First Blessing 24: Shield of Abraham

The end of the blessing is Magen Avraham – shield of Abraham. Why was God the shield of Abraham? – Because Abraham began a process of discovery. In a process of discovery it is very easy to make serious mistakes. That is what was happening to everyone. But because Abraham was serious in forming this relationship, God shielded him – even though God tested Abraham, as well. In mentioning magen avraham, we are saying that just as we have begun to address God, we are asking God to protect us. We can’t build a relationship unless there is some sort of shield protecting us from the world. And that’s why instead of looking at the world horizontally in the first blessing, we look at our relationship with God vertically, so that we have protection. In other words, we are not looking at everything coming at us from all sides. We are seeing things building up.