One of God's most powerful creations: PR!

The Torah opens with a catalogue of things God creates during the first six days of the world’s existence. Pirkei Avot extends this list (Avot 5:8) by adding a further ten things (actually 14) that were created during twilight at the point at which the sixth day shades into Shabbat.

One thing that never made the opening of Parashat Bereshit (Genesis) or Avot 5:8 is one of God’s most important creations: public relations, or ‘PR’ as it is known in the vernacular. How do we know this? Maharam Shik ties it to an earlier Mishnah (Avot 5:4), which reads like this:

עֲשָׂרָה נִסְיוֹנוֹת נִתְנַסָּה אַבְרָהָם אָבִֽינוּ, וְעָמַד בְּכֻלָּם, לְהוֹדִֽיעַ כַּמָּה חִבָּתוֹ שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִֽינוּ

With ten tests our father Abraham was tested and he withstood them all—in order to make known how great was our father Abraham's love.

What does this have to do with PR? The answer is simple when you think about it. Being omniscient and beyond time, God already knows the outcome of the ten tests. He is also well aware of Abraham’s great love for Him. But when the ten tests begin, Abraham—together with his wife Sara—are the only people on the planet who not only believe in His existence but demonstrate unconditional love for Him.

One of the best ways to spread the news is to publicise it. Not every commentator has the same list of tests for Abraham (there are at least 30 “possibles”), but a factor that is common to almost all of them is that they are public, in the sense that there are others at the scene who are either involved in them or serve as spectators. If you see something miraculous, there’s a good chance you’ll talk about it. This is therefore how God plans to spread the word about His existence. And that explains the words “in order to make known” in our mishnah.