ai, as it is written, And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the Ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel, and they put dust upon their heads (Josh, vii, 6). R. Leazar b. Shamua* said: They began recalling the merit of our father Abraham, who said, i" am but dust and ashes (Gen. xvm, 27); did then Abraham build Thee an altar at Ai for aught but that his children should not fall there !

And called upon the name of the Lord: with prayer. Another interpretation of And called: he began to make converts. 6 And Abram journeyed, going on still to- ward the south (xii, 9): he drew a course and journeyed toward the [future] site of the Temple.