Challenges

"a nisayon is the capacity to rise above one’s nature — to be supernatural within one’s own self."

The story of Avraham Avinu is a story that can be dissected down to its smallest details and its commentary can fill volumes. I would like to zoom out and focus on the essence of Avraham. 

When one thinks about who Avraham Avinu was, many ideas come up. He was the founder of monotheism and the father of the Jewish people. What is most striking though is that he was a ‘Baal Nisayon’, he owned the challenges given to him by Hashem. The Mishnah¹ tells us that in fact he went through ten different challenges in his lifetime. 

I have found it interesting that while we do find the idea of nisyonos by others, such as Yosef, the Dor HaMidbar and Iyov. The term nisayon was not used as widely as one would suspect. It is not used regarding Adam and Chava when eating from the Etz HaDaas. Nor is it a term used regarding Noach during the Dor haMabul. If we go further in history, it is not used regarding Yitzchak, being that the Akeida is considered amongst the nisyonos of Avraham.

 Why is Avraham put t…