"And God said unto Abram, "Go you out of your country..." (Bereshit 12.3)
"Rabbi Yitschak began: "Hearken, O' daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: forget also thine own people, and thy father's house" (Psalms 45.11). Rabbi Yitschak said: "This is comparable to a man who traveled from one place to another and saw a castle ablaze. [Seeing this,] he said, "This place has no master." Just then the master peeked out at him, and said, "I am the master of this castle." So too, Abraham said: This must be a universe without a master," Just then the Almighty looked upon him and said: "I am the master of the universe." (Midrash Rabbah 39.1)
One wonders what was unique about Abraham o merit God's selecting him to go to Cana'an and to receive His blessings. Why was Abraham especially worthy of this? It could be argued that any person would have become righteous if God had personally chosen him, revealed Himself before him, and promised him all that is good in life. Even those in the generations prior to Abraham, whom the Tanach in Pirkei Avot describes as "increasingly enraging" the Almighty, might have changed their ways if they had witnessed God's revelation and received His promise. Why Abraham?
Our Rabbis answer this dilemma metaphorically, "Rabbi Yitschak said: "this is comparable to a man who traveled from one place to another and saw a castle ablaze. [Seeing this,] he said, "This place has no master." Just then the master peeked out at him, and said, "I am the master of this castle." So too, Abraham said: This must be a universe without a master," Just then the Almighty looked upon him and said: "I am the master of the universe."
God chose Abraham because Abraham asked for Him, sought Him out. The person who understands tnat the world is governed by a higher force, a Creator, seeks Him out. In return, God responds. The person who denies this, who ignored God's role in the world - to such a person God does not turn, for that would be futile. What we see or do not see around us is not only a function of objective realities. It is also a function of our subjective willingness to see, to learn, to act. Abraham wanted, sought out, and found God. Therein lay his righteousness, and for this reason he was chosen. Earlier generations had sought only to "create for us a name" (11.4) and for this reason they enraged the Almighty.
"Hearken O'daughter and see, and incline thy ear..." If we choose to see and hear God, He too will respond.
