Lead Tidbit
Patriarchal Pluralism

Apologies if you thought this was going to be about "that pluralism" (Maybe some other time). Dictionary definition number 1 for Pluralism is: The condition of being multiple or plural. And that is the subject - the fact that we have three Avot. Actually, on the Divine level, there is only One Avinu Shebashamayim. And that is very important and significant for us. But this Lead Tidbit is about our human Avot. And they are three, and not one; and that too is significant and important.

We have a patriarch who was the quintessential Baal T'shuva. And we have two Avot who were FFBs (Frum from birth). We have a father who came on Aliya, one who was born in Eretz Yisrael and lived his whole life here, and one who was born in Eretz Yisrael, left for purposes of Torah, Shiduch, and Parnasa (the three prime purposes that allow temporarily leaving the Land), returned to Eretz Yisrael, was - in essence - exiled, and was returned for burial in the Holy Land. We have Avot who did not have children for a long time and one who was blessed with many children from the time he started married life. We have one who was raised as an only child when his older (half) brother was sent away because of the negative influence he would potentially exert. And we have one who was raised with a twin who was his antithesis. We have one role model for Chesed and another for Gevura. A third for Emet. We see different types of interaction between father and son among our Avot.

And the point?
Our Avot and Imahot (we'll focus on them in a future issue) are our spiritual role models. This includes learning from their traits, their deeds, and even to avoid certain negative situations and behavior. We are not expected to be carbon copies (remember those?) of our ancestors, because they weren't copies of each other. But we are supposed to be their spiritual heirs.