Avot282

1:
Our mishnah continues with the chronological development of the biblical narrative: from Adam to Noaĥ, and then from Noaĥ to Abraham, who is the subject of our present mishnah.

2:
Abraham is considered not only the physical progenitor of our people but also the spiritual founder of our faith. In a letter to a proselyte Rambam once wrote:

Thus, in the eyes of our sages the appellation "Father Abraham" is not just a rather trite sobriquet, but a title of honour that is full of meaning.

3:
Before we address the nature of Abraham's testing let us enumerate the ten tests which our mishnah says Abraham underwent successfully. In his commentary on our present mishnah Rambam lists them as follows (though these items are not presented below in Rambam's language):

1. being required to move to a foreign country;
2. being confronted with famine upon arrival;
3. being subjected to violence by the Egyptians;
4. his battle with the four kings;
5. having to assure progeny through Hagar;
6. circumcision at an advanced age;
7. being subjected to violence by the king of Gerar;
8. having to expel Hagar from his household;
9. having to estrange himself from Ishmael;
10. the binding of Isaac.

Rambam's identification of the tests remains strictly attached to the biblical narrative. Rabbi Ovadyah of Bertinoro, however, in his enumeration, changes some of the items and includes one from a midrashic source:

1. being cast into a furnace by Nimrod in Ur;
2. being required to move to a foreign country;
3. being confronted with famine upon arrival;
4. being subjected to violence by the Egyptians;
5. his battle with the four kings;
6. the foretelling of the subjugation of his progeny;
7. circumcision at an advanced age;
8. being subjected to violence by the king of Gerar;
9. having to expel Hagar and Ishmael from his household;
10. the binding of Isaac.

4:
According to a midrash [Bereshit Rabbah 38:13] after Abraham had demonstrated to his father the folly of idolatry the enraged Teraĥ handed him over to Nimrod, King of Ur. When Abraham showed a steadfast belief in the One God in the face of threats Nimrod had him cast into a lighted furnace: "Let the God you worship come and deliver you from it." And, of course, He did.

5:
But surely Rambam is correct that the first real test that Abraham underwent is when [Genesis 12:1-4]

The test is not just the simple test of wrenching oneself from kith and kin and from familiar culture and surroundings and to go on aliyah into the unknown. Many much lesser souls have done no less than that. The real test was inside Abraham, and this test was to be repeated again and again for him during his lifetime. Abraham's God is different from all the other gods that mankind had known: Abraham's God could not be seen nor could He be heard by ordinary mortals. As Rambam himself was to demonstrate so forcefully so many thousands of years after Abraham: God is not a physical entity, is not possessed of physical attributes. God does not speak, see, feel etc. Therefore, when this strange but insistent thought enters Abraham's mind that he is required to pack up and leave home and family and to head for a new country which will only be identified to him when he gets there – is this his own madness speaking or is this in reality the voice of the living God that he has come to recognize? That is a test.

To be continued.