<b>Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred (Gen. 12:9).</b> R. Berechiah opened the discussion with the verse: <i>We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts; what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a wall, we will build upon her a turret of silver; and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar</i> (Song 8:8–9). To whom does Scripture refer in this verse? It refers to Abraham at the time when Nimrod ordered that he be hurled into the fiery furnace. He was <i>little</i> because the Holy One, blessed be He, had not yet performed any miracles in his behalf. By why was he called “sister” (<i>ahot</i>)? Because he united (<i>iha</i>) all mankind (into a single brotherhood) before God,<sup class="footnote-marker">3</sup><i class="footnote">Abraham’s mission was to teach the Oneness of God and the oneness of mankind.</i> just as one who tears a garment apart and then sews it together. Hence, he was called a <i>sister.</i>
<i>And she hath no breasts</i> indicates that as yet he had no children. <i>What shall we do for our sister in the day that she shall be spoken for</i> alludes to the day in which Nimrod ordered him hurled into the fiery furnace. <i>If she be a wall we will build upon her a turret of silver</i> implies that if Abraham would set his soul as firm as a wall to withstand Nimrod’s many attacks and to accept martyrdom in order to sanctify the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, <i>we will build upon her a turret of silver</i> for his defense. <i>A turret of silver</i> refers to the Israelites, whom He called: <i>The wings of the dove … covered with silver</i> (Ps. 68:14). <i>And if she be a door</i> (<i>delet</i>) implies that if he should waver (<i>dal</i>) in his willingness to undergo martyrdom, then <i>we would enclose</i> (<i>nasur</i>) <i>him with boards of cedar.</i> Just as a drawing (<i>sura</i>) on a board of cedar is speedily erased, so Abraham (would have been speedily eliminated, for) I would not have protected him.
Abraham declared: <i>I am a wall, and my breasts like the towers thereof; then I was in His eyes as one that found peace</i> (Song 8:10). <i>I am a wall,</i> in my willingness to accept martyrdom for the sanctification of Your Holy Name, but not I alone, for <i>my breasts like the towers</i> indicates that my descendants Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and the generation of R. Hanina the son of Teradion<sup class="footnote-marker">4</sup><i class="footnote">A martyr during the Hadrianic persecution. He was burned to death soon after R. Akiba.</i> and all his colleagues, will also accept martyrdom to sanctify Your name. And furthermore, it says: <i>I was in His eyes as one who found peace,</i> since Abraham departed in peace from the furnace. You find that the Holy One, blessed be He, told him: <i>Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,</i> because his father, Terah, constructed idols and worshipped them.