Genesis 11:31
וַיִּקַּ֨ח תֶּ֜רַח אֶת־אַבְרָ֣ם בְּנ֗וֹ וְאֶת־ל֤וֹט בֶּן־הָרָן֙ בֶּן־בְּנ֔וֹ וְאֵת֙ שָׂרַ֣י כַּלָּת֔וֹ אֵ֖שֶׁת אַבְרָ֣ם בְּנ֑וֹ וַיֵּצְא֨וּ אִתָּ֜ם מֵא֣וּר כַּשְׂדִּ֗ים לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ עַד־חָרָ֖ן וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם׃
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan; but when they had come as far as Haran, they settled there.
While Abraham gets the credit for being the first Jew, it’s easy to forget where he came from. In next week’s Torah portion, Abraham will make the journey from Haran to Canaan, and set the foundation for Jewish peoplehood. But Abraham was not the first to set out for Canaan. It was his father, Terach, who made the decision to uproot his family and set out for Canaan. No, he did not make it there, but he set Abraham on the path to this holy land.
Like Abraham’s past, It’s easy to forget where we come from. I know I’m not the only one who takes for granted that we live in a country where persecution for being Jewish is nothing like it was in the numerous countries our families originate from. Being here means that someone made the difficult choice to leave behind a home and set out for a new life. It’s also easy to forget that who we are – our personality, our aspirations, our moral compass – is also a product of the generations that came before us. None of us start from scratch.
Like Abraham, we too have a journey ahead of us. We are still paving our path, the story of our life still being written. Where we go, what we will achieve, all of this does not happen without a long list of those who got us to where we are today. When we are faced with challenges, we can look back and take comfort knowing that we share this road with the generations who came before us, and they too had difficulties. When we come to rest and are blessed with peace and fulfillment, we also ought to look back and appreciate that we did not get here alone.Of course all of us seek out the comforts and delicacies of life, and for good reason. But having all the stuff you need without anyone to share this world with is not paradise at all. We need a partner, or friends, or a community to move through life with to have a hope in achieving the kind of comfort and joy our soul needs to feel at peace. So, yes. Adam ate the apple. He and Eve would forfeit paradise and enter an uncertain future, but at least he would no longer be alone.