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hey everybody!!!
Abraham our forefather (our 1st 4father. huh?), a man (child) who discovered his creator at the ripe old age of 3, fought his whole life against the flow, was called “abraham the ivri” cuz he was on the other “ever” (side) religiously than the rest of mankind, a g-d fearing person in an era when atheism and paganism were all the fad, his father was an idol seller for crying out loud, got thrown in a furnace, mocked by all his friends, ridiculed by all the important ppl of the time (except for shem i guess, and noach. did u know avraham learnt by noach? how cool is that! he heard bout the flood first hand!!!…….i think), and yet he did not allow any of this to budge him from his beliefs even in the slightest bit.
Abraham, the man of the 10 tests, from leaving his home, to having no children to having to slaughter his own beloved son (not all these things had already taken place at the time of the story which we will tell soon, but he was still the man who would pass all these teats in the future), the man who was the epitimy of following g-d’s word to the finest detail.
Abraham, the man who, as explained by Rav Brevda, had hashem on the forefront of his mind 24/7, the man who surely would not make a move without thinking of “what would g-d do”
Avraham, the man who went down to Egypt in the time of the plague the man who decided, surely after much deliberation, contemplation and prayer, that the best way to approach the dangers of egypt is by telling his wife to lie about their relationship. The man who surely was convinced that this was the best, and only feasible approach, that this was the ratzon hashem, for if it was not he would not have done it! he had already proven that he favored g-d’s will more than, even, his very own life. If he thought there was a better way to fulfill g-d’s will, he would have jumped at it! right? well maybe……….huh?
The ramban goes on an absolute rampage!!!!!! calling Avram no less than a sinner (albeit beshogeg, but still a sinner), how could the ramban fathom that such a thing was even possible? how could the ramban, after seeing avraham’s track record even attempt to say that avram made a mistake? where is he coming from?
I am in no way claiming i understand the reasoning behind the rambans peyrush, i am in fact not even claiming i trully understand the ramban even in the slightest bit! nor am i in any way, or, shape or any other appropriate word, coming to judge avraham avinu chas veshalom (even i am not stupid enough to do that……….sober), but i still think that we can learn a very important yesod form what the ramban said
NEGIOS, a.k.a BIAS. the evel of all evils, the one thing that can even fail the biggest tzaddik, the one consideration that no matter how righteous, smart, talented or expert you are, you can not escape under any circumstances. As soon as you are making a decision which will effect you, even in the slightest way, your judgment will be effected, warped, hijacked and any other appropriate word.
Avraham was arguably the most perfect human being that ever lived (i think most americans rank him right after the guy that invented the Ipod……loko americano). yet still when making a decision that effected him (it was a question of life and death for him), there was an outside input which he needed to get, not cuz he didnt want to do what hashem wanted him to do (which IS the case when we make “unbiased” decisions), not cuz he cared more about himself than the truth (which IS the case when we make a “mistaken” decision), and definitly not cuz he wanted to do what his yetzer hara told him to (which IS the case………). simply because it is a law of nature that “negios” exist. “hashocahd ye’aver eyney chachamim”- end of story.
Is this what the ramban is sayiing? i have not the slightest clue, was avraham also affected by negios or was he above them? your guess is as good as mine. will i be punished for suggesting that avraham made a mistake? most probably. is the yesod which comes out of all this blabbering a true one as far as our day to day lives are concerned? most definitely!