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The Soul That Begged Not to Be Born Into the World

Before Abraham smashed his father's idols, his soul had already pleaded with God to stay in heaven. Every human soul forgets the argument it lost.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Boy in the Idol Shop
  2. What the Soul Knew Before the Shop
  3. The Shape God Pressed Into the Soul
  4. The Preacher Who Worked in a Shop
The Soul That Begged Not to Be Born Into the World Click for full size

The Boy in the Idol Shop

Terah made idols for a living in Ur of the Chaldees, and when illness laid him low, he sent his sons to mind the shop. Haran did as he was told. Abraham turned the family business into a one-man demolition of the family religion.

A customer would come in, and Abraham would ask his age. Thirty, the man might say. Forty. Abraham would lean across the counter with a quiet, devastating precision. You are forty years old, he would say, and you would bow to an object I carved this morning? You are willing to worship something younger than you are? The customer would leave without buying anything. Abraham would watch him go and go back to waiting for the next one.

When a woman came in to make an offering to the gods, Abraham smashed every idol in the shop except the largest and put the hammer in its hands. When Terah came to investigate, Abraham explained: the big one got angry and destroyed all the others. Terah said: these things have no power to do anything. Abraham said: then why are you asking me to sell them to people as gods?

What the Soul Knew Before the Shop

Long before any of this, before Abraham was born, before he was placed in Terah's household, before the idol shop existed, something happened to him. It happened before the world had a place in it for the man who would argue with his creator as both a teenager and a patriarch.

Every soul, in the Jewish accounting, is created before the body that will carry it. It is kept in a treasury in heaven, waiting for the moment it will be sent down. And every soul, before it is sent, pleads with God to be allowed to stay. The specific argument varies in different tellings, but the substance is always the same. The soul has seen the world from a distance. It knows what it is being sent into. And it does not want to go.

God sends it anyway. Each time, without exception. The soul descends, and at the moment it enters the body, it forgets the argument. It forgets the treasury. It forgets what it saw when it looked down at the world from a safe distance. It arrives in the flesh with no memory of having begged to stay home.

The Shape God Pressed Into the Soul

What the soul carries down into the body, even after forgetting the argument, is the impression of where it has been. The rabbis described God's care in making the human soul with an almost physical precision. The breath that animates the body was not breathed carelessly. It was shaped. It was given a particular form, a character, an inclination. God crafted each soul with the same attention a craftsman gives to his finest work, which means every human being is the product of a process that could not have been rushed.

This is the part of the soul's story that connects to Abraham. His soul had been in the treasury. It had looked down at the world. It had seen what was happening in the idol shops and the courts of the Chaldees and the kingdoms that ran on the fear of objects made of wood and stone. And it had asked not to be sent there. God sent it there anyway, because God had a purpose for the soul that it could not see from heaven.

The Preacher Who Worked in a Shop

Abraham's method in the idol shop was not simply the technique of a clever debater. The rabbis saw in it the particular genius of a soul that had been shaped to do exactly this work. He did not use power. He did not use fear. He asked people about their own age and let the arithmetic do the damage. He made the idols kill each other and then asked Terah to follow the implication of his own disbelief.

He was eventually thrown into a furnace for it, because the king of his city did not appreciate being publicly dismantled by a craftsman's son. Abraham walked out of the furnace unhurt. His brother Haran, who had waited to see how the furnace would go before declaring his allegiance, walked in after him to demonstrate his own faith and was burned to death. The furnace distinguished between the man whose conviction was prior to the evidence and the man whose conviction was contingent on it.

Legends Of The JewsAbrahamSoulFaithCreationIdolatry
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From the tradition

Sources

3 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews, V. Abraham, The Preacher Of The True FaithLegends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Project Gutenberg eBook #1493, The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1 · Public Domain

When Abraham reached the ripe old age of twenty, his father Terah, an idol maker, fell ill. Now, Terah needed some cash, so he asked his sons, Haran and Abraham, to sell a couple of his idols. Haran dutifully followed orders. But Abraham? Well, he had a different approach.

Whenever someone approached Abraham to buy an idol, he'd quote a high price – say, three manehs (an ancient unit of currency). Then he'd ask the prospective buyer, "How old are you?" If the person replied, "Thirty years old," Abraham would retort, "You're thirty years old, and you'd worship an idol I made today?" Unsurprisingly, the customer would usually walk away.

He'd even drag the idols through the streets, faces down, yelling, "Who'll buy an idol that profits neither itself nor the buyer? It has a mouth but doesn't speak, eyes but doesn't see, feet but doesn't walk, ears but doesn't hear!" Imagine seeing that spectacle!

Then, one day, an old woman approached him, eager to buy a large, impressive idol to worship. Abraham, never one to miss an opportunity for a teachable moment, questioned her: "What happened to the big idol you bought from my brother Haran?" The woman lamented that thieves had stolen it while she was at the bath.

Abraham pounced: "How can you worship an idol that can't even save itself from thieves? How can it save you from misfortune? If it's a god, why didn't it defend itself?" He was really laying it on thick, wasn't he?

The old woman, now genuinely confused, asked, "If what you say is true, whom should I serve?" And here it is, the million-dollar question! Abraham replied, "Serve the God of all gods, the Lord of lords, who created heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is within them!" He even took a shot at Nimrod, saying "Who is Nimrod, the dog, who calleth himself a god, that worship be offered unto him?"

The old woman got it. She became a zealous convert, smashing her recovered idol and proclaiming in the streets, "Whoever wants to save their soul from destruction and prosper, let them serve the God of Abraham!" According to Ginzberg, she converted many to the true belief.

This, naturally, didn't sit well with King Nimrod. He summoned the old woman and rebuked her for worshipping anyone but him. But she stood her ground, accusing Nimrod of denying the One True God. Her courage cost her her life.

But the seed had been planted. Nimrod, terrified by Abraham's growing influence, tried to intimidate him with a grand festival displaying his wealth and power. He even invited Abraham through Terah, hoping to impress him. Abraham refused to attend.

Instead, he took care of his father's and the king's idols while everyone was at the festival. And here's where it gets really interesting. While repeating the words, "The Eternal He is God, the Eternal He is God!" Abraham struck the king's idols from their thrones, and began to belabor them with an axe! He hacked off feet, beheaded others, and crushed eyes. He left the axe in the hand of the largest idol, a silent accusation.

When Nimrod returned and saw the carnage, he demanded to know who was responsible. Abraham, with a straight face, replied, "I didn't do it! The largest idol shattered the rest. See? He still has the axe!" Then, with a touch of sarcasm, he added, "If you don't believe me, ask him!"

This story, found in Legends of the Jews, based on earlier sources like Midrash Rabbah and the Zohar, isn't just a funny anecdote. It's a powerful illustration of Abraham's unwavering conviction, his courage in the face of authority, and his willingness to challenge the status quo. It shows us that even the most deeply ingrained beliefs can be questioned, and that truth, however uncomfortable, is worth fighting for. It makes you wonder, what idols are we clinging to that need to be challenged?

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Legends of the Jews 2:21Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

Legends of the Jews turns to How God Crafted the Human Soul with Immense Care.

In fact, the soul's creation is so important that it happened right at the beginning! According to some accounts, the soul was created on the very first day. It's described as the spirit of God, ruach (spirit) Elohim, moving upon the face of the waters. So, in a way, humanity – or at least its spiritual essence – wasn't the last act of creation, but actually the first!

This soul, this neshama, isn't a simple, one-dimensional thing. It's complex. Powerful. The tradition speaks of the soul possessing five distinct powers. Five!

One of the most fascinating of these powers is its ability to leave the body every night. According to this understanding, while we sleep, our souls ascend to heaven, seeking and gathering new life force to bring back to us.

That every night, we are subtly, invisibly, replenished by a divine source, all thanks to the incredible journey of our souls. What would it be like to be aware of that nightly sojourn? To feel that connection to something larger than ourselves, constantly renewing us from within?

And about the awesome responsibility we have to nurture and care for these incredible, multi-faceted souls that we carry within. What a gift. What a mystery. What a story.

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Legends of the Jews, II. Adam, The Soul Of ManLegends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Project Gutenberg eBook #1493, The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1 · Public Domain

In Legends of the Jews, a collection of fascinating rabbinic stories compiled by Louis Ginzberg, God’s care in forming our physical bodies is nothing compared to His concern for our souls. In fact, the soul wasn't an afterthought. It was created on the very first day! It's "the spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters," Ginzberg writes. So, instead of humans being the last creation, maybe we're actually the first. This soul, or neshama (נְשָׁמָה), as it's often called in Hebrew, isn't just a simple thing. It has five different powers, according to tradition. One of these powers allows it to leave the body every night, ascend to heaven, and bring back renewed life for us. It's like a nightly spiritual recharge!

The souls of all people, from Adam to the present day, were created together at the same time. They're kept in a sort of… soul bank, a "promptuary," in the seventh heaven. From there, they're drawn as needed, one by one, for each new human body.

How exactly does a soul get matched with a body? Well, when a woman conceives, the Angel of the Night, Lailah, presents the sperm before God. God then decrees the characteristics of the person to be born, male or female, strong or weak, rich or poor, all those things. Except for one thing: piety and wickedness. Those are left to our own choices.

Then, God instructs the angel in charge of souls to bring a specific soul from Paradise, one with a particular name and form. The soul appears before God, bowing down in reverence. God commands, "Enter this sperm."

And here's where the story takes a poignant turn. The soul, understandably, isn't thrilled. "O Lord of the world!" it pleads. "I'm happy where I am! Why do you want me to enter this… impure sperm? I'm holy and pure, a part of Your glory!"

God, in His infinite wisdom, consoles the soul. "The world you're going to is better than the one you know. I created you for this purpose." But even with this reassurance, the soul is forced to enter against its will.

The angel then carries the soul to the mother's womb. Two guardian angels are assigned to watch over it, and a light shines above, allowing the soul to see the entire world. According to the Midrash Rabbah, a compilation of ancient Jewish interpretations of the scriptures, this light helps the soul understand the grand scope of existence.

Each morning, an angel takes the soul to Paradise, showing it the righteous people sitting in glory, wearing crowns. "Do you know who these are?" the angel asks. When the soul says no, the angel explains, "These were like you, formed in their mother's womb. They followed God's Torah and commandments. That's why they're here. You, too, can earn this bliss if you observe God's Torah. But if not…"

In the evening, the angel takes the soul to hell, showing it the sinners being punished by the Angels of Destruction. Again, the angel asks, "Do you know who these are?" And again, the soul says no. "These were created like you," the angel says. "But they didn't observe God's Torah. That's why they suffer. Your destiny is also to depart this world. Be just, not wicked, so you can gain the future world."

Between morning and evening, the angel shows the soul where it will live, where it will die, where it will be buried. It sees the whole world, the righteous and the sinners, all things. Then, in the evening, the angel returns the soul to the womb, where it remains for nine months.

When it's time for birth, the angel says, "The time has come to go into the world." But the soul resists. "Why do you want me to go?" The angel replies, "Know that just as you were formed against your will, you will be born against your will, and against your will you will die, and against your will you will give account of yourself before the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He."

Still, the soul hesitates. So, the angel flicks the baby on the nose, extinguishes the light, and brings it into the world against its will. Immediately, the child forgets everything it has seen and learned, and it cries, because it has lost a place of shelter, security, and rest.

And what about the end of life? When it's time to leave this world, the same angel appears and asks, "Do you recognize me?" And the person replies, "Yes, but why are you here today, when you never came on any other day?" The angel says, "To take you from the world, because the time of your departure has arrived."

The person weeps, and their voice echoes throughout the world, though only the rooster hears it. "You took me from two worlds and brought me into this one," the person says to the angel. But the angel reminds them, "Didn't I tell you that you were formed against your will, born against your will, and would die against your will? And that you would have to give account of yourself before the Holy One, blessed be He?"

And perhaps, it offers a bit of comfort, knowing that even in the face of the unknown, we are never truly alone.

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