Question: Did such a Torah character as Abraham ever live in our world?
Answer: Indeed, there was such a character in history. Abraham promoted the wisdom of Kabbalah, which he revealed to the residents of Babylon. He led several thousand people away from there and they joined his ideology. Rambam, a researcher who lived in the 12th century AD, more than two thousand years after Abraham, writes about that.
Abraham, who was a priest in ancient Babylon, discovered that creation has a certain path of development, a purpose, a beginning and an end. He revealed that there are forces that develop the whole of nature, especially man. This happens according to the law of the development of egoism on the part of nature and according to the law of development above egoism on the part of man, when he rises above the egoism growing in him.
The very idea and the entire system revealed by Abraham is called “Kabbalah.” He was the first to describe it in The Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzira).
Prior to that, he was an idol worshipper, like all the other Babylonians, and moreover, one of the main priests of King Nimrod. He and his father had their own business. They made statues of various idols and sold them. This is all described in the book of those times, The Great Commentary.
This business is thriving to this day. Even today people sell red strings, holy water, amulets, and so on. But then the quality of “Abraham” grows above all this, which helps a person to rise. Thus, this is also useful.
Question: What happened to Abraham that he abruptly changed so dramatically?
Answer: He discovered that his fellow citizens suddenly began to change. Instead of asking for health, fertility, or a good harvest, they began to wish each other evil, to compete, to hate each other. Each wanted to suppress the other.
Previously, a person wanted to feel good and others did not bother him much. Now he began to want to be bigger than others, better than others, stronger than others. Humiliation of others became a pleasure for him.
This is the result of increased egoism. People stopped communicating, stopped understanding each other. Everyone wanted to become the greatest, to subdue everything and everyone.
Looking at these terrible metamorphoses in the family, in society, everywhere, Abraham began to ask the question, “What is happening?” Then he revealed the entire perspective of the development of humanity. He realized that egoism, which is growing in us, is not just progressing, but developing in order for us to work with it in a different way.
Abraham was a great sage and thinker of that time. He thought, “What is all this for? Is it in order for me to hate others and for them to hate me? What is next? As a result, we will destroy each other, we will go to war against each other. No, nature is not like that. It is global, round, takes care of everyone, includes everything. It is like a mother!” When a person observes nature, he sees that.
Question: Why does it push people into conflict with each other and they kill each other?
Answer: It is not nature that pushes people, but human egoism. Nature itself is arranged very harmoniously.
This is the conclusion that Abraham came to. He realized that the only evil in the world is our egoism, which is constantly growing in us in order for us, despite its growth, to enter into harmony with nature, connect with it, rise above our egoism and begin to use it for bestowal, love, and connection with each other.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #17
Related Material:
The Role Of Abraham In The Spiritual Development Of Humanity
Abraham—The Great Reformer
Abraham’s Discovery
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And if they make the house vacant, there will be room for idols. Do not fear the blaze of the swirling sword on the way of the tree of life. (Baal HaSulam, Letter 12)
