On the Venerated Patriarch Abraham (vegetarian): From Judaism – The Talmud, Part 2 of 2

On the Venerated Patriarch Abraham (vegetarian).

P’sachim 118a

“Abraham was thrown into a fiery furnace by Nimrod, and GOD would not permit Gabriel to rescue Him, but did so HIMSELF; because GOD is One and Abraham was one, therefore it behooved the One to rescue the one.”

Sophrim Chapter 21

“The fire from which Abraham is here said to be delivered may simply refer to His deliverance by the hand of GOD from Ur of the Chaldees; Ur meaning ‘fire,’ and being the name of a place celebrated for fire worship. The Midrash says, ‘When the wicked Nimrod cast Abraham into the furnace, Gabriel said, “Lord of the universe! Permit me to deliver this holy one from the fire!” But the Lord made answer, “I am the One Supreme in my world, and He is supreme in His; it is fitting therefore that the Supreme should rescue the supreme.”’ Abraham was a giant of giants; His height was as that of seventy-four men put together. His food, His drink, and His strength was in the proportion of seventy-four men to one man. He built an iron city for the abode of His seventeen children by Keturah, the walls of which were so lofty that the Sun never penetrated them: He gave them a bowl full of precious stones, the brilliancy of which supplied them with light in the absence of the Sun.” […]

Zohar Parashah Bereshith

“Adam’s book, which contained celestial mysteries and holy wisdom, came down as an heirloom into the hands of Abraham, and He, by means of it, was able to see the glory of His Lord. […]”

Nishmath Chayim

“The whole world once believed that the souls of men were perishable, and that man had no pre-eminence above a creature, till Abraham came and preached the doctrine of immortality and transmigration.”

Pesikta Zotarta 3b

“A good son delivers his father from the punishment of hell, for thus we find that Abraham our father delivered Terah, as it is said […], ‘And thou shall go to thy fathers in peace.’ This implies that GOD had communicated to Him the tidings that His father had a portion in the world to come and was now ‘in peace’ there. […]”