Parshat Lech Lecha: The Fiery Furnace: Why Wasn't it Written in the Torah?

This week’s parsha begins with Avraham being tested with one of his ten nisyonot, to leave his birthplace and his family behind, and travel to an undetermined destination. The Medrash, in last week’s parsha, tells us of the previous nisayon, the כבשן האש, jumping into the fiery furnace of Nimrod and the great miracle that saved Avraham from death. In last year’s posting (CLICK HERE to read it), I focused on the strange order of the tests. This time around I wondered about something different; something I am certain many of you have often wondered about as well. Why is the episode of the fiery furnace of Nimrod not written explicitly in the Torah? It was a huge challenge for Avraham and a huge miracle, certainly it should have been deemed important enough for the Torah to describe it in detail?

The Sefer שלל רב offers a novel insight by exploring the passage in the Talmud which relays the story of the fiery furnace. Here is the gist of what the Talmud relates: When Nimrod threw Avraham into the furnace, the Angel Gavriel appealed to Hashem to let him go down and save Avraham. Hashem replied, “No-״אני יחיד בעולמי והוא יחיד בעולמו, נאה ליחיד להציל את היחיד

“I am One in My world and Avraham is one in his world, so it makes more sense for me to save him.” When the Medrash relays this episode, there are actually a group of angels who seek to save Avraham, and Hashem replies, “No - אין זה שלכם - this one is not for you.”  Contrast this to another story in Tanach - Sefer Daniel -  where Chanania, Mishael and Azariah who were the three Jewish heroes who defied the order of the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnetzar to bow to the statue he had erected, subsequently were cast into a fiery furnace. In this instance, Hashem allowed the angels to save these righteous men.

What was the difference? Why did Hashem allow the angels to save Chanania, Mishael and Azariah, but not Avraham?

Both Avraham and Chanania, Mishael and Azariah were performing the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem; the obligation to give up your life rather than be forced to worship idols. However, there was a big difference between the two instances. The obligation of Kiddush Hashem is incumbent upon all of us, meaning if placed in a situation where someone puts a gun to your head and gives you the option to die or serve idols, you are obligated to die al Kiddush Hashem. But there is no obligation upon us to go live with idol worshippers. In fact, doing so could be tantamount to suicide, which certainly is not permissible. But Avraham was unique; he was the first person to believe in monotheism and therefore, placed himself right in the middle of the action. He lived amongst Nimrod and his followers.

Perhaps now we can understand why the episode of Avraham being thrown into the fiery furnace was not written explicitly in the Torah. The Torah is written as a guide for us; it is meant to teach us how to behave and react in different situations. The way Avraham acted with Nimrod was not applicable to us. He was a one-of-a-kind individual, able to rely on the miracle of being saved by Hashem. That is not us -- we aren’t supposed to put ourselves into challenges where death is the obvious outcome. This is the meaning of the Medrash when Hashem responds to the angel Gavriel, “ He is one in his world,”. Avraham was unique, only he had the emunah and the righteousness to stick up to Nimrod and for that reason, Hashem, “The One,” wanted to save him Himself.