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Today we identify Abraham as one of the spiritual giants of all human history, the founder of monotheism and the father of the Jewish people. Of Terach, little remains known.
Lessons for Today
Now this is the line of Terach: Terach begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. Haran died in the lifetime of his father Terach, in his native land, Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives, the name of Abram’s wife being Sarai and that of Nahor’s wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren, she had no child.
Terach took his son Abram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan; but when they had come as far as Haran, they settled there. The days of Terach came to 205 years and Terach died in Haran. (Genesis 11:27-32)
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Moshe ben Amram Greenwald teaches:
How often it is that spiritual awakening comes even to a person who is not on a high enough level of awareness to be purified and to ascend higher? Instead, in the middle of the journey, his lower instincts overcome him, paralyze him, render him unable to move on.
Then there are the pious and the righteous ones who, as we read in Isaiah 40:4, set their hearts on, "making the rugged level, and the crooked places like a plane." They clear away every obstacle from the way of the Ruler who ascends to the mountain of Adonai. They do not remain frozen in the middle of the journey.
This is the difference between Terach and Abraham. For while there was awakened in Terach the clear vision to set out for the Land of Canaan, he changed his mind in the middle of the journey. As it is written, "But when they came to Haran, halfway between Ur and Canaan, they settled there" (Genesis 11:31).
But Abraham, our forefather, was not content to rest. He did not get cold feet in the middle of the journey. For this reason, the "Master of the Palace, blessed is the Name" appeared to him and revealed the Self to him, saying, "Go forth from your native land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you..." (Genesis 12:1).
From Kushner and Olitzky, Sparks Beneath the Surface - A Spiritual Commentary on the Torah (New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc., 1993), p.8-9.
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Sforno essentially agrees with Greenwald’s assertion that Terach's failure to make it to Canaan is a form of spiritual weakness. But he takes it one step further, looking at the consequences over the generations of Terach’s incomplete journey. He writes:
And Terach died in Haran. And he did not achieve what he intended to achieve by journeying from Ur of the Chaldeans, nor did he come, at all, to visit Abraham when he lived in the land of Canaan, calling there in the name of God, even when his [Abraham's] reputation became widespread. The reverse of this was done by Lot, who for a time did accompany Abraham, and therefore he and his descendents merited a share in Abraham's gifts, whereas the other offspring of Terach, who were as closely related to Abraham, if not more so, did not merit a share in these gifts.
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In next week’s parashah, Lech Lecha, Abraham (or Abram, as he is called when he is first introduced in the Torah) embarks on his great physical and spiritual journey, at the behest of God, which will eventual take him to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land which will later come to be called the Land of Israel. With this story, we begin the particularistic story of the history of the people of Israel, which begins with Abraham’s radical acceptance of the notion of monotheism, and his entering into a one-on-one covenantal relationship with God.
But Abraham is actually introduced earlier, as a son of Terach, in the genealogical list the is included at the end of the story of the Tower of Babel in this week's parashah, Noach. In the Torah itself, very little is told to us about Terach, but the Midrash informs us that Terach was an idolater and a manufacturer of idols (Midrash Rabbah 38:13). Abraham had something of a falling out with his father when he began to deny that the idols were anything more than inanimate objects. Yet the two remained close, and eventually Abraham began to have an influence on his father, who came to seek out a more upright spiritual path. Yet Abraham came to be recognized as a spiritual giant, and, as Rabbi Greenwald points out, his father was of a very different character.
We can never completely separate ourselves from our parents, and Abraham is no different. Abraham’s spiritual journey began in the place of his birth, and it began at his father's side. Terach left his home in Ur of the Chaldeans (in southeastern Mesopotamia, near the mouth of the Euphrates river, at the Persian Gulf), and set out for Canaan. It is not at all clear why Terach chose to go to Canaan. Many commentators, maintaining the rabbinic notion that the Torah does not always render events in chronological order, maintain that the impetus behind Terach's journey to Canaan was God’s command to Abraham to go there. But others, including Sforno, suggest that, through his own spiritual evolution, Terach sensed that "the land of Canaan represented the potential for spiritual excellence and a place which could cause revolutionary change in the history of humankind" (Sforno, p. 60). And so Terach, along with his son Abraham, daughter-in-law Sarah, and his grandson Lot, set out for Canaan, but he himself was never to complete the journey.
When Terach arrived at Haran (about half way between Ur and Canaan), he decided to stay there. For some reason, which is not stated in the Torah text, the place found favour in his eyes and he decided to remain there, and eventually, many years later, he died there. It remained for Abraham, along with Sarah and Lot, to complete the journey to Canaan, which they undertook when God approached Abraham in Haran and told him, "go!".
Haran continues to play an important role in the history of our patriarchs. It is to Haran that Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac and he, indeed, does find Rebecca there, and it is to Haran that Jacob flees from the anger of his brother Esau, also finding there his wives, Leah and Rachel. So, while nobody ever returns to Ur, Haran continues to be a centre of importance, and serves as the birthplace of our matriarchs.
But in answer to the question of why Terach chose to remain in Haran, we never really have an answer. More than anything else, Haran's importance seems to be that it is midway between Ur and the Promised Land. As Moshe Greenwald points out, for a man like Terach who came to his spiritual awakening late, he can only go so far. He still struggles with his lower inclinations, which can paralyze him and prevent him from moving on. Terach, in fact, represents most of us. But Abraham was not like his father. He was more spiritually persistent, and pushed on, not only to adhere to God's command, but also to fulfil his father's dream. And for this persistence, Abraham, and his descendents, are rewarded greatly.
Lessons for Today
It is sometimes very hard to determine one's own true spiritual path. For some (few) of us, it may become evident from a very young age. But for most of us, it may be a life-long process to discern how to best express our relationship with God, and for some it may never really become clear. However, one thing that is clear is that, if we give up, if we quit half-way through our journey, then we are never going to be able to reach our destination. Terach did go through a profound spiritual transformation, evolving from a pagan idol worshipper to a monotheist, but he was still not strong enough to fulfil his spiritual destiny and complete his spiritual journey. He was too easily waylaid. It took Abraham to complete the journey, but that was the fulfilment of his destiny. Today we identify Abraham as one of the spiritual giants of all human history, the founder of monotheism and the father of the Jewish people. Of Terach, little remains known.
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