In order to account for a number of lacunae in the Biblical text, the Rabbis posited that an academic institution for “Tora” study existed in ancient times, well before the Jewish people left Egypt and received the text that we refer to as the Tora at Sinai.

            Aside from the myriad central religious questions raised by the story of the binding of Isaac, one that appears essentially textual in nature concerns Beraishit 22:19. If in fact Avraham heeded the last-minute Divine Instruction not to do anything to his son Yitzchak (v. 12), why do we read that only Avraham returned to the youths waiting at the foot of the mountain? Where was Yitzchak? Yitzchak is disconcertingly absent during the mourning for and burial of his beloved mother Sara (23:1-20). Only in Chapter 24 do we read about Avraham’s orchestrating a search for a wife for his son, and Yitzchak’s finally coming out to meet Rivka upon her and Eliezer’s return from Aram Naharaim (v. 63 ff.) Where had Yitzchak been for all this time? Even if one would accept the contention of Ibn Ezra on 22:19 that because Yitzchak is being directed by his father in all matters, it is not necessary to mention him coming down Har HaMoriah, the son’s not publicly mourning for his mother—we read in 24:67 that he was not comforted regarding her death until he married Rivka—would appear to suggest that he had gone elsewhere and was no longer physically with his father. A hypothesis designed to account for Yitzchak’s disappearance, is cited in Beraishit Rabba 56:11: “R. Berechya in the name of the Rabbis explained that Avraham sent Yitzchak to Shem in order to study Tora. A parable: This is like a woman who became wealthy as a result of the skilled use of a spindle, and therefore said, ‘Since from this spindle I have been successful, I shall forever keep it with me.’ Similarly Avraham said, ‘All that I have is the result of my delving into Tora and Mitzvot.’ Therefore he never wished that this learning depart from his offspring.”

            The Midrash cited above not only posits that Yitzchak became a student of Shem, Noach’s third son (6:10), during the period between the Akeida and his marriage, but that   Avraham himself had also studied within such a context.  It is for this reason that Avraham  had all along intended for his son Yitzchak at some point to replicate the important experience that he himself had undergone. Avoda Zara 14b suggests that at least the quantity, if not also the quality, of the subject matter that Avraham mastered during his education, differs from our contemporary texts. “R. Chisda said to Avimi: There is a tradition that the tractate Avoda Zora of our father Avraham consisted of four hundred chapters…”* It is not unreasonable that an individual who is described by the Midrash as a literal iconoclast,** and who, according to RaMBaM*** engaged in public debates with idolaters in order to attempt to advance his concept of monotheism, would have invested significant time to learn all that he could regarding issues of belief. While at least one Rabbinic tradition assumes that Avraham was an autodidact in terms of his religious development,**** it would make sense that at least some of his quest for knowledge and understanding,  probably following his epiphany of realizing that there was a single God (see Berashit Rabba 39:1) would take place under the tutelage of others.

            A second temporary disappearance that is attributed to time spent in study at the Yeshiva of Shem and his great grandson Ever (see Beraishit 10:21-24) is discussed by RaShI on 28:9. The commentator calculates the years of Yishmael, the amounts of time that Yaakov spends with Lavan, and Yaakov’s age when he first meets Pharoah, and concludes that 14 years are missing.  RaShI asserts that the years between the time that he obtains Yitzchak’s blessings and when he finally arrives in Charan were spent in the very same “Yeshiva of Ever.”

            The chain of information from Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov is then passed to Yosef, Yaakov’s (37:3)  “Ben Zekunim” (child of wisdom) according to Beraishit Rabba 84:8. “R. Nechemia said: All of the laws that Shem and Ever taught Yaakov, were given to him (Yosef). He also made for him a coat of many colors…”

            Even our foremothers were associated with this institution, when RaShI (25:22) explains that the struggle of the twin fetuses within Rivka would be exacerbated by Yaakov’s trying to exit when “she would pass in front of the doorways of Tora of Shem and Ever.” Furthermore, the manner in which “she went to inquire of HaShem” as to why she was having all of these difficulties, was by (Yalkut Shimoni Toldot 110) “going to the House of Study of Shem and Ever, which comes to teach that whomever seeks out the presence of a Tora scholar is equivalent to one seeking out the Divine Presence Itself.”

            The significance attributed to these two individuals, Shem and Ever, would seem to beg the question as to their accomplishments and how they rose to such prominence and fame. Yet the Tora is remarkably silent when it comes to relating virtually anything about these two individuals. On the one hand, Shem, Noach’s son, in contrast to his sibling Cham, shows respect to his naked, drunken father, when he backs into his father’s tent and covers his nakedness (9:23). Noach repays him by bestowing upon him a blessing (v. 26-27) that suggests that of all of the earth’s civilizations, the descendants of Shem (semites) will enjoy HaShem’s Presence most immanently and immediately. Yet, despite  his brother Yefet’s equal assistance in order to cover their father, his blessing pales in comparison to that of Shem. We have no indication that Shem did anything additionally that would set him so much apart from Yefet.*****

            As for Ever, no action at all is attributed to him. The Tora does appear to draw attention to Ever in 10:21, when it identifies Shem as “the father of all of the children of Ever…” However, commentators like RaShI and RaMBaN understand this to mean that Shem was the forefather of the “Ivrim”, those who “came from the other Ever (side) of the river.” Just as Avraham was not indigenous to Canaan, but came from the Northeast, the other side of Ever HaYarden (Jordan River), and therefore he is referred to as Avraham the Ivri (14:13), so too will his descendents be known as Ivri’im.  It is only Sephorno who claims that the appellation for the people does not stem from a geographical detail, but rather from the ancestor Ever who was dedicated to understand and teach the concepts of God’s Existence, His Omniscience, and His Omnipotence. A more subtle claim made for Ever’s exceptional spirituality appears in RaShI on 10:25. Reacting to the Tora’s explaining the name of one of Ever’s sons, Peleg, “because during his lifetime the peoples of the world were dispersed”—the addition of this information is unique in terms of the other names appearing  in Chapter 10—RaShI suggests that by Ever naming his son Peleg, we conclude that he was a prophet, since the name was given many years prior to the event of the destruction of the Tower of Babel and the dispersing of its inhabitants (11:8-9).

            It is possible that because the Tora assumes the opposite of the anthropological account for the development of religion, i.e., that Adam, Eve, Kayin, Hevel, Sheth and Enosh, all were monotheists, as was Noach, that rather than attributing to Avraham the complete discovery of this manner of belief, ChaZaL thought it preferable to assume that there were always monotheists and prophets around; at times their presence was  more prominent while at other times less people were aware of them throughout the early days of Biblical history. The identification of MalkiTzedek  (14:18-20) with Shem by RaShI, precludes an alternative possibility that perhaps more than one individual had developed monotheistic beliefs and that in fact Avraham had had fellow travelers in the world, sharing at least some of his theological sophistication. Yet RaMBaM****** understands that a sea change took place with regard to Avraham compared to these other believers, if not in substance, than at least in style.

“Not one of the prophets, such as the Patriarchs, Shem, Ever, Noach, Metushelach and Chanoch, who came before Moshe our Teacher has ever said to a class of people: God has sent me to you and has commanded me to say to you such and such things…He who received a great overflow, as for instance Avraham, assembled the people and called them by way of teaching and instruction to adhere to the truth that he had grasped…But he (too) never said: God has sent me to you and given me commandments and prohibitions…”

While RaMBaM emphasizes that prior to Moshe none of our prophets were law givers, nevertheless, they were all, with the exception of Avraham, interested in maintaining a relatively low profile, and were satisfied to develop their own thinking, and that of anyone who would choose to come to them, rather than go out to the masses and try to get them to change their ways and their beliefs. Perhaps this is why there are no descriptions of the acts of Shem, Ever, Metushelach and Chanoch, because there were no public acts to describe. In effect, they were keepers of the flame, waiting until someone would come along and carry that flame throughout the Middle East and ultimately the entire world. If we are to be truly the Talmidim of Avraham, then we must not only assure our own personal spirituality and that of our immediate families, but also do our best to assist others in reaching their maximum Kedusha potentials.

*In contrast, Tractate Avoda Zora as we have it, is comprised of only five chapters. R. Chisda cites Avraham’s example in awe, and he continues, “…We have only five chapters, and we still do not understand the material.”

**See Beraishit Rabba 38:13 for the stories in which Avraham engages in idol smashing.

***Mishna Tora, Hilchot Avodat Kochavim, 1:3. 

****Beraishit Rabba 95:3 “…Until this point the Tora has not been given, and yet it is written (Beraishit 26:5) ‘…and he guarded My Guardings…’  From where did Avraham learn My Tora? R. Shimon said: His two kidneys functioned like two pitchers of water and they would pour out water unceasingly…R. Levi said: He learned Tora from himself…R. Yonatan Sar HaBira said: Avraham even fulfilled the rules of Eiruv Tavshilin…And how old was Avraham when he recognized his Creator? He was 48. Reish Lakish said: He was 3…

*****It might be contended from the order in which Noach’s sons  are listed in the Tora that Shem was the oldest, and hence the Bechor. (If this were true, then it would also be a departure from the Tora’s apparent anti-primogeniture stand discussed in the Dvar Tora for Beraishit 5764.) However Sanhedrin 69b demonstrates textually that in fact Shem was the youngest, and the order in which they are listed “is in order of their wisdom.”

******Guide for the Perplexed, II 39.