B"H
Some confessions.
When I first started thinking about Terach, I'd linked the death of his son Haran to Terach's settling, and eventually dying, in Haran on the basis that the person and the place were the same. Unfortunately, I'd made the schoolboy (girl?!) error of not looking properly at the original Hebrew. When I did, I realised that Haran the person and Haran - or rather, Charan - the place are spelt with a hey and a chet respectively. Oops.
After this, I read carefully through the text again. I also Googled around a bit to see what others had written about Terach. Amazingly - or frustratingly - I found that most of the interesting textual details I'd picked up on in my own rereading had 'Already Been Written About By Someone Else'. In this case, this excellent article by Dr Yoshi Fargeon delves into far more detail than I ever could on the 'p'shat' text about Terach and the questions this raises. The only place where I diverge significantly from him is his answer as to why Terach ended up staying in Charan.
So, I'll give my own thoughts a shot - but instead of reinventing the wheel too much I'll pass you over to Dr Fargeon's article when relevant (so worth keeping open alongside). Enjoy.
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(כד) וַיְחִ֣י נָח֔וֹר תֵּ֥שַׁע וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־תָּֽרַח׃ (כה) וַיְחִ֣י נָח֗וֹר אַחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־תֶּ֔רַח תְּשַֽׁע־עֶשְׂרֵ֥ה שָׁנָ֖ה וּמְאַ֣ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃ {ס} (כו) וַֽיְחִי־תֶ֖רַח שִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֙וֹלֶד֙ אֶת־אַבְרָ֔ם אֶת־נָח֖וֹר וְאֶת־הָרָֽן׃ (כז) וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת תֶּ֔רַח תֶּ֚רַח הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־אַבְרָ֔ם אֶת־נָח֖וֹר וְאֶת־הָרָ֑ן וְהָרָ֖ן הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־לֽוֹט׃ (כח) וַיָּ֣מׇת הָרָ֔ן עַל־פְּנֵ֖י תֶּ֣רַח אָבִ֑יו בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מוֹלַדְתּ֖וֹ בְּא֥וּר כַּשְׂדִּֽים׃ (כט) וַיִּקַּ֨ח אַבְרָ֧ם וְנָח֛וֹר לָהֶ֖ם נָשִׁ֑ים שֵׁ֤ם אֵֽשֶׁת־אַבְרָם֙ שָׂרָ֔י וְשֵׁ֤ם אֵֽשֶׁת־נָחוֹר֙ מִלְכָּ֔ה בַּת־הָרָ֥ן אֲבִֽי־מִלְכָּ֖ה וַֽאֲבִ֥י יִסְכָּֽה׃ (ל) וַתְּהִ֥י שָׂרַ֖י עֲקָרָ֑ה אֵ֥ין לָ֖הּ וָלָֽד׃ (לא) וַיִּקַּ֨ח תֶּ֜רַח אֶת־אַבְרָ֣ם בְּנ֗וֹ וְאֶת־ל֤וֹט בֶּן־הָרָן֙ בֶּן־בְּנ֔וֹ וְאֵת֙ שָׂרַ֣י כַּלָּת֔וֹ אֵ֖שֶׁת אַבְרָ֣ם בְּנ֑וֹ וַיֵּצְא֨וּ אִתָּ֜ם מֵא֣וּר כַּשְׂדִּ֗ים לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ עַד־חָרָ֖ן וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם׃ (לב) וַיִּהְי֣וּ יְמֵי־תֶ֔רַח חָמֵ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים וּמָאתַ֣יִם שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּ֥מׇת תֶּ֖רַח בְּחָרָֽן׃ {פ}
(24) When Nahor had lived 29 years, he begot Terah. (25) After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and begot sons and daughters.
(26) When Terah had lived 70 years, he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. (27) Now this is the line of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. (28) Haran died in the lifetime of his father Terah, in his native land, Ur of the Chaldeans. (29) Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves, the name of Abram’s wife being Sarai and that of Nahor’s wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. (30) Now Sarai was barren, she had no child. (31) Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan; but when they had come as far as Haran, they settled there. (32) The days of Terah came to 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.
Imagine that you are reading - or hearing - the Torah for the first time. You know nothing about Avraham and his importance as the first of the Avot. You know none of the midrashim about Avraham smashing his father Terach's idols. All you have is the text above, with no knowledge of what is to come after.
This passage comes at the end of a genealogical list - the line of descent from Shem to Terach. We've already seen an earlier example of this - the line from Adam to Noach. That, too, ended with the names of Noach's three sons (not just his first-born), before a new section reiterating 'the generations of Noach' and his three sons then expanding into the tale of the Flood. So, too, here we see a new section repeating 'the generations of Terach' and his three sons before expanding into more details about them. From this perspective, Terach is clearly supposed to be an important figure - at least as important as Noach.
The real challenge for us in trying to understand Terach's story is that this is precisely not the way we normally approach it. We already know the 'spoilers'. Abram and Sarai will become Avraham and Sarah, the founders of the Jewish nation - and that's even without the famous idol-smashing midrash which everyone apparently learns at school. So the usual approach as far back as Chazal is to treat Avraham, not Terach, as the central figure here.*
So, what happens if we follow the Torah's lead and actually centre Terach in his own story?
Noach's history includes G-d's decision to bring the Flood, His instructions to Noach to build the Ark to save his family and the animals etc., and an account of the Flood itself. All of humanity other than Noach's immediate family is destroyed. This is clearly a traumatic event - but throughout it all, Noach's own legacy is never put in danger. He and his sons enter the Ark with their wives (even if they remain separated). On exit, they are blessed and told to multiply. The 'whole world' branches out from Noach's three sons, with no apparent difficulties in bearing children or carrying on the line to future generations.
Terach's history is markedly different. We are told of his three sons and a grandson, Lot. In the next breath, Haran - Lot's father - dies 'before the face' of his father Terach. Terach's surviving sons marry their dead brother's daughters**, and we immediately hear that Abram's wife Sarai is 'barren', without a child. In stark contrast to Noach, Terach's succession and the continuity of his family hangs by a thread. While the Torah doesn't state it outright, his only hope of further grandchildren at this point seems to be via his third son Nahor.
And it is precisely the part of his family whose continuity is most at stake that Terach takes with him when he sets out for Canaan in the next verse - his childless son and daughter-in-law Abram and Sarai, and Lot, the only heir from his dead son Haran. Nahor, Terach's only viable 'insurance option', does not appear in this journey.*** Perhaps based on this, the Abarbanel suggests that Terach left for Canaan because he thought his residence in Ur Kasdim was the source of his family's woes and living in Canaan would improve matters****.
However, Terach never makes it to Canaan - he settles in Charan, and dies there. Why?
Dr Fargeon contrasts the start of Terach's journey with that of Avram to suggest that Terach, having left with nothing beyond his family, was turned aside by the wealth and comforts of Charan (which was likely a trading centre at the time). I want to offer another suggestion.
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Becoming Jewish is not an overnight process. The halachic steps to transform a non-Jew into a Jew are quick enough - immersion in a mikveh before a Beth Din, preceded by circumcision (for males only). However, nowadays this usually comes after months if not years of formal study under the supervision of a rabbi or Beth Din, and even longer periods of exploration and soul-searching before approaching a Beth Din in the first place.
Being a 'wannabe Jew' during this transitional time is an odd experience. If you don't live near an active Jewish community, you end up relying on books or the internet for guidance, cobbling together a semblance of Jewish practice without fully knowing what the real thing looks like. If you do hang out around an active community, you must deal with the constant reminders that you are an outsider looking in. Not being able to take part in a minyan or rituals where Jewish status matters. For singletons, not being able to date or move on with your life while your Jewish friends are getting married and having children. The awkward dance around Seder night and other Yom Tov invites, or avoiding non-mevushal wine. And all the while, the confusion over how to define yourself to the outside world when explaining why you keep kosher or Shabbat. Do you just say you are Jewish without going into details? Do you explain your conversion process? Or find an entirely different label for yourself - such as ethical monotheist or Noachide?*****
I started young, so spent over a decade in this limbo land. I was lucky enough to complete my transition into Jewishness fairly smoothly once I hit the right age. But not everyone makes it. Sometimes poverty, lack of job opportunities or health issues prevent them from moving to a suitable Jewish community. Sometimes family holds them back - a spouse or children who refuse to cooperate or even actively interfere with their attempts to live a Jewish life. And sometimes, they wrestle with their own psychological demons or barriers - or simply do what humans do all too easily, which is adapt to the situation we find ourselves in then struggle to leave it behind.
For whatever reason, people can get stuck in transition. And sadly, some never make it out before passing away.
Terach reminds me of this. The Torah doesn't mention G-d speaking to Terach - so while the Abarbanel's explanation above sits best with the p'shat of the text, we never know exactly why he sets out on his journey. Clearly something drove him to start the journey - but once he reached Charan and settled there, something also prevented him from moving on before his death.
Interestingly, an academic source gives the etymology of Charan as being a 'road' or a 'crossroads' (see here). This makes practical sense if Charan was a trading centre. But perhaps we can also read Terach's sitting and dying in Charan metaphorically. Driven by the trauma of family loss and uncertainty, he recognises a change is needed, starts down a new path but gets 'stuck' both physically and psychologically, unable to raise himself up and move forwards towards his intended destination. And there he remains for the rest of his life, in the 'neither here nor there' of the crossroads.
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And what of Avraham? Once the Torah concludes Terach's life, we see G-d speaking to Avraham for the first time with the famous command 'lech lecha' - to go forth to an unknown land, with G-d's blessing.
As we all know, Avraham obeys - but constantly struggles with G-d's promise of a legacy and a great nation to come from him. The immediate cause of Avraham's angst is obvious - Sarah's infertility. But Avraham would also have been keenly aware of the defining features of his father Terach's life, as told by the Torah - the loss of a child, a precarious family line of succession, and death without ever reaching the finishing line. Remembering this background gives greater poignancy to Avraham's doubts and pleadings for reassurance from G-d about His promises.
But there is also room for hope here. As Dr Fargeon points out, despite the uncertainties of succession in his own life Terach ends up as our ultimate 'Av' - the ancestor not just of our Avot, but also of our Imahot and, via Lot and Moab, the Davidic line that will lead to Moshiach.
"He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it; [...] And know that the grant of reward unto the righteous is in the age to come." (Pirke Avot 2:16)
Shana tova!
RPT
* You can see this approach in Part I of Dr Fargeon's article. As he and others point out, even the famous teaching from Pirke Avot (5:2) that there were ten generations from Adam to Noach and ten generations from Noach to Avraham is not actually true - if you start the count at Noach himself (rather than his son Shem), the tenth generation is Terach!
** Sarah is traditionally identified as Yiskah, the second daughter of Haran mentioned in our text - although the Shadal does speculate that they are two different people and Yiskah was the second wife of Nahor!
*** Given subsequent events with Nahor's descendants Rivka and Laban in Charan, there is a debate over whether Nahor had already settled in Charan or moved there at a later stage. The Shadal (who pops up with a lot of interesting commentary here) also posits that Nahor and his wife/wives were in fact part of the family group who left with Terach.
**** Based on a footnote in Dr Fargeon's article - I haven't yet found an English translation of the Abarbanel. If you know of one, please shout.
***** Yes, this is a thing. There are real life individuals and even communities of Noachides nowadays, possibly aided by the internet. While I cannot vouch for them, here is an example - https://www.netivonline.org/
