The First Family

So, who do you think that would be?

If you answered Barack, Michelle, Tierra, Malia and Shasha, most people would likely say you’re correct. (At least for the time being).

What about Adam and Eve? They certainly qualify as the FIRST family. Along with their children, Cain and Abel, many people could identify with their petty squabbles, like getting thrown out of the Garden of Eden or the first murder.

If we look in a different arena, you might also answer – the first family of comedy – Lucy and Ricky, followed closely behind by Fred and Ethel.

What about Abraham and Sarah?

And who would they be, you might ask?

Well unfortunately, they don’t have last names to give us a clue. But we sometimes refer to them as Abraham Avinu (our father) and Sarah Imeinu (our mother). They are the founding family of the Jewish people. Abraham has also been called – Abraham Ha’Ivri – the one who crossed over to the other side from everyone else in the world.

What would qualify them as being “The First Family?”

It was Abraham who was the first to discover Gd on his own. It was Abraham who told the world about the idea of One, All Powerful, All Loving Gd, Who is the Creator of the Universe. Together with Sarah, they literally changed the world from worshipping a pantheon of pagan gods to the recognition of an ethical, monotheistic Gd.

Their “family” has become the single most influential family in the history of the world. To quote John Adams, second President of the United States, “They are the most glorious nation ever to inhabit the Earth. They have influenced the affairs of mankind more, and more happily, than any other nation, ancient or modern.”

Read any newspaper, watch any news show, listen to any world leader. There are two nations that the entire world is focused upon. They are both the sons of Abraham and Sarah. Isaac is the father of the Jewish people and his brother, Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations.

Over thousands of years, throughout the rise and fall of mighty empires, while billions of people have played out their time in history, as we approach the final showdown, it all comes down to one family. That of Abraham and Sarah.

They were the first to bring to the world the word of Gd, and according to His word, the Jewish family will be the last one to triumph at the end of time.