Maimonides explains that Avrohom stood against the entire civilized world and preached about that there is only one Guiding Force in the world, Hashem. He wrote books proving his beliefs and even broke his father’s idols to demonstrate that they are powerless. Eventually Nimrod cast him into a fiery furnace and the heat was cooled off by the angels and he came out unscathed.
lthough Man was created in a very near to perfection state, mankind descended to the abyss of denial with involvement in idolatry and rejection of Hashem. Perhaps the ultimate denunciation was the infamous Tower of Babel.
We finished another cycle of reading the Torah and now we begin anew from the first parsha, Bereishis. That word actually means the beginning but is that what it is? After all, we did the same thing last year and all the years before. Are we always just beginning? Is there no end!
On Yom Kippur, the holiest day on our calendar, we reached the epitome of sanctity as we recited the Neilah service crying out to Hashem for His mercy and compassion. We concluded with Shema, the national call for acceptance of Hashem’s sovereignty and we answered with a resounding yes but it requires an explanation.