GEN816 There were ten generations from Noah to Abraham, which informs [us] how great is His patience: for all those generations continued to anger Him, until Abraham our Father came and received the reward that was due them all. Pirkei Avot V:3  Why did Abraham stand alone against the world about, fighting to reach it a new truth, until as [Genesis Rabbah xli 8 (ad loc.)] explains he was called Abraham the ivri because all the world was me-ever ehad, on one side, while he stood me-ever aher, on the other side – ranged against it? This Patriarch, our tradition teaches, was the very personification of hessed, the quality of loving-kindness.  He taught his life-giving faith because he cared deeply for people. When he learned that his nephew Lot had been captured in battle, Abraham gathered his men and fought superior numbers to rescue him. [this verse through 14:16]. When the Almighty informed him of the imminent destruction of Sodom, Abraham pleaded, entreated, “bargained” for the lives of people who, as knew well, were evil incarnate. Genesis 18:23-33.  The Midrash paints a stark portrait of Sodom and Gomorrah: Anyone travelling through would be robbed of everything and left to starve.  A daughter of Lot once took pity on a beggar who came there and she kept feeding him surreptitiously.  When the people of Sodom found out, they burned her to death. [Sefer haYashar, Vayyera, based on Talmud, Sanhedrin 109a; Pirke d’R. Eli’ezer xxv, etc.] This finds confirmation enough in Scripture’s account of the whole town gathering before lot’s door when they discovered that he gave lodging to three strangers. Genesis 19:4-5.  If Abraham believed that these people were permanently evil, would he have pleaded for them? Even they, he must have believed, could eventually be reached and made human with the faith that leads to the one true Deity.  True to his principle (says the Midrash), Abraham kept “open house”: his dwelling was open to the four winds. Any passer-by from any direction was welcome to enter and eat at his table. What price did he ask for his “oasis” in the desert lands? – that the stranger give thanks to the Almighty. Avoth d’R. Nathan A7, Talmud, Sotah 10a, Midrash Tanhuma, Hayye Sara 4; Genesis Rabbah liv 6, etc.  And the Talmud states succinctly: Whoever has compassion on people, it is certain that he is a descendant of Abraham our father. Betzah 32b  Abraham was not a tzadik in peltz [See  6:9 Noah SINAI3 -5]. He found a world icy cold with fear and insecurity, in which people thought only of themselves. Each worshipped his own little idol, for his own bit of safety and wellbeing. Abraham spent a lifetime trying to warm the world with the knowledge of a Creator show old readily safeguard and provide. Scripture states, “Thou are the Lord God who didst chose Abram … and Thou didst find his heart faithful …” Nehemiah 9:7-8 The Almighty chose him as He had chosen Noah – but Abraham was truly a “find”: in him the Almighty discovered a loyalty and devotion far beyond the call of duty.  SINAI3 17-8