Commentary for Avodah Zarah 17:7
אלא (בראשית יב, ה) מואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן וגמירי דאברהם בההיא שעתא בר חמשין ותרתי הוה
The period is therefore to be reckoned from the time [when Abraham and Sarah] “made souls in Haran” (Genesis 12:5) for we have learned that Abraham was at that time fifty-two years old.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
As stated above, if we count the time from the giving of the Torah, we are 448 years short for the 2000 years of Torah. Therefore, we start with the date at which Abraham and Sarah began to “make souls in Haran.” According to midrash, this refers to their converting the local population to monotheism. Abraham was 52 years old when he began doing this. If he was born exactly 500 years before the Torah was given, then from the date he began proselytizing until the intended arrival of the messianic age there are 448 years!
I think there is also something meaningful in the notion that “Torah” begins not with the “Torah” but with human beings reaching out to other human beings to teach them.
I think there is also something meaningful in the notion that “Torah” begins not with the “Torah” but with human beings reaching out to other human beings to teach them.
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