Maor VaShemesh

In another way, it seems to me to give a reason for the small ה (hei) and for the derash (interpretive teaching) of the Chachamim zal (our Sages, of blessed memory) on "behibar'am" (when they were created) [being read as] "be'Avraham" (through Avraham), according to the midrash (interpretive teaching) on "eleh toldot hashamayim veha'aretz" (these are the generations of the heavens and the earth). "Eleh" (these) disqualifies the earlier ones. And what did it disqualify? "Tohu u'vohu" (formless and void) — this teaches that the Kadosh Baruch Hu (Holy One, Blessed be He) created worlds and destroyed them: this one pleased Him, and this one did not please Him.

And the matter is as follows: when the worlds descended in chain, from world to world, until this physical world, His Elokut (Divinity), may His Name be blessed, was forgotten by them, and they imagined that there was no master or ruler over them, and each one said, "I shall reign" — therefore they were destroyed.

And the essential point one must know is that He, may His Name be blessed, is the Master and Ruler, the root and source of all worlds, and one must submit before Him — as Avraham did, who said, "V'anochi afar va'efer" (And I am but dust and ashes). And through such a person, the world is sustained in his merit. This is [the meaning of] "behibar'am be'Avraham" — that one should hold himself according to the quality of Avraham, to be anav (humble) and submissive before Him, may His Name be blessed — unlike the earlier generations, each of whom said, "I shall reign," and therefore they were destroyed.

And this is also hinted at by the small ה (hei): that every person should regard himself as small and lowly before His Name, may it be blessed, and through this the world will endure. V'kal lehavin (and this is easy to understand).