רפואה מן התורה
Healing from the Torah
By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
In
Genesis 18:2, Rashi discusses why the word וַיַּרְא (vay’yar), to see, is used twice. Rashi comments that the first time, it is as
it says, Abraham opened his eyes and simply saw three men/angels standing
before him. However the second time he
just did not see, but in a deeper way he perceived, Abraham standing up and running
toward the three to invite them into his
home for a meal. In the words of Nachum
Sarna, “Abraham does not wait for them to approach but takes the initiative in
offering hospitality,” even while Abraham was recovering from his
circumcision. This story is the
foundation of two mitzvot being
בִּקּוּר חוֹלים (bikkur cholim), "visiting
the sick," and וְהַכְנָסַת או֫רחִים (v’hach’nasat ohrchim), "showing
hospitality." But there is another, וַהֲבָאַת שָׁלוֹם בֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ , (v’hava’at shalom, bayn adam la’cha’vayro), be “a lover of peace
between a person and their companion,” something
that Abraham surely valued. As Abraham played peace-maker
maker with Lot he most
likely vacillated between anger and disappointment with his nephew, but given
the need to make peace he looked beyond the face value of their interchange and
sought to understand Lot on a deeper level as opposed to dismissing him
outright. This week Abraham does the
same under more trying circumstances.
What might have Abraham perceived on
a deeper level? On a deeper level
Abraham did not operate under a sense of obligation. In fact, when we read in Isaiah 41:8, “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen,
the seed of Abraham, My friend,” it allows for the following question: “Is Noah
being called a righteous man (cf. Gen. 6:9), and Abraham being called a friend
of God, significant?” For Rashi, Noah
being righteous is about his deeds, whereas for Abraham, being a friend was not
about doing out of the compulsion but simply because of who he is. This reflects the words of Pirkei Avot 1:6
that says, עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב, וּקְנֵה לְךָ חָבֵר (asayh l’cha rav, ooknay l’cha chavayr), “appoint
for yourself a teacher, and acquire for yourself a friend.” Maimonides on this Pirkei Avot verse says that
a friend helps to “correct
one’s actions in all areas of life,” which is why for me, Abraham as a friend of
God has more value than just being righteous alone like Noah. A real friend will be a righteous person as opposed
to a (self) righteous person who will not necessarily be a friend.
If God and Abraham were friends,
then why here in Vayeria does God apparently
conceal from Abraham the planned destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? It says in Genesis 18:17-18, “And the LORD
said: ‘Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing; seeing that
Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in him?’”
Rashi reflecting on these verses says they speak to Abraham’s inward
conflict about the days of Noah and the devastation of the flood, Abraham thinking,
can God so this again? At first glance
it does appear that God and Abraham have differing views pertaining to the
justice of life and how to act upon it. Taking
a step backwards for just a moment, although our tradition says the opposite, I
am not so sure Abraham would have assumed that his nephew Lot desired Sodom and
Gomorrah for any other reason than its physical beauty (see Gen. 13:10), only upon
his arrival did things clearly change. Still,
Lot grew up in Abraham’s home, Lot trusted Abraham enough to go with him to a
land he did not know, and in truth Abraham surely felt a responsibility toward
his nephew and therefore assumed that God did (or should) as well.
Abraham’s feelings about what God is doing comes out in his
rhetorical question where he says, הֲשֹׁפֵט כָּל-הָאָרֶץ
לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט, “shall not the Judge of all the earth
do justly?” The condition of Sodom
and Gomorrah is laid out in the Midrash, PirkeiDeRabbi Eliezer, saying “they appointed over themselves judges who were lying
judges, and they oppressed every wayfarer and stranger who entered Sodom by
their perverse judgment, and they sent them forth naked, as it is said, “They have oppressed the stranger without
judgment” (Ezek.
22:29).”
Abraham presumed there was a need to remind God that justice
was equal to the wicked and the good alike, but why? Did Abraham not trust that God would do the
world right in this area? We learn in
another Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 49:1) that not blessing the righteous or
cursing the wicked are both transgressions.
In other words, tradition teaches that God’s justice included just not
the right, but the obligation to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, so why should
Abraham be told if he knew that justice will be distributed upon the
earth? Perhaps it is according to what Rabbi
Yehuda taught; Abraham was God’s partner in the repair of the world, tikkun (cf.
Genesis Rabbah 49:2), and therefore ethically should have been told, after all,
partners don’t keep important stuff like this from each other.
For Abraham’s part, he knew it would be sacrilege for God to
judge the wicked and righteous the same (see Rashi on Gen. 18:25). As such, when Abraham becomes aware of God’s
intent to destroy these two cities he is not so much appalled, more so than he is
angry, even though he knew that Sodom and Gomorrah were the pits of society and evil
to the core (see Genesis 19). Abraham did not let the
wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah alter his view of life and death or right are
wrong. In this case he approaches God,
with great purpose, and says, “Will you indeed sweep away (תִּסְפֶּה, tispheh) the righteous with the
wicked,” a question that should be read as an indignant sense of
justice. In Onkelos (Aramaic version of
the Torah), the word for “sweep away” (הֲבִרְגַז, havirgaz) means a “quarrel while not being on speaking
terms.” God was angry at all the
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah – the good and bad alike - and had no more to
say. Even though God held Abraham accountable
for these wicked cities, Abraham in effect held God accountable by saying, “if
I worked it out with Lot, why can’t you.”
Rabbi David Fohrman teaches on Abraham’s use of the word הִנֶּנִּי (hineni), “behold,” a word he used both with God (cf.Gen. 22:1) and his son Isaac (cf. Gen. 22:7).
R’Fohrman suggests that is because Abraham saw himself as a partner with
his higher values of the divine as well as a partner with humanity. The good of God is not just hocus-pocus, but is
realized in connection with bayn adam l’chavayro, between one person and
another, being a “a lover of peace
between a person and their companion.” Abraham entered into negotiations
with God to save the righteous people of Sodom and Gomorrah although he knew
that he could not save those who chose evil and hate. Abraham looked beyond what he saw, a wicked
city that did heinous things, and saw the deeper meaning as a friend who
advocates for the voices of others.
In Pirkei Avot 4:13 it says the
greatest crown in life is “a good name,” but a good name is much more
than just standing on righteous principals.
Abraham did not wait for God so to speak, but acted in good faith for the
sake of others because it was the right to be, albeit not easy. I may have mentioned it already, but here in
Los Angeles on select billboards and bus stops, a simple advertisement underscores these
trying times that says וְאָהַבְתָּ
לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ (V’ahavta l’ray’ahcha
ca’mocha), “and you shall love/value/esteem
your neighbor as yourself.” It is
that person, even with others who see life differently,
who is the one that wears the crown of a good name.
Shabbat
Shalom!
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