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| Sefer haZohar |
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Moreh Nevuchim |
INTRODUCTION:
Almost every single version of the various narratives about
Avraham contain the well-known moral lesson that he rejected the idolatrous and
occultist practices of his birth culture and pioneered a new monotheistic path.
In this article, however, based extensively on the research of Professor Oded
Yisraeli[1], we will
explore a very different narrative of the same story. This narrative is from
the Zohar which, according to Yisraeli, puts forward the view that:
[N]ot only did Abraham not
separate himself from these practices but he himself was responsible for them[!]
Before we look at what the Zohar says in greater
detail, let us first turn to the mainstream view as exemplified in the writings
of Maimonides (or Rambam, 1135-1204):
