Living in Confusion

Noach already knew Torah, and so did Adam. So why does Chazal date the era of Torah to the day Avraham brought the idol worshippers of Charan back to Hashem? The Ra'avad asks why Avraham alone gets the credit, when so many tzaddikim before him spoke out against idolatry. His answer sounds almost like a riddle about hidden idols and public ones. It leads into how easily we wrap a wrong choice in the look of a mitzvah. A chassid asks his rebbe for a blessing to lead the davening in another shul, and the rebbe's reaction tells the story.