Avot286

20:
Both Rambam and Rabbi Ovadyah [see Avot 282] are agreed concerning the remaining trials of Abraham. The next one on their joint list is circumcision at an advanced age. The Torah [Genesis 17:24] tells us that Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he received and obeyed the command concerning circumcision [Genesis 17:9-14]:

Thus the covenant of circumcision is also called the covenant of Father Abraham because this basic religious obligation was first revealed to him and first practiced by him.

21:
Throughout the ages circumcision of males was regarded as the physical sign of the national covenant between God and the Jewish people. In earlier times Israel was well aware that some of the surrounding peoples – such as the Philistines – did not practice circumcision and this was looked upon as a sign of their spiritual inferiority, a reason for religious derision. (David ridicules Goliath as being "this uncircumcised Philistine who has taunted the ranks of the living God" [1Samuel 17:26, 36]. And in Isaiah 52:1 the prophet promises that nevermore shall "uncircumcised and impure" enter Jerusalem. Many other examples could be cited.) It was only when the Jews met Europeans that this attitude began to change. We discussed the steps taken by the sages to protect and preserve the covenant of circumcision from the hellenizers who sought to abrogate this commandment. See Avot 184 and Avot 185.

22:
The next trial, being subjected to violence at the hands of the king of Gerar refers to an incident documented in Genesis 20. The story is very similar indeed to that already told in Chapter 12 and described by us in Avot 283. Modern critical scholars, of course, assume that this story, which appears three times in all in the book of Genesis in different forms is a triplication of sources. This consideration is of no consequence at all to our present discussion. For the sake of completeness let us note that the three locations of this story are Genesis 12:10-20 (Abraham, Sarah and the Pharoah of Egypt); Genesis 20:1-18 (Abraham, Sarah and Abimelekh King of Gerar); Genesis 26:1-11 (Isaac, Rebecca and Abimelekh King of Gerar).

23:
The next trial, the expulsion of Hagar and Ishma'el from Abraham's household has already been described by us. See Avot 285.

To be continued.

In Avot 283 we mentioned that El was a Canaanite deity. Ronen Lautman asks:

How do we know that the name of the deity was El, rather than "el" being the noun equivalent to the Arabic "allah?"

I respond:

In 1928 archeological excavations were undertaken at the Syrian site called Ras Shamra. The excavations discovered the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit, complete with its palaces and libraries. The Canaanite city flourished during the middle years of the second millenium BCE. From the clay tablets in the town library we learn much of the Canaanite religion. Briefly, Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, El, the "creator of heaven and earth". Other prominent gods were Hadad ("king of Heaven", also known as Ba'al, "the Master"), Asherah (his sister), Yam (the god of primordial chaos, tempests, and mass-destruction) and Mot (Death). Ugaritic texts have provided scholars with a wealth of material on the religion of the Canaanites.

Another archeological site that has been excavated is one that turned out to be the ancient city of Ebla which flourished during the late third millenium BCE. Here also we find a plethora of Canaanite gods. Again, the chief god is El who was later supplanted by his son Ba'al (just as Chronos was supplanted by Zeus in Greek mythology).

Clearly, then the name "El" is a very ancient Semitic term for a deity and has been adopted and modified in the various Semitic religions ever since – including that of Israel. (Allah was the name of an Arab deity long before Islam was born.)

Because of my personal commitments the next Shiur in this series will probably be on 7th August.