Through the streets of ancient Sumer flew a strange and troubling rumor
That the idol-maker Terah’s son had surely gone beserk;
That the father nearly fainted when he saw the gods he’d painted ---
The clay figures baked and painted, all the creatures of his work ---
When he saw Abram had broken all his lovely handiwork ---
Saw the end of all his work.

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Soon his sojourn would unravel, with his only choice to travel,
So he gathered up his family and journeyed to Haran
With his servants, wives and chattel, with his asses, goats and cattle,
And retainers fit for battle to defend their caravan,
Not aware then of the battle for a new faith that began
As they journeyed to Haran.

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(So our rabbis have recorded, and such precious stories hoarded.
May they ever be rewarded for preserving all they can
Of this fundamental story, full of meaning, faith, and glory, ---
Which was passed down through the ages in the memories of man ---
Of the very first beginnings of the Abrahamic clan,
And of Abraham, the man!)

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Abram, who had pained his father, would become our people’s father,
And become the greatest friend of God that God will likely know.
When his years were nine and ninety, God endowed him with His bounty,
With the fifth and final Promise God had promised to bestow,
With a Covenant, a contract, between God and Abram, so
Abram’s people would now know:

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That this God of all Creation would make them a mighty nation;
That the father of their nation would then father many more;
That all Canaan would be taken, its possession never shaken;
That this mission undertaken would endure forevermore;
Nor their nation be forsaken, nor forgotten any more;
And of that they could be sure.

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But our God in turn demanded, and His Covenant commanded,
That all males must first be circumcised for it to be in force;
That if anyone refuses or denies or makes excuses,
Then that someone shall be cast off utterly without recourse,
Be it adult, child, or slave, or foreigner of any source,
Which the people would enforce.

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Then, to recognize how holy Abram was, God took his lowly
Name and breathed a part of His Divineness in it in respect.
God then did the same for Abram’s wife, in honor of her holy life.
Abram became Abraham (an honor he could not expect),
Sarai became Sarah. And this aged couple, in effect,
Were nearly angels, God’s elect!

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He was young when he left Sumer, strong and hopeful, in good humor,
With his father, wife, and nephew whom his brother had begot.
When his father died, God told him to take Lot and Sarai with him,
Leave his father’s house and country and to go where he knew not,
Leave with all his men and women, and the followers of Lot,
And that God would pick the spot.

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I will not draw out this tale in which Abram would prevail
Over those who worshipped little gods with little feet of clay.
And I have no need to cover all the deeds one can discover
Just beneath the Bible’s cover. Though I wanted to convey
What the diggers did discover of the Canaanitish way,
Which will take another day!

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