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How did Avrohom recognize God at age three when the Rambam (רמב"ם) says he only achieved clarity at forty? The shiur resolves this by showing that at forty, Avrohom transformed his earlier idol worship into a mitzvah (מצוה)—his firsthand struggle qualified him to reach tens of thousands where Shem and Ever could not. A baal teshuvah's distance from God becomes his greatest asset when channeled to help others.
Rabbi Zweig addresses an apparent contradiction between Chazal and the Rambam (רמב"ם) regarding when Avrohom Avinu recognized God. The Gemara (גמרא) derives from the word "ekev" (numerical value 172) in Bereishis 26:5 that Avrohom kept mitzvos for 172 years, meaning he recognized God at age three. Yet the Rambam in Hilchos Avodas Zarah states explicitly that Avrohom only recognized his Creator at age forty—and moreover, that until then he actually worshipped idols alongside his family in Ur Kasdim. The Kesef Mishneh attempts to reconcile this by saying Avrohom began knowing God at three but completed his understanding at forty. Rabbi Zweig rejects this because the Rambam explicitly states that at age three Avrohom was still practicing idolatry, not beginning to know God. Furthermore, the Raavad asks a second question: if Avrohom gathered tens of thousands of followers after age forty, what were Shem and Ever doing? They were alive, they had a yeshiva, and they were certainly righteous—why weren't they accomplishing this mass outreach?
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Bereishis 26:5
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