[Avodah] Middos of the Avos

[Liron Kopinsky]

>
> A question WRT the middos commonly attributed to the Avos (Avraham <==>
> chesed, etc.). What is the nature of the relationship of these middos to
> their respective figures? The two possibilities that occurred to me:
>
> - Their souls were pre-wired for perfection in these middos
> - The individuals cultivated their respective middos to a phenomenal degree
>

To take your second point a bit farther - is it possible that they were
wired for the *opposite* of these middot and managed to utterly conquer
their inherent nature? This would be an exceeding madreiga to reach -
especially for Avraham Avinu, as he would have had to come to the logical
conclusion of a God of Chesed even though he would have had the opposite
leanings himself.

I always understood one of the tests of Akeidat Yitzchak was utter
subservience to Hashem even though it ran utterly against everything Avraham
Avinu stood for - but this could be because it ran against everything his
inborn middot drove him to or because it ran against everything he had
finally managed to conquer. I'm not sure which is a bigger test.

Kol Tuv,
Liron
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