"Yahveh appeared to Abram and said to him, I Am the Almighty El. Walk before
Me and be perfect." Genesis 17:1
Why did Yahveh demand perfection of Abraham, if no one can be perfect?
It is obvious that no human being can aspire to equal Yahveh's degree of perfection. What man can achieve
is to live according to Yahveh's teachings and thereby live up to his own potential; more than that is not possible or expected.
Thus, Yahveh didn't just say "Be perfect"; He said, "Walk before Me and thereby you will be perfect." When we live according
to His teachings, that constitutes human perfection, although we are technically never perfect.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch notes that the Hebrew word for "walk" in the above verse is not “telech”
but “het’halech” which implies, "Go your way in spite of opposition, not making your progress dependent
on external circumstances, but being led from within yourself: Let your movement proceed from your own free-willed decisions."
Although we cannot be absolutely without flaw, we can be Biblically “perfect” if we purpose
to obey Yahveh’s Perfect Will for us.
