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Avraham Avinu heard that there was a quarrel between his shepherds and Lot's shepherds. He spoke with Lot, and offered him a compromise, allowing Lot to choose where he wanted to live. Lot and Avraham separated from one another, with Lot choosing to live near people who were "exceedingly wicked and sinful to G-d." But despite the distance between them and the fact that they had separated, the moment Avraham heard that Lot had been captured in war, he went out to battle to free him, risking himself and his men. As we know, we strive to learn from the actions of our forefathers, in the spirit of מעשה אבות סימן לבנים – “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children." Avraham’s behavior towards Lot showed a special sense of brotherhood. This quality of brotherhood among the Jewish Nation is expressed in the famous saying, “כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה” – “All of Israel are responsible for one another." This important value, and the commitment to it, should lead us all to think and ask ourselves: how should we be acting towards our brothers, our fellow Jews – the people of Israel, those whom we meet every day, and also more distant Jews? Does this principle apply also to fellow Jews whose way of life or behavior we disagree with?
Name of the Study Unit: Avraham’s Journey & the Choices Along the Way (Bereishit 12:6-13:24) Unit Summary and Primary Lessons In this lesson, we will learn about Avraham's journeys and the challenges he faced in Canaan. Avraham settled in several places upon arriving in Canaan: Elon Moreh, Beit-El, and the Negev. After being forced to go to Egypt due to famine, he returned to Beit-El. Throughout these wanderings, Avraham remained connected to G-d. He turned to G-d or built an altar for Him, and on some occasions, G-d revealed Himself to Avraham. (Details can be found in the background for this unit). After Avraham and his family returned from Egypt, a dispute arose between Lot's shepherds and Avraham's shepherds over grazing land. Avraham decided to approach Lot and propose a solution to the quarrel. In his discussion with Lot, Avraham accommodated him and gave him the option to choose where he preferred to live. After Lot chose the Jordan River Valley near the city of Sedom, the Torah notes a crucial detail – that the people of Sedom were “exceedingly wicked and sinful to G-d.” This detail is extremely important in light of the events involving Sedom later in the story. After Lot and Avraham parted ways, G-d appeared to Avraham and again promised him the land and descendants. Avraham then moved to Chevron, where he built an altar for G-d. Subsequently, a regional war broke out among several kingdoms, during which Lot was captured. In response, Avraham took his men, thrust himself into danger, and rescued Lot. The primary lessons that emerge from this unit: * Avraham continued to adhere to his faith and values even after returning from Egypt with great wealth - he again called in G-d’s Name. * Avraham established peace and found a solution to the problem he had with Lot's shepherds. Avraham conceded and let Lot choose where he wanted to live. * Despite his nephew choosing to live near Sedom, and despite their separation, Avraham was willing to risk his life and to fight to save him. (Value of brotherhood.) * Avraham abhorred Sedom because they were "exceedingly wicked and sinful to G-d." * Avraham cooperated with believing gentiles – Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem.
El éxodo de Egipto. Mapa con explicacionesKnowledge Objectives in Teaching the Unit:
· The student will review Avraham's wanderings, his calling in G-d’s Name, and his building altars.
· The student will become familiar with the places mentioned in these chapters (Elon Moreh, Beit-El, the Negev, Chevron, Sedom).
· The student will study in depth the story of the quarrel between Lot's shepherds and Avraham's shepherds.
· The student will be exposed to the story of Avraham's efforts to rescue Lot.
Responsible decision making: identifying problems, analyzing possible solutions, attempting to solve problems by practicing reflective skills and by assuming social and ethical responsibilities.
In this unit, we will further explore Avraham's character and the challenges he faced upon arriving in Canaan. We will notice that:
1. When Avraham arrived in Canaan, he settled in Elon Moreh. G-d turned to him and promised the land to his descendants, and in response, Avraham built an altar to G-d.
2. Avraham continued from there southward, to the area east of Beit-El, and built another altar to G-d.
From there, Avraham continued further south to the Negev, and when a famine struck, he went down to Egypt. In Egypt, G-d brought severe afflictions upon Pharaoh because he took Sarah, not knowing that she was Avraham's wife. (Avraham did not reveal this information because he feared they would kill him.)
3. After Pharaoh released Sarah, Avraham and Sarah (and also Lot) returned to Canaan - between Beit-El and Ha’ai, where they had initially settled. Once again, Avraham built an altar to G-d.
It is worth emphasizing the following points:
· Throughout the verses, we find that Avraham built altars for G-d on many occasions.
Avraham turned to G-d and built altars for Him even when G-d did not appear to him. Avraham created a connection with G-d throughout his journeys, called in G-d’s Name, and brought the belief in G-d everywhere he went. The building of altars was a prominently visible act that was done in view of the Canaanite peoples who practiced idolatry. In this way, Avraham began to reveal G-d’s Name in the world, and paved a path that ran in direct opposition to the idolatrous beliefs that prevailed among the Canaanite peoples. Even after returning from Egypt, Avraham adhered to his faith, as evidenced by the fact that upon his return, he again offered a sacrifice at the same place where he had first built an altar.
· Avraham received from G-d promises that he would receive the land, and that he would have offspring, whereas at this stage in the story he still had no children, and he could not even remain in the land that he had moved to because of the famine. Meaning, the fulfillment of G-d’s promises to Avraham appeared nowhere on the horizon, and thus Avraham required a great deal of faith in G-d that these promises would indeed be fulfilled.
· We should emphasize that due to time constraints, we cannot study in depth the stories of Avraham’s stay in Egypt and the afflictions brought upon Pharaoh, or the story of the war between the kings. Of course, we will note these events in class, but they will be mentioned only briefly. The teacher is invited, based on his discretion, to add further details about these stories.
Avraham’s stay in Egypt: Bereishit 12:10-20
The war among the kings: Bereishit, chapter 14.
The beginning of Avraham’s life in Canaan is characterized by travels through several different areas in the land, his turning to G-d, and G-d’s revelation to him.
The students will study the route that Avraham took, and fill out the collaborative slideshow. They will learn the geography of each place he came to, and summarize in a few words what he did there. (This can be done in pairs.)
The teacher will summarize this study session with a brief discussion:
Answer: (Elon Moreh, between Beit-El & Ha’ai, the Negev, and later in Egypt and back to Beit-El, and, finally, in Elonei-Mamrei, which is in Chevron.)
The route can be roughly drawn on the board in order to get a complete picture of the route..
Possible answer: Avraham built an altar, or called in G-d’s Name. This expresses Avraham’s faith in G-d, his consistent connection to G-d, and his desire to spread G-d’s Name even in places where people practiced idol-worship. It should be noted that the people in Avraham’s surroundings, wherever he was, were steeped in idolatry, while Avraham called in G-d’s Name, declaring the belief in a single Deity.
Possible answer: When Avraham arrived in Canaan, G-d promised him the land, and that he would have offspring. However, the land was struck by famine, forcing Avraham to leave. Additionally, at this stage Avraham had no children.
The promises appeared very, very far from his current reality.
Possible answer: We can learn that Avraham believed even though he did not see the promises being fulfilled. More generally, we can learn that sometimes it takes time for G-d's promises to materialize, and in some instances, they seem contradicted by reality. Sometimes we need faith and patience.
The study at this stage will focus on the continuation of the story of Avraham and Lot after they return from Egypt.
The relevant verses describing the problem can be presented:
2) Now Avram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold.
3) And he proceeded by stages from the Negev as far as Bet-Ell, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bet-El and Ha’ai,
4) to the site of the altar that he had built there at first; and there Avram called in the Name of G-d.
5) Lot, who went with Avram, also had flocks and herds and tents,
6) so that the land could not support them staying together; for their possessions were so great that they could not remain together.
7) And there was quarreling between the shepherds of Avram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle. The Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land.
(Bereishit 13:2-7)
We can go back and refresh our memories about the beginning of the story, when Avraham, Sarah and Lot arrived together from Charan to Canaan. Now, after having gone to Egypt, they returned in a different condition. The verses speak of Avraham and Lot separately. Although they came back from Egypt to the same place, each had his own property, resulting in a serious problem of finding enough space for their cattle.
The big question is how to solve this problem.
The teacher will use the “dilemma method” and divide the students into pairs. They will read the slides entitled “Lot and Avraham’s Shepherds” which discuss the problem, and they will propose possible solutions. Instructions for using the “dilemma method” can be found at this link.
After the students complete the activity with the slides, the teacher will ask them to share their proposed solutions, and to hear the solutions proposed by their peers.
The teacher will then describe how the story unfolds in the subsequent verses (they can also be projected onto the board):
8) Avram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my shepherds and yours, for we are brothers.
9) Is not the whole land before you? Let us, please, separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.”
10) Lot looked about him and saw how well watered was the whole plain of the Jordan, all of it—this was before G-d had destroyed Sedom and Amora—all the way to Tzoar, like the garden of G-d, like the land of Egypt.
11) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they parted from each other;
12) Avram remained in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sedom.
13) Now the inhabitants of Sedom were exceedingly wicked and sinful to G-d.
(Bereishit 13:8-13)
The students can be asked a number of questions:
(The teacher will ask the students to cite the words in the verses in order to substantiate their answers.)
Possible answer: Lot’s close proximity to the people of Sedom at this point might turn out to be significant later.
Or: Lot perhaps knew about the character of the people of Sedom, but he nevertheless chose to live near them, and this perhaps shows something about Lot and his choices.
(The teacher will have the students create an additional page with the source from Bereishit 13:18.)
The students can briefly learn about the war between the kings. (The teacher can briefly tell them the story, or refer them to the Wikipedia entry, “Battle of Siddim.”)
In short, it can be said that there was a war between five kings in the region against four kings. The four kings from the area of Mesopotamia defeated the five kings who ruled in the Jordan Valley area, and controlled them for 12 years. Afterwards, the five kings rebelled, and again the four kings fought against them to regain control.
We will discuss with the students-
After explaining about the war between the kings, the teacher explains that Lot, who lived near Sedom, was captured. The teacher projects these verses on the board:
“They also took Lot, the son of Avram’s brother, and his possessions, and departed; for he had settled in Sedom.
A fugitive brought the news to Avram the Hebrew, who was dwelling at the terebinths of Mamrei the Amorite, the brother of Eshkol and Aner, these being Avram’s allies.”
When Avram heard that his brother had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”
(Bereishit 14:12-14)
The teacher will emphasize that during the war, Lot, who was living in Sedom, was taken captive.
Answer: “That his brother had been taken captive.” Lot was actually Avraham’s nephew, not his brother. Question: What does this come to teach us?
Possible answer: We could say that this refers to a relative, but we might also say that Lot is called “his brother” because of the special solidarity and closeness that Avraham feels towards Lot. Lot is his brother, someone for whom he must assume responsibility, and so he immediately goes out to chase after Lot’s captors with his small group of men, in order to rescue his brother.
The students can be told to read this small piece about the common Hebrew term אחי.
Possible answers:
Possible answer: It seems that this was only a physical separation, whereas emotionally, Avraham still felt closely connected to Lot and responsible for him.
“The Deeds of the Fathers are a Sign for the Children” - Feeling Connected to and Responsible for Our Brothers
‘We are brothers”
The principle that we learn from the story of Avraham’s rescuing of Lot is כל ישראל ערבים זה לה - “all Jews are responsible for one another,” the principle of mutual responsibility, which has accompanied the Jewish People throughout the generations.
The students can be sent to view this brief animated film about the raid on Entebbe (which was produced by the Jewish Story in Animation). The film tells of the rescue of the passengers on the Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to France which was hijacked and brought to Uganda. After watching the film, the students can be asked the following questions:
Throughout all of Avraham's stories, we will build together with the students a "portrait" of Avraham Avinu's character. The teacher can create a collaborative board, slideshow, or a physical poster hanging in the classroom that will be used throughout the entire period of studying Avraham's story.
At the end of each class, students will add an answer to the question: “What did I learn about Avraham in this class?”
(Values, thought processes, qualities, interpersonal relationships, leadership)
• We opened the lesson with a presentation describing Avraham's journeys in the land of Canaan. We wrote about what Avraham experienced at each stop along the way, and emphasized the fact that he revealed the Name of G-d to the world during his travels.
• In the main part of the lesson, we focused on the quarrel between Lot's shepherds and Avraham's shepherds after their return from Egypt.
• We discussed, using the "debate" method, what the solution to this quarrel should be. Then we analyzed Avraham's unique response, seeking to make peace and offering Lot to choose where he wanted to live. We noted the danger of Lot's choice to live in the area of Sedom.
• We concluded the lesson with the story of Avraham rescuing Lot, who was captured during the war of the kings, and discussed the value of brotherhood. We brought several examples of mutual responsibility in modern times that apply the value that Avraham expressed in the act of liberating Lot, and in his words, "we are brothers."
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