Robert Buchanan 6/7 11-30-12

Source Citation Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. 2012.

Early Life
He was the son of an idol merchant, but from his early childhood he questioned the faith of his father. Abraham came to believe that the entire universe was the work of a single Creator and he began to teach other this belief. Abram tried to teach his father the folly of idol worship. One day, when Abram was left alone to mind the store, he took a hammer and smashed all of the idols except the largest one. He placed the hammer in the hand of the largest idol. When his father returned and asked what happened, Abram said, "The idols got into a fight, and the big one smashed all the other ones." His father said, "Don't be ridiculous. These idols have no life or power. They can't do anything." Abram replied, "Then why do you worship them?"

The Covenant
The idea of b'rit is fundamental to traditional Judaism: we have a covenant, a contract, with G-d, which involves rights and obligations on both sides. We have certain obligations to G-d, and G-d has certain obligations to us. The terms of this b'rit became more explicit over time, until the time of the Giving of the Torah. Abram was subjected to ten tests of faith to prove his worthiness for this covenant. Leaving his home is one of these trials.

Sacrifice

Abraham was commanded by God to offer his young son, Isaac, up as a sacrifice. The patriarch traveled three days until he came to the mount that God told him of. Isaac carried the wood upon which he would be sacrificed. Along the way, Isaac asked his father where the animal for the burnt offering was, to which Abraham replied, "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering". Just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, the angel of the LORD interrupted him, and he saw behind him a ram "caught in a thicket by his horns", which he sacrificed instead of his son. For his obedience he received another promise of numerous descendants and abundant prosperity. (Genesis 22:119)

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Use History Alive! Pages 104-105 to complete the following. Write complete sentences with specific details from the text. Be thorough in your answers. Input Charts are the primary source for Unit Exams (30% HISTORY category) and they need to be used as study guides. PROMPT 1.) On page 104, describe the information and purpose of the map. 2.) When and where was Abram born? 3.) Explain the difference in belief between Abraham and the people of his home. 4.) Define covenant. 5.) What did God tell Abram to do? 6..) Around 1950 BCE where did Abram take his relatives? 7.) Explain in detail what God promised Abram and what Abram promised God. 8.) Define descendants. 9.) What is the meaning of Abrams new name Abraham? 10.) According to the Torah, what did the covenant mean? 11.) Define sacrifice. 12.) Explain why Gods final test of Abraham was extremely difficult. 13.) Elaborate on how God kept his promise to Abraham after his final test. 14.) Identify the contributions Abraham made to Judaism. YOUR ANSWER The purpose of the map is to show people the route taken by Abraham from Mesopotamia to Canaan. Abraham was born in Ur around 2,000 B.C.E. The difference between the people and Abraham meant that Abraham believed there was only one god when the people believed the opposite. Covenant means an agreement or a promise God told Abraham to leave his country and his fathers house to go to a country I will show you. He went west to the land of Canaan. God promised Abraham to protect and favor Abrahams relatives and Abraham promised god that all his people would always devote themselves to god. Descendants mean a daughter or son, granddaughter or grandson, and so on. Abrams new name Abraham means father of many. It meant that Jews would set an example for how god wanted people to live. Sacrifice means a gift of an animal for slaughter to honor the gods. It was hard because Abraham needed to sacrifice his son. God kept his promise by letting the Jews flourished. Abraham made many contributions such as he was the ancestor of the Jews, he introduced the belief in a single god, and because of his covenant to god he set the example of how to live.

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15.) Interpret the painters attitude of the subject of the painting on page 105.

The painting shows Abraham almost about ready to kill his son until and angel appears out of the sky to bless Abraham.