The Torah tells us at the end of Parshas Noach, "Terach took Avram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, the wife of Avram, his son. They went forth with them from Ur Kasdim to go to the land of Canaan, and they came as far as Charan and settled there."1
This journey to Canaan ended prematurely, with Terach and his family settling in Charan, a very beautiful area reckoned as the metropolitan seat of Mesopotamia. Ultimately, Terach died in Charan. There are various reasons given for why they did not continue to Canaan at the time, but that is beyond the scope of this article.
Charan is the place where Avraham began to preach about monotheism. He discussed how one can speak to God directly without the need for an intermediary, such as an idol. This is how he introduced the world to the concept of prayer, while asserting that one can simply speak to God no matter how far away they might feel from Him. In time, he gathered a following and became t…
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