Derasha 1 on Lech Lecha 12:5

TT #1 · Parashas Lech Lecha · First Aliyah · Passuk 12:5

Complete Passuk

וַיִּקַּ֣ח אַבְרָם אֶת־שָׂרַ֣י אִשְׁתּ֗וֹ וְאֶת־ל֣וֹט בֶּן־אָחִ֔יו וְאֶת־כָּל־רְכוּשָׁם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר רָכָ֔שׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֣וּ בְחָרָ֑ן וַיֵּצְא֗וּ לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אַ֥רְצָה כְּנָֽעַן׃

Avram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their property that they had acquired, and the souls they had made in Charan; and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

TT points to Avodah Zarah 9a (Tanna de-vei Eliyahu): the two thousand years of Torah begin from “the souls they made in Charan.”

E-Daf image

Core Text

Core Text תָּנָא דְּבֵי אֵלִיָּהוּ: שֵׁשֶׁת אַלְפֵי שְׁנִין הָוֵי עָלְמָא — שְׁנֵי אֲלָפִים תֹּהוּ, שְׁנֵי אֲלָפִים תּוֹרָה, שְׁנֵי אֲלָפִים יְמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ. שְׁנֵי אֲלָפִים תּוֹרָה — מִן וְאֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ בְּחָרָן.
English of Core Text: The school of Eliyahu taught: the world endures six thousand years — two thousand of chaos, two thousand of Torah, two thousand of the Messianic era. The two thousand years of Torah begin from “the souls they made in Charan.”
On the daf / in context: Onkelos renders “the souls they made” as souls they brought under the wings of the Shechinah (conversion / teaching). That moment is taken as the start of the era of Torah.

Type of Learning

Custom

What Is Learned

Avram and Sarai’s work of drawing people to Heaven is treated as the historical opening of the “two thousand years of Torah.”