It is my personal opinion that our holy Torah uses Abraham to teach us that it's not always best to love God most of All. I believe God did not give us the Torah through Abraham because Abraham loved God too much. And instead, Moses was found worthy of giving the Torah because he was willing to advocate for the people of Israel, even if it meant defying God Himself.
God made the following promise to Abraham:
Genesis Chapter 12
א וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ
מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ. 1
Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will
show thee. ב וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל, וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ, וַאֲגַדְּלָה
שְׁמֶךָ; וֶהְיֵה, בְּרָכָה. 2 And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a
blessing.
God gives Abraham a promise that if Abraham leaves the people around him, that God will establish a new people through Abraham and his descendants. Every Jew learns of this promise, and its fulfillment. But what few Jews discuss is how the Torah compares Abraham's greatness vs Moses's greatness so we can see the shortcomings of Abraham. For example:
- In order to fulfill God's prophecy of descendants, Sarai and Abraham try to have a child through Hagar. God eventually has to tell Abraham that this was not the path.
- When God appears to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham advocates for those innocent in those cities. But he does not attempt to stop God, and Abraham does not attempt to save the innocent people himself, he just asks God to be righteous.
- Abraham allows his family to be torn apart twice for the sake of God's promise. Abraham sends away Hagar and Ishmael, which eventually become the separate people we now call Arabs, but whom might have been one of our tribes if they had not been sent away. And Abraham offers up Isaac, and after the near sacrifice we are never shown Abraham and Isaac as talking or living together ever again. Abraham only has one descendant, Isaac has few, whereas Ishmael has many kids and becomes his own people much faster than Abraham and Isaac, which we would not expect to be the case.
We know that God rewards Abraham for his faithfulness, and truly there were probably none so devoted to God in our tradition as Abraham. And while the Torah does not offer commentary on whether Abraham makes the actual right decision, the Torah does give us another story to compare to.
God makes nearly the same promise to Moses, but instead of Moses doing everything to try and fulfill God's promise like Abraham, Moses does something else entirely.
Exodus 32
י וְעַתָּה הַנִּיחָה לִּי, וְיִחַר-אַפִּי בָהֶם וַאֲכַלֵּם; וְאֶעֱשֶׂה
אוֹתְךָ, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל. 10 Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may
wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of
thee a great nation.' יא וַיְחַל מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-פְּנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו;
וַיֹּאמֶר, לָמָה יְהוָה יֶחֱרֶה אַפְּךָ בְּעַמֶּךָ, אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ
מִצְרַיִם, בְּכֹחַ גָּדוֹל וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה. 11 And Moses besought the LORD
his God, and said: 'LORD, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy
people, that Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with
great power and with a mighty hand? יב לָמָּה יֹאמְרוּ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר,
בְּרָעָה הוֹצִיאָם לַהֲרֹג אֹתָם בֶּהָרִים, וּלְכַלֹּתָם, מֵעַל פְּנֵי
הָאֲדָמָה; שׁוּב מֵחֲרוֹן אַפֶּךָ, וְהִנָּחֵם עַל-הָרָעָה לְעַמֶּךָ. 12
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying: For evil did He bring
them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from
the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this
evil against Thy people. יג זְכֹר לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל
עֲבָדֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לָהֶם בָּךְ, וַתְּדַבֵּר אֲלֵהֶם, אַרְבֶּה
אֶת-זַרְעֲכֶם כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמָיִם; וְכָל-הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתִּי,
אֶתֵּן לְזַרְעֲכֶם, וְנָחֲלוּ, לְעֹלָם. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self, and
saidst unto them: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven,
and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed,
and they shall inherit it for ever.'
- When God told Abraham he would make a people through him, Abraham changed his entire life to fulfill this promise. Moses is not at all tempted by this promise. Abraham advocates only for the innocent, but in the end would not stand between God and those God are judging. Moses advocates for the entire people, guilty and innocent alike.
- When push came to shove Abraham was willing to give up both of his children for God's promise. When push came to shove Moses would rather be taken out of God's Torah than let the people of Israel be destroyed.
And so it is my opinion that the Torah comes to teach us the following: If Abraham would have been there at the Golden Calf, he would have let God destroy the entire people since all of them were at least a little guilty in the idolatry after witnessing the miracles of their salvation. Abraham would have watched God destroy them all, and then he would have tried to have another child to fulfill God's promise. The greatness of Moses and the greatness of Abraham are very different. And by comparing their greatnesses we can see where each fell short of the other. And I argue that we learn from Abraham that there's a cost to loving God too much
