[Avodah] Telling All of the Truth About Great Men

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Danny Schoemann <doniels at gmail.com>
> Is it really  the Torah approach to "cover up"
> things that do not fit with the  conceptions that
> some of how a gadol is supposed to be? I think
>  that the answer is a resounding "No!" [--RYL]

Well, how do you explain  that Terach's demise was conveniently
mentioned at the end of Noach, in order  to fudge the fact that he
lived until Avraham was 130 years old? The correct  location would have
been around Chayei Sarah!

Talk about "cover  up".

- Danny

 
>>>>
If the Torah really wanted to cover it up, it would have left out Terach's  
death entirely.  There are plenty of things that are left out of the Torah, 
 for various reasons.  (E.g., did Yisro leave or stay?)  
 
The fact that Avraham left while his father was still alive is /not/  
covered up.  Rather, it is presented in such a way as to suggest what  Rashi kind 
of says:  normally, it is not right to leave your  father in his old age 
and never see him again.  It is acceptable for a  tzaddik to do it in 
exceptional circumstances, like if Hashem tells him  to.   (Or if your father is a 
rasha.)
 
The people who were not supposed to notice that Avraham abandoned his  
father were his contemporaries, "so people shouldn't say...."  The  circuitous 
way that the Torah provides this information suggests a  circuitousness in 
the way the information percolated to Avraham's  contemporaries.  The 
information is not hidden from us.  And nowhere  is there any suggestion that 
Avraham actually did anything wrong by  leaving his father -- on the contrary, 
leaving his father, against all natural  instinct, was one of his ten big tests.
 

--Toby Katz
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