Jew and Noahide alike are commanded in the great Mitzvah of, “To be fruitful and multiply.” In light of this tremendous world enduring commandment, how on Earth could we imagine to go against orders and do the opposite, withholding our seed and procreation? This is one of the cardinal properties of living in this world; we grow up, get married, have a family, travel and work, and pass on all that we have gained or learned to the next generation, for a healthy endless transition in bettering Mankind. Is there such precedence in the Torah to do the opposite? And we aren’t even talking about refraining from marriage…this is about while married, yet still suppressing our fertility and childbearing/raising.

Anyone familiar with the Akeida (Binding of Isaac on the altar, fit for sacrifice by Abraham his father from a seemingly direct commandment from Hashem) would be able to quickly identify such a scenario that we have presented above. Abraham in this Parsha, Vayeira, begins to carry out his mission, to sacrifice Isaac, and complete the Will of Hashem.

However, just before the blade made its entry, an angel of the Lord called out and cried to Abraham not to continue, as God had commanded the angel to notify Abraham, that he is deemed a God-Fearing Man in Heaven…with no further need of being tested.

God’s ways here are deep and in need of much introspection, as to why such a command would be needed, but was Abraham the father of this concept, of the Akeida? The actual Mitzvah of sorts may belong to his merit exclusively, yet there is another person in history that did something of this nature, also to sanctify Hashem on a very high level…that person is the Father of Abraham. You may be quick to answer with retort, ”Terach did an Akeida?” – No, not that father, his other father, his spiritual father, his father that gave him life in the World to Come – Shem Ben Noach!

In Torah tradition, one essentially has two fathers: he who gives us life in this world, his paternal father, and his spiritual father, the one who allows him to reach greatness spiritually with a grasp of Torah that grants one the right to exist in the World to Come. With that said, and the obvious relationship Abraham had with Terach, his father, how then was Shem his spiritual father? (Keep in mind then, this would be a fantastic revelation of Shem and his status as a Ben Olam Habah (meritorious of the next world)! As it is essentially not written about the fate of Shem in any written source, would it be that the proof of his merit is linked with the success of Abraham? Just how inseparable are these two righteous men? The answer is not that complicated: They need(ed) each other, and it’s that simple.

When Shem came out of the Ark, he was married, he had 5 children, and he was enthusiastic to spread Torah in the new world, hoping to restore order to the world that was damaged by Adam.

In the Ark, Ham had transgressed with improper conduct, and out of the Ark Noah did not achieve the success he had hoped for to restore the world to its perfect state. This left yet another monumental task of “rectification of the world (Tikkun Olam)”, directly onto the shoulders of Shem. Shem as he was before the Flood, was ready to conquer yet another test of Humanity, as he would do something a little different than most…He would sacrifice his son(s)! No, Shem didn’t literally sacrifice his offspring, however what he did do, was to focus and concentrate on one “son” in  particular…however it wasn’t the typical male offspring that he was interested in, but rather it was his Daughter Tamar that took center stage, with hopes of finding an essential male offspring by the grace of God.

Tamar was the offspring of Shem that would be the future mother of Moshiach, as she would bear the children of Judah, laying down the lineage of the Moshiach, that would ultimately be traced back to Shem! As much as a feel good story this may appear to be, was there method to the madness of Shem’s suppressing seed, in favor of a future Tamar-Judah encounter? The answer is yes! Shem was interested in making the Torah synonymous with this world, and he was absolutely determined to make this acquisition, from the time he stepped forth on the Ark..the only question is, “How or Who can make the Torah happen?”

Shem was a righteous man the son of a righteous man, and even that was not enough to steer the world in a direct path to the Glory of God, as we saw coming out of the Ark there were already problems. Shem saw, that the job must be done by somebody not connected to him, by his direct seed. Perforce Shem realized, the world MUST produce an Abraham-type, it just has to, as God runs the world, in the world!

Shem then directed his affairs this way: Tamar was the essential daughter of the Priest, the sons were charged with helping populate the world, and Shem was involved with offering the Torah to everybody on earth. This strategy was wonderful, except for one big problem: it wasn’t working!

Was Shem in trouble? Should he have focused on his seed instead, and tried to fix the world, even from a perfect lineage, despite the fact that the world really needed a Man to be produced naturally who could find Hashem on his own? This was the calculation that Shem went with. As this was the perfect faith of Shem. An archetype “Akeidah” of sorts of Shem, making the blue print, that Abraham would follow, as essay in how to fulfill the Will of God. Abraham learned it directly from the master on this level, and Abraham would learn from Shem how to merit life in the next world! Abraham would receive that rite by taking the priesthood from Shem…a gift that Shem had imagined from the time he left the Ark! Shem had been waiting for an Abraham to appear: it was his faith, it was his test, it was his greatness, and it was knowledge of Torah that made it happen…even if it meant to sacrifice his own lineage and emphasize the greatness of his daughter. Shem maintained his vision, and Shem merited to see that vision to fruition, in this world and the world to come.

In the end, Shem held out for Abraham, for a very long time, and Abraham would eventually fulfill his destiny and sanctify the fate of Shem. Finally, when ripe, the two men met at the site of the Holy Temple, Jerusalem, where Shem approached Abraham with Bread and Wine as “Malki Tzedek”, symbolizing the rectification of his predecessors, Adam and Noah: The world could now be restored, as Shem has found what he was looking for: an Abraham! And Abraham found what he was looking for: A teacher…to the extent that Jacob would go on to learn from Shem for 50 years, solidifying the Torah into the Seed of Israel, in the merit of Shem Ben Noach!

Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son; Shem saw that the world would not endure unless he did the same. Abraham found out that he was a God-Fearing man; Shem found out that he was a true man of faith and a perfectly righteous man. Together, there is an inseparable bond between them: Shem and his Torah live on in Abraham, in this world and the next; and Abraham came to existence from the dedication of Shem, and continues to function as the father of a “Kingdom of Priests”, that he merited from Shem himself, continuing the mission that Shem had envisioned, as the two together will endeavor and succeed in restoring the world to the Messianic Age! Abraham merited the seed of redemption, and Shem contributed none other than the Mother of Moshiach, Tamar, his daughter!

Abraham may have merited to be the master of the Akeidah, but let us always remember, there was/is an Abraham thanks to the sacrifice and dedication of his predecessor and Teacher : Shem Ben Noach. As it was Shem, that saw to look beyond his own progeny, and trust Hashem against all odds, that the Torah must succeed, and that there would be an Abraham.

There was an Abraham, and we have Shem to thank, for recognizing, that beyond even his own immediate family, the world needed an Abraham. And it was Shem’s sacrifice that taught us, and even Abraham himself, the length one must go, to Honor Hashem, even if it seems contradictory to God’s Will. Abraham with this test merited the Fear of God. Shem saw this as Completion and Peace.

And the two united, bonded forever, as two men of the same challenges, and it would be fitting that they would come together and find the arena of Hashem from their success: Fear (Yirah) + Peace (Shalom/Shalem) = Jerusalem (Yerushalayim [Yirah + Shalom])…the site of the Holy Akeida, Holy Temple, and the Teaching of The Great Shem Ben Noach.