Can a nonJew bring a sacrifice to the Bais Hamikdash

A nonJew is allowed to bring an Olah (a sacrifice that is completely burnt on the altar) as a free will offering in the same way that a Jew is allowed. The source for this is in Parshas Emor (22:18).

יח. דַּבֵּר אֶל אַהֲרֹן וְאֶל בָּנָיו וְאֶל כָּל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם אִישׁ אִישׁ מִבֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמִן הַגֵּר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יַקְרִיב קָרְבָּנוֹ לְכָל נִדְרֵיהֶם וּלְכָל נִדְבוֹתָם אֲשֶׁר יַקְרִיבוּ לַיהֹוָה לְעֹלָה:

 18. Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel and say to them: Any man whatsoever from the house of Israel or from the strangers among Israel who offers up his sacrifice for any of their vows or for any of their donations that they may offer up to the Lord as a burnt offering

 As seen above, most translations speak of "Any man among Bnei Yisrael". However, Rabbi Sorotzkin in אזנים לתורה (Insights in the Torah) as well as the Malbim sets it up as

A man, a man of Bnei Yisroel, or a convert among Israel ...

 The descendants of Adam and Noach are called "Ish" (a man).  This means that anyone using his free will to acknowledge that Hashem is the Creator of the Universe is allowed to dedicate himself to Hashem. This is the symbolism of the Korbon Olah (burnt sacrifice). A nonJew is allowed to believe that Hashem has created various Powers (capital P deliberate) to run the world as his emissaries. This is the concept of Shituf (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 156, in the Rama). A Jew who makes this mistake would not be allowed to bring a korban. An example of this is the case of Eliyahu Hanavi on Mount Carmel. He calls on the Jews to make a decision and worship either Baal or Hashem, but not both. This is because the Jews are required to understand that everything in the Universe was created by Hashem and nothing exists as a separate power.

There is even the analogy of the difference between members of an empire. Those who live in the Imperial City under the direct rule of the Emperor would not be allowed to serve any of his subordinates. Since Hashem has taken us to himself and given us the Torah at Har Sinai, we can no longer be allowed to make the mistake that the rest of the world does.

An interesting point is the way that this division into three categories of human beings is set up.

1. Those who realize that there is a G0d who rules over everything, but think that the lesser powers still deserve service.

2. A "born" Jew who is restricted to the worship of Hashem because of Yestzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus) and the revelation at Sinai. We have been taken into the service of Hashem and commanded to become a "nation of Priests".

3. A righteous convert (ger) who has become a "naturalized citizen" and has raised himself to the level of a servant of Hashem. This person has explicitly taken the oath to only serve Hashem and is considered as if he had been at Sinai and received the Torah.

This also explains why this concept only applies to the Olah which is completely consumed on the altar. A nonJew cannot partake of the sacrifices, because only those who have been accepted into the service of Hashaem are allowed to "eat at Hashem's table". This also explains why a Jew who has abandoned his status is not allowed to bring a sacrifice even though a nonJew who has the same erroneous belief is allowed to do so.

Another point in Parshas Emor is that a Jew is only allowed to eat of a korban if he is tahor (ritually pure). Since a nonJew cannot become ritually pure, then he would never be able to partake of the korban, which means that he can never bring any korban other than an Olah. On the other hand, a ger has become tahor by immersing in the mikvah when he became a Jew.

Why should Aharon wear gold in the first place?

Rabbi Sorotzkin in "Oznayim LaTorah" discusses the question of why the Kohen Gadol [high priest] should wear gold in the first place, since the gold is a "prosecutor" (reminding Hashem of the golden calf). He brings up two points in Acharei Mos when Rashi uses that as a reason why the Kohen Gadol enters the Kodesh Kadashim [Holy of Holies] with only the four linen garments of the regular priest.

1. Why is he not given four "additional" garments made of linen? For example, the tzitz, the gold plate on his forehead with the words "Kadosh Lashem" on it could have been a linen band with the words embroidered on it. Another example are the gold bells around the Meil [coat or tunic] which could have been made out of a different metal.

2. When he comes back out, he puts the golden garments back on. Shouldn't he leave them off since he is still attempting to atone for Bnei Yisroel? The gold is still a reminder of the Chait HaEgel [Sin of the calf].

He connects this with the actual purpose of the Kohen Gadol. When a person sees someone committing (or who has committed) a sin, he has a mitzvah to rebuke him (without causing emabarrasment. Thus, the purpose of the gold is to actually remind those who see it that they must atone for their sins. When the Kohen Gadol goes into the Kodesh Kodoshim on the other hand, he is there to defend the Bnei Yisroel. He gives the analogy of Rabbi Levi of Berditchev who would defend Bnei Yisroel in his prayers. However, he points out that someone who attempts to tell a rav that he should not rebuke someone for committing a sin is himself acting improperly.

When the Kohen Gadol goes in to the Kodesh Kodoshim, noone else is allowed to be present (not even the malachim [angels] who normally attend him). He is alone with Hashem as the representative of the people and is there to defend them. Not only is the gold improper there, but he is like a "regular" Kohen wearing only the four linen garments.

When he comes out, he is also the representative of Hashem as well as the defender of the people. He is attempting to arouse the people who see him to do teshuvah and to atone and resolve to behave properly in the future. For example, the words on the Tzitz are actually a reminder to the people on how they must behave as well as a why of keeping the Kohen Gadol reminded as to how he must control his thoughts. Similarly, the purpose of the other "extra" garments is to have an effect on those who see the Kohen Gadol.

Rabbi Sorotzkin also points out that the purpose of each individual part of the additional four garments of the Kohen Gadol are not required when he is alone with Hashem. Another example is that the sound of the bells is not required because the censor actually had a piece that would bang on it and make a sound the entire time that the kohen Gadol was in the Kadosh Kodoshim.

May we merit to actually be able to have the Avodah of Yom Kippur be carried out in full bimheirah beyameinu [speedily and in our day].

Toldos implies a new era

The use of "Eilah Toldos", which is usually translated as "These are the generations" or "these are the products" is found only in sefer Breishis (except for one case in Sefer Bamidbar 3:1) and only at the nodal points of an era. Each time it appears, it marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. The initial statement "Eilah Toldos" gives the name of the "person" at the cusp of the node, points to what has triggered the new era and is followed by a summary of what will be the significance of that era up to its end.

The first use of the term is Breishis 2:4

ד. אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ בְּהִבָּרְאָם בְּיוֹם עֲשׂוֹת יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶרֶץ וְשָׁמָיִם

 4. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, on the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.

This is the end of the "era" of creation and the beginning of the "era" of existence.Before this everything came into existence with an explicit דיבור (statement) as specified in the seven "days" of creation. That "era" ended with the creation of שבת (Shabbos) which was the explicit command to the universe to stop creation and begin the process of "nature". This continues through the story of Adam and shows how humanity failed the test of the garden. The story of Cain and Abel is part of this story and the generations of Cain's line is considered part of it. That is because Cain and his line cannot be considered a new "era", but just follow along in nature. It is only with the birth of Adam's third son Seth that we can consider the era of Adam to begin. Cain and his line continue in parallel but do not create a significant era..

Bereishis 5:1 begins the next story arc of significance.

 א. זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם בְּיוֹם בְּרֹא אֱלֹהִים אָדָם בִּדְמוּת אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֹתוֹ:

 1. This is the narrative of the generations of man; on the day that God created man, in the likeness of God He created him.

 After the era of creation, we come into the era of Nature as symbolized by Adam. This era continues with humanity attempting to live as a "natural being" and failing. It is here that we actually are given the history of humanity with the ages of each member of Adam's line at the birth of the eldest son in that line. We should notice that, while the names of Cain's line is given, none of the ages are given so that we cannot connect them to the actual history of the world. On the other hand, we are given the exact timeline of Seth's line so that we see how the history continues. Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch points out that each of the names given is actually significant of the characteristic of that generation. While Cain's line is actually monotonically decreasing in spiritual level, Seth's line will decline and then improve before declining again. Both lines end with "Lemech". Rav Hirsch says that the meaning of this is etymologicaslly unknown. However in Cain's line his father is "מתושאל (Mesushael) which implies "death seeking masses of people". Seth's Lemech on the other hand is fathered by מתושלח (Mesushalech) which implies that the masses were מתים (dead) and were abandoned (שלח).

The children of Cain's Lemech were Yaval, who is described as the father of business, trade, and merchandising. Yuval who was the father of art and esthetics.  he no longer produces, but his name is in the passive sense. An artitss in effect lives off the producers of society who support them because of the pleasure that they bring. Tuval Cain is the father of science and research. He is described as "sharpened everything which cuts copper and iron". He does not produce anything dirctly, but instead makes it possible for the other members of society to produce. His sister is Naamah, who the medrash says bacame the wife of Noach. She alone of the entire line merits saving by separating herself from the rest of her family.

The Lemech of Seth's line gave birth to Noach who the medrash says brought rest to the world and is the actual start of the next era. An interesting sidelight is that מתושלח, who dies seven days before the flood, outlives his son למך נט by 5 years. THus, every member of Seth's line who is specifically mentioned (except for Noach and his sons) has died before the flood begins.

Of course, the next era starts with Noach in Parshas Noach 6:9

ט. אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ נֹחַ:

 9. These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a righteous man he was perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God.

This "era" ends the existence of the natural world and returns the earth to the phase of creation. The existence of humanity is back to an explicit miracle with survival in the ark being possible only because the "laws of nature" have been suspended. It is obviously impossible under the laws of nature for a human being to build a vessel and be able to bring samples of every animal as well as a year's worth of food into it. It would also be impossible for many of the insects to survive the entire period of the flood and it would have been impossible to replenish the earth since all living things had been destroyed except for what was in the ark. In effect, the era of Noach is a recreation of the world.

Noach is a transitional figure. He brings humanity out of the original world, through the new creation and into the new world which must be rebuilt. Noach 10:1 gives us the next part.

א. וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת בְּנֵי נֹחַ שֵׁם חָם וָיָפֶת וַיִּוָּלְדוּ לָהֶם בָּנִים אַחַר הַמַּבּוּל:

1. And these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and sons were born to them after the Flood.

Here we have an improvement over Adam as all three sons prove capable of continuing humanity in their lines. They do fail in a respect and suffer the punishment of the dispersion. However, they are not destroyed. The descendants of Yaphet and Cham continue in the way that their nature provides and are no longer relevant to the story. However, Shem begins his own era and his lineage is treated in the similarly to that of Seth. See Difference between תולדות אדם and תולדות שם for a discussion of the difference between them. 

At this point the narrative narrows down to follow the lineage of Shem who continues following the way of G0d.

י. אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת שֵׁם שֵׁם בֶּן מְאַת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד אֶת אַרְפַּכְשָׁד שְׁנָתַיִם אַחַר הַמַּבּוּל:

10. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and he begot Arpachshad, two years after the Flood.

Notice that Breishis 27:32 says that Noach gave birth to Shem Cham and Yaphet 100 years before the flood, but that Shem was 100 years old two years after the flood. Either the original pasuk means that Noach started having children then and Shem was the middle child, or time did not pass during the "era" of the flood.

Just as Noach and his children restarted humanity after the destruction of the flood, Shem and his children restarted spiritual humanity. This lineage continues to Terach who, just like Noach, has three sons. and who, just like Noach survives the punishment that is brought to the world in order to continue the line of spiritual humanity. It is Terach who is treated as the end of the transitional era represented by Shem. Humanity has survived, flourished, and replenished the earth. It is now time for the reversal of teh spiritual decline to occur. It is interesting that Avraham does not get referenced as the start of the era. Even though Terach is still part of the idol worshipping world, it is he who will be regarded as the end of the 2000 years of chaos and the start of the era symbolized by the existence of Avraham. Avraham himself is not regarded as a "separate" era and the term Toldos is not used with respect to him.

He has two sons, Yishmael and Yitzchak. They are regarded as two separate streams of humanity and will therefore be considered the branching point. That is why we have Lech Lecha 25:12 and Toldos 25:19.

יב. וְאֵלֶּה תֹּלְדֹת יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן אַבְרָהָם אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית שִׁפְחַת שָׂרָה לְאַבְרָהָם:

:12. Now these are the generations of Ishmael the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, the maidservant of Sarah, bore to Abraham.

 יט. וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת יִצְחָק בֶּן אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָהָם הוֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק:

 19. And these are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac.

Each one starts a completely different line of history. Just as the Torah drops the sons of Noach to follow Shem, and the children of Shem to follow Terach, we now end the summary of Yishmael with the indication that his descendants have their own history and follow Yitzchak. Avraham was an individual. Yitzchak and Yishmael create families that will become nations. It is Yitzchak who is regarded as the true heir of Avraham and who we will follow.

Just as Noach was a transitional figure, Yitzchak too is a transitional figure who changes the spiritual heritage of Avraham from that of a unique human being and teacher into that of a family. He is the first person who is actually born into the spiritual era of humanit.His legacy again leads to a split that is shown by the use of Toldos referring to each of his sons, Yaakov and Eisav become the progenitors of their own nations and end the use of Toldos. Eisav, like Yishmael, branches off creating his own line and leaving the history that the Torah is teaching us. Yaakov will create the 12 shvatim which will become the nation of Yisrael. We see the reference to Eisav in Vayishlach 36:1 and the reference to Yaakov in Vayeishev 37:2

א. וְאֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת עֵשָׂו הוּא אֱדוֹם:

 1. And these are the generations of Esau, that is, Edom.

 ב. אֵלֶּה | תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף בֶּן שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן וְהוּא נַעַר אֶת בְּנֵי בִלְהָה וְאֶת בְּנֵי זִלְפָּה נְשֵׁי אָבִיו וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת דִּבָּתָם רָעָה אֶל אֲבִיהֶם:

 2. These are the generations of Jacob: when Joseph was seventeen years old, being a shepherd, he was with his brothers with the flocks, and he was a lad, [and was] with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil tales about them to their father.

 From this point on we see the continuation of Bnai Yisroel and the "Toldos phrase" denoting the end of an era and the beginning of a new one no longer occurs. From now on our history is an uniterrupted lin from the descent into Egypt, the famine, the Exodus, the receiving of the Torah, the entry into canaan, the creation of the monarchy, the building and the destruction of the Temples, the exile, the trials and tribulations that have led to our day.

Had Hashem destroyed us at the Golden Calf and restarted the people with Moshe as he had threated, we would have had anothe "Toldos" moment. However, thanks to Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem held back and allowed us to survive. Let us hope that we finally learn the lesson. This history is an unbroken line that will lead to the coming of the Moshiach, "speedily and in our day".

The final usage is in Bamidbar 3:1 and can actually be considered part of this analysis.

א. וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת אַהֲרֹן וּמשֶׁה בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר יְהוָֹה אֶת משֶׁה בְּהַר סִינָי:

 1. These are the descendants of Moses and Aaron on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.

 This follows the full census of Bnai Yisrael and changes the nature of the people from a simple unity, with the bechorim (first born) being set aside to serve Hashem, to a nation with the priestly "caste" and the Levites consecrated from birth to serve Hashem. Rashi points out

 ואלה תולדת אהרן ומשה: ואינו מזכיר אלא בני אהרן. ונקראו תולדות משה, לפי שלמדן תורה. מלמד שכל המלמד את בן חבירו תורה, מעלה עליו הכתוב כאלו ילדו:

 These are the descendants of Moses and Aaron: Yet only the sons of Aaron are mentioned. However, they are considered descendants of Moses because he taught them Torah. This teaches us that whoever teaches Torah to the son of his fellow man, Scripture regards it as if he had begotten him - [Sanh. 19b]

 ביום דבר ה' את משה: נעשו אלו התולדות שלו, שלמדן מה שלמד מפי הגבורה:

 on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses: they became his descendants, because he taught them what he had learned from the Almighty.

The separation of the Levites follows and once this is done, the nation of Israel has been established. From now on we have an actual nation with everyone given a role to play and a responsibility. As Rabbi Sacks points oout in his drasha on Parshas Terumah, up until the building of the Mishkan, the Bnei Yisrael were passive and acted upon. It is with the Terumah and the building of the Mishkan that they had to stand up and take responsibility for themselves and act on their own. This is what makes a people and this is what enables them to continue.

Evidence that the dust of Goshen turned to Lice

Even though the Bnai Yisrael were not subject to any of the plagues, there is evidence that during the plague of lice, even the dust in Goshen was affected. Rabbi Sorotzkin in Oznayim LaTorah explains this in Vaeirah 8:13 based on Bereishis Rabbah, chapter 96. Yaakov Avinu asked that he not be buried in Egypt and insisted on being taken to Mearas Hamachpeilah to be buried with the other Patriarchs and with the Matriarchs. One of the reasons given is that the dust of Egypt was going to become infested with lice during the coming plague. It appears from the way it is presented, that the dust was infested by the lice so that the Egyptians could not run to Goshen for safety.

Mishnas Rabbi Eliezer (chapter 9) states that as a result of this plague, the Bnai Yisrael no longer had to make bricks, because there was no longer any clean earth to use as the raw material. Had the lice been kept out of Goshen, Pharoah would have just moved the brick making factories there.

Another reason is that Pharoah was able to use this as an excuse to refuse to believe that the Bnai Yisrael were not affected by the plague. He was able to insist that since the lice appeared in the area, everyone living there must have been affected.

Another point about this plague is that the Priests and Nobility were phobic about lice. They were the first group to shave on a regular basis. The priests, for example, shaved off all of their body hair. When the plague occurred, they paniced immediately.

Vaeirah - The original "Green Line"

Rabbi Sorotzkin in Oznayim Latorah (Insights in the Torah) Va'eirah (7:27) explains

27: But if you refuse to send [them] out, I will strike your entire border with frogs.

 The frogs established the borders of Egypt.and did not go one step over the border into a neigboring country (Shmos Rabbah chapter 10). This implies that in areas where there was a border dispute, the frogs actually established what the border should be. This forced the Egyptians to admit where they were wrong and forced them to withdraw from areas that they claimed improperly.

Rabbi Sorotzkin points out that the fact that the hagaddah shows each plague as consisting of four (or five) individual components actually explains why this is not stated in the first palgue (blood). The water turned to blood as it entered the boundary of Egypt, but was restricted to the Nile River. Thus, the rest of the borders were not delineated by that plague. The frogs were thus the first plague to show the borders of Egypt.

When did Yitzchak live in Geror

The Torah does not explicitly state when exactly the famine erupted and caused Yitzchok and Rivkah to move to G'ror. The Torah does put the story after the incident of Eisav selling his birthright, which occured when Avraham died (at 175) when the twins were 15 years old.

Logically it could not have occurred while they were growing up, because it would have been too hard to hide the children and keep their identity (as children of Yizchak and Rivkah) secret. Thus, it could only have occurred during the twenty years before they were born or after Avraham had died.

This depends on and argument as to whether or not the Torah tells things in chronological order or not. If the Torah does not necessarilyput things in chronological order (Ain mukdam u'meuchar baTorah) as Rashi says, then we cannot know when the incident occured. We can make a logical argument that Avraham was still alive during those twenty years and a famine that chased Yitzchak away and forced him to resettle would have affected Avraham as well. If he had been around, his reputation would probably have affected thecourse of events. THe memory of what occurred when he was in Gror would have protected Yitzchak.

On the other hand, if the Torah does list events in chronological order (Yaish mukdam u'meuchar batorah), then the events had to have occurred after the sale of the birthright. The question does arise, where were Yaakov and Eisav? This seems to imply that they were older and had already been on their own.

It would seem that Eisav had not yet married as the news of his marriage would have spread and made the ruse impossible. We know that Eisav married at the age of 40, in order to emulate his father. Professor Nechama Leibowitz brings up the point that Eisav actually led a band of fighters and used them to defend the family. She states that this can explain why the shepherds of G'ror used "lawfare" to harass Yitzchak rather than attacking him and attempting to take the wells away.

The Torah says that they caused problems and disputed the ownership of the wells. Professor Leibowitz says that this is because they did not dare to attack directly.

This seems to limit the priod of time in which the famine occured and Yitzchak was able to claim that Rivkah was his sister. After that he settled in B'er Shevah for the rest of his life.

Evidence that Avrohom had a daughter

When the Torah tells us that Avrohom was "blessed in everything" (Bakol), there is a dispute as to what that means exactly.

1. Avrohom and Sarah had a daughter as well as Yitzchak
2. Yitzchak was Sarah's only child and Avrohom did not have a daughter.
3. Avrohom had a "magic healing gem" with healing properties
3a. He was blessed with all manner of riches.

Option 1 is because a person is considered to have fulfilled "be fruitful an multiply" only when he has both a son and a daughter. The small kaf in Chayei Sarah in the word "U'Livkosah" (and to weep for her) shows  and indication of "UL'vitah" (and for her daughter. That is it implies that their daughter died at the same time as Sarah. This explanation states that Avraham could not find anyone for her to marry as the entire world was made of of idol worshippers. Unlike Yitzchak, she would have had to go to her husband's family and would have beeen lost.

The second explanation states that for the reason given above, it was actually a blessing for Avraham not to have a daughter.

When Yitzchak went to Geror, he told everyon that Rivkah was his sister. Avraham by this time was well known and therefore, it would have been well known who his family was and whether or not he had a daughter. For the claim to be believed, the fact of a daughter had to be known.
 

An honest judge doomed S'dom

Rabbi Sorotzkin asks why does the Torah emphasize that Lot was "at the gate of the city". Rashi says that this means that he had been appointed a judge. Rabbi Sorotzkin states that Lot was an "honest" judge and could not be bribed. He enforced the law impartially without fear or favor. Until then, the judges could be bribed and would let people off. That meant that people who had committed the "crime" of having guests would be allowed to go free. This postponed the doom of S'dom. Once Lot became the judge and could not be bribed, there was no longer a source of merit in the city and it's fate was sealed.

Hashem gives us a chance to get it right

Adam had three sons one of whom died.

The line of Kayin ended with Lemech who had three sons, one of whom created weapons that were used for death.

The line of Sheth ened with Noach (son of Lemech) who had three sons. The curse of Kena'an can be attributed to his father Cham and can be considered "like" death.

The line of Shem ended with Terach who had three sons, one of whom died.

It can be considered that he finally "got it right" and produced progeny that were able to resist the idol worship that had taken ove the world. Of his two surviving sons, Nachor had twelve sons, eight by his wife and four by his concubines. Avraham had Yishmael and Yitzchak.

Yishmael's line is given at the end of Parshas Chayei Sarah and shows twelve sons. Nothing further needs to said about them.

Yitzchak had Yaakov, who had the twelve shevatim, 8 by his wives and four by the "servants" of his wives. While he considered them wives as well, they seem to have considered themselves more like concubines.

It should be pointed out that "concubine" was a legal status and is not the way we would consider it nowadays.

This brings to mind the medrash that Hashem offered the Torah to all the nations in the world before giving it to us at Har Sinai. It appears from the history of the worls, that every lineage had the chance to reach the level of Avraham, but failed. Once someone finally "got it right", the Torah follows that group to see if they can manage to continue on the right path.