GEN344 The richest midrashic reflection on the problem of filial proximity and service concerns God’s command to Abraham to leave his father’s house and go to the land that God would show him: “Now the Lord said to Abram: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee” [Genesis 12:1]. What was written in Scripture just prior to this? “And Terah died in Haran” [Genesis 11:32]. R. Isaac said, “Terah actually lived sixty-five years more after Abraham left! But firstly, we infer that the wicked are called dead even while they are alive; for Abraham was apprehensive, saying, “When I leave, men will profane the name of God because of me, as they will say, "He left his aged father and went off.” So God said to Abraham, “I release you from the obligation of honoring your father and your mother, but I will release no other from this obligation; furthermore, I will inscribe his death [in the Bible] before I inscribe your departure.’” Genesis Rabbah (II, p. 369).  BLIDSTEIN 110-1