GEN783 When the time came to leave Haran for Canaan, we read that Abram and his wife Sarai took with them “the souls that they had made in Haran.”  And the Midrash asks eloquently, “If all who came into he world would gather to create even a single gnat, they could not instill life in it; yet Scripture speaks of the souls they had made!  [this verse] This rather means, then, the converts whom they brought into their faith … which teaches you that when someone brings an unbelieving outsider near [to God] and converts him, it is as if he created him …”  Genesis Rabbah 34:14 and other citations.  Abraham “created life”: he freed people from bonds of fear and superstition to find a sure path of faith and a confident, blessed life.  SINAI3 16