Why can cutlery teleport but not time travel?

It’s silverwhere, not silverwhen

Our forefather Abraham was tested with 10 tests.  Things like having his wife abducted, going to war against overwhelming odds, and being asked to sacrifice his son to God.  These were all incredibly difficult to pass, and by doing so, Abraham showed how devoted he was to God and created a lasting spiritual protection for his descendants. 

According to the Rambam, the first of these tests was when “Hashem said to Abram, ‘Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” Breishis 12:1

So… move to a new house.  How hard is that?  It hardly seems to be on the same scale as the other tests on the list.  Lots of people do that!

The frequency of an event can belie it’s significance.  We now live in a world where more people than ever move to cities where they did not grow up, often far away from their family and childhood friends.  This is often seen as a rite of passage, a sign of maturity.  In fact, to stay in your family’s home is degraded as “living in your mother’s basement” and mocked in popular media. 

For thousands of years, much of the human race never traveled very far from their home town.  It was a common custom to take the profession of your father.  It was likely you would marry someone you knew as a child.  Many cultures housed multiple generations in a single household all at once.  If you did travel a long distance to live in a new place, most probably, your community migrated with you. 

Why did people not move as much?  Well, the lack of things like airplanes, telephones, and the internet certainly contributed, but there are also advantages to having a permanent tight knit community.  Your family who care about you more than anyone is always right there to lean on for security.  The community can pass down it’s wisdom to you on everything you will encounter.  You would never have to search for people who have things in common with you.

There are advantages to the larger more interconnected world we live in now, but even today, where moving far from home is common, there are certainly difficulties attached to it. Moving is currently listed as one of the most stressful periods of life. And when Abraham did it, he couldn’t just WhatsApp call his parents on weekends.

This may be the easiest to relate to of Abraham’s 10 tests, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the easiest test. And we should keep that in mind when we encounter people who have recently moved, and maybe give them an extra helping hand so their relocation doesn’t have to be as hard of a test.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi A and the JET Team