The Death That Dodn't Happen

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

THE DEATH THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN
“Nimrod ordered his people to prepare in his capital, Ur of
the Chaldeans, a furnace for execution by fire.”
“Death” is the departure of the Light. “Death by fire” is
when you are given so much Light, so much pleasure, that
you can’t help but start receiving it for yourself. And when
that happens, shame burns you alive. There is nothing more
terrible than that.
And that is what awaits your Abraham. He is already
on the path to the Creator. He has experienced the bliss of
being close to the Light, existing in congruence with the Law
of Love and bestowal, and now he is being placed against his
will in conditions that may “burn him alive.”
Imagine that you’ve been given everything you could
possibly dream of: money, high social status, power and
fame, health, and even the sensation that you’re advancing
toward a spiritual revelation. As they say, it’s “an offer you
can’t refuse.” You are bound by egoistic bonds and given
time to think about the offer—three days.
“Abraham remained in chains for three days while
Nimrod’s slaves lay down wood both outside and inside,
preparing the furnace for execution.”
The “three days” symbolize the three lines. It is when you
are overcome with doubts as to what you should choose.
Doubts are the chains binding your Abraham. As for what
your choice should be, we already said that it’s your middle
line, also known as “faith above reason.”
In this part of the Midrash, we meet Amathlaah,
Abraham’s mother, for the first time. She comes with a
request: “Won’t you bow down before Nimrod just one


time?” she whispers to Abraham, “and he will pardon you,
my darling son.”
What is this degree inside you, called “Abraham’s mother”?
A mother is the degree of egoism that nourishes you. A father
signifies intention; a mother is your ego. You haven’t left
the home of your “father and mother” (your innate desires),
which is why your mother can approach you.
As was already mentioned, you are visited by doubts, both
natural and dear like a mother, which used to be able to
persuade you. This is the final test before your leap onto the
next spiritual degree. “Won’t you bow down before Nimrod
just one time?” “Just take what he wishes to give you one
time.” To take means to receive pleasure for your own sake,
without considering anyone else.
Abraham refuses, and thus tears himself from the
previous degree once and for all. Your Abraham proves that
he has no connection to his father (former ideology) or his
mother (ego’s previous degree).
This breakaway epitomizes the beginning of your “I”
swiftly moving toward the moment in life when it hears
the order: “Go forth from your country, from your relatives
and from the home of your father, into the land that I shall
show you.”
“And then Nimrod’s slaves set the pyramid of wood afire
from both ends.” Nimrod’s slaves are those desires that serve
your egoism. Who can save you from this predicament? You
are weak, while the desires serving Nimrod are powerful.
You cannot resist them! You are about to break and “burn
down” (from shame, as we’ve mentioned). And so you pray,
really pray, from the very bottom of your heart. And that’s
when the Creator answers.


“The Creator answered, ‘There is none like Me in the
heavens, and there is none like Abraham on the earth.
I will come down Myself to save him from the fire!’
And the Creator Himself willed the flames to not cause
Abraham harm.”
Only the Upper Force can drag you from one degree to
the next. When you have no hope left, when your mind
is no longer useful, you will decide to go with faith above
reason (reason being the ego’s faithful servant), when you
resolve to rise above it.
This is when a “miracle” happens (“miracle” from the
standpoint of egoism, though in full conformity with the
spiritual), and the Creator Himself pulls you from one
degree onto the other. Another way of saying it would be
that you begin to fully identify with Bina, the Creator’s part
in you. You rise “above the earth”—above Malchut, above the
ego. And the “fire” cannot hurt you anymore.
“The wood transformed into wondrous branches, thick
with fruit.” You will burn from shame if you use the Light
of fulfillment for your own pleasure. However, if you use it
for the sake of bestowal, the “wood” that’s supposed to burn
you up will transform into fruits you can eat, to fill yourself
with and thereby advance.
“And Abraham came out unharmed with all eyes on
him and the crowd awe-struck.” “Why are you still alive?”
Nimrod asked, trembling with fear.
“God, Who has created the heavens and the earth, and
Whom you have been mocking, saved me from death.”
In other words, your Abraham has shown everyone that
you can rise above the egoistic desire. Moreover, it is the
only way to be liberated from the sordid nature that governs


you. You can come out from under it, and then no one will
have power over you.
The crowd (all your egoistic desires) now sees that it is
possible, for they, too, exist on the level of Nimrod. They
understand that they were under the rule of the ego, but
didn’t see any way of escaping. And now Abraham shows
them that there is a way.
“Stunned and terrified, the king prostrated himself
before Abraham. All the ministers did the same. ‘Do not
bow before me,’ said Abraham, ‘but bow down instead
before the living God, Creator of the Universe.’”
In other words, the quality you acquire does not allow
you to puff up with pride, for now you understand where
your salvation comes from, and you direct everyone to this
source of life, to the Creator, the quality of bestowal, the
Light that is revealed inside you. That is what’s referred to
as “the living God.”
The Midrash goes on to say that after all these events,
Terah and his family settled in Haran.