This week’s Torah portion is full of important events in the lives of Abraham and Sarah, especially the binding of Isaac. Isaac seems to disappear from the text after what must have been a traumatic incident. While some modern commentators suggest he wanted nothing to do with his father who almost sacrificed him, traditional commentators state that he went to study Judaism in a yeshiva. This was known as the yeshiva of Shem and Ever, the son and grandson of Noah. The midrash depicts them as pious people who had long life spans. The midrash leaves us wondering what Isaac, and later on Jacob, studied in the yeshiva since the Torah had not been given yet. 

        Perhaps their names hint at what the curriculum consisted of at the yeshiva of Shem and Ever. The word shem means name. The students were engaging in a process of figuring out who they wanted to be and what principles were going to guide their lives. The word ever can mean “that which has passed.” The students would study the past because even early in the world’s history it was important to learn from the mistakes of those who preceded them. Their first lesson was to learn about the story of the Tower of Babel, and how their ancestors wanted to build a tower “to make a name/shem for ourselves, else we shall be scattered” (Gen. 11:4). They were taught that the purpose of life wasn’t to be famous. Nor was it for everyone to be the same and work on one project. Instead, they were to discover their own individuality. They were not to be afraid of forging their own path by exploring the landscape of their future in search of a promised land. Shem meant not only name, but HaShem—the Name of the Holy One who sends each of us on our journey—lekh lekha—and urges us to be a blessing to all we encounter on the way.

      As much as it was important to study the past, Ever also means the opposite. Abraham (perhaps the first graduate of Shem and Ever’s yeshiva) is called Ivri/Hebrew with the same letters as Ever (ayin, bet, resh with the addition of the letter yud standing for God/YHVH). The rabbis suggest ivri means that Abraham was on one side and the rest of the world was on another (Genesis Rabbah 42:8). While some have taken that to mean Jews are special/chosen or that the whole world is against us, there is another way to understand it. Abraham was willing to stand alone. He was willing to break new ground. He was an iconoclast-- smashing the idols of the accepted way to think of the world. He discovers God and thus breaks out of a narrow way to think of the gods. He was willing to challenge what is and even to challenge the justice of the Judge of the earth over God’s plan to destroy Sodom. 

      To be a Hebrew-ivri means to be willing both to stand up for justice but also to advocate for new ways of thinking and being in the world.