Posts by Julia Blum

For Sarah’s Sake Last time, we watched a barren woman obediently and silently following her wandering husband. We remember that Abram, being 75 years old, did something amazing: when called to go, he… obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.[1]  Did he expect some sort of reward for this […]

Behind the Curtain We are back to our Biblical portraits series and we now move on to Sarah’s[1] portrait.  We are going to watch and observe Sarah now. The pages are the same, the text is the same, and yet, I think you will be surprised to discover how different our findings will be compared […]

With the Biblical Portrait of Abraham completed, we are moving to Sarah and   will be starting her Biblical Portrait next time. Stay tuned, you will be surprised to see how many details we can discover in the Hebrew text of the Scriptures. But meanwhile, as often happens, I would like to stop and talk to […]

In my last post I wrote that, even after Isaac was born, Abraham still loved his firstborn son as strongly and as tenderly as he had loved him all those years, when Ishmael had been his only child. I promised you that I would prove it from the Scriptures. Let’s find this proof, then. We […]

Minor Change / Major Impact We already know that in Genesis 17 God appears to Abram after thirteen years of silence. We find several crucial changes here. The incredible promise—that Abram would have another son besides Ishmael—comes in verse 16. Before that, God announces to Abram that He will make a covenant with him and […]

The Happy Father Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abraham.[1] Can you imagine the feelings of an 86-year old man who has been childless his whole life, who has been dreaming of a son not only for many years, but for many decades, and finally, a son is born to him?! […]

My  dear readers, even though  I love writing about Abraham – and I hope you enjoy reading it – I’ve  still decided to pause here, in order to share with you the commentaries on one of the most important and interesting Torah Portions— Parashat Shavua Chukat – which we are reading this Shabbat. The Red […]

An Amazing Promise “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”[1] We are in Chapter 15 of the book of Genesis. The entire conversation in Genesis 15 is absolutely amazing. That night, for the first time ever, Abram expressed […]

We continue drawing Abraham’s biblical portrait—following his journey through the book of Genesis. Chapters 13 and 14 are so clearly marked by the name of Lot that we have to pause here in order to understand Abraham’s relationship with his young nephew. It would certainly provide an additional stroke to our portrait. The Uncle and […]

     A Famine in the Land Did Abraham receive any reward for obeying God so unreservedly? If we look at the circumstances of his life after he arrived in the Land in full obedience to God’s commandment, we find only ‘unseen’ rewards—those seen by faith alone. When the LORD appeared unto Abraham, and said: […]