Torah Portion

Two ways to start the holiday season right!

Ill

To Establish Justice,
We Must Live Justly

innocent and let the guilty perish in
their sin." But Abraham's infinite love
for all people, including the wicked, is
expressed in the continuation of his
argument: "Perhaps there are 50 right-
eous within the city; wilt Thou indeed
sweep away and not forgive the place
for the 50 righteous that are therein?
ne of the most moving and
Or for the 40 or the 30 or the 20 or
dramatic dialogues of the
the 10?"
Torah is found in this week's
Abraham's argument then reaches a
sedra.
powerful climax in one of the most
God wants to destroy the cities of
daring statements ever issued by man
Sodom and Gemorra because of their
to the Almighty, when he said, "Shall
wickedness for "their sin is very griev-
not the Judge of all the
ous." God reveals to
earth do justice?" God's
Abraham what is about to
omnipotence does not, so to
take place. The Bible explains
speak, place Him above the
this extraordinary foretelling
laws of justice and right.
of the divine plan to a mere
Man can "reprove" the
mortal, "For I have known
Almighty for arbitrary acts
Him to the end that He may
that violate the fundamental
command your children and
attribute of God, which is
His household after Him that
mishpat (justice), for the
they may keep the way of the
Lord of hosts is exalted
Lord, to do righteousness
through justice" (Isaiah
RABBI I RWIN
and justice."
5:16).
GRO NER
Abraham, the exemplar of
Abraham's language
Special to the
righteousness, the witness to
moves with consummate
Jewish News
God's presence in the world,
artistry, formality and defi-
was informed that he might
ance — that is, between the
properly grasp the moral sig-
third person singular ("Let the Lord
nificance of the divine judgment on
not be angry") and the second person
the depraved cities.
("Will Thou destroy the whole city for
When Abraham learns of the
the lack of five?") With boldness,
impending destruction, he challenges
Abraham declares, "Far be it from
God. The patriarch's moral stature is
Thee to do such a thing," and yet he
considerably greater than that of
recoils in awe as he states, "Behold, I
Noah, the progenitor of the human
have taken upon myself to speak to
race. Noah was told about the flood
the Lord, I who am but dust and
that it would sweep away all living
ashes.
things. We find no protest voiced by
With Abraham's moral courage, a
him on behalf of humanity, only corn-
new element has entered biblical and
pliance with the plan for the rescue of
Jewish tradition. Adam and Eve chal-
him, his family and the animals.
lenged God by disobedience, but they
Abraham, in marked contrast,
had to yield. Abraham challenges God
protests this divinely willed act of
by disobedience, but also by accusing
annihilation. To him, Sodom was not
Him of violating His own principles.
an abstract unit identifiable as a "city."
Abraham, in seeking to draw closer
Sodom, in Abraham's consciousness,
to God, offers us the highest aspira-
was an area in which there lived thou-
tion of which the human soul is capa-
sands of individual human beings that
ble. In seeking to confront the Creator
loved and wept and laughed and suf-
fered. In his boundless love for man,
Abraham was aghast at the prospect of
the annihilation of his fellow human
beings.
Why does Jewish tradition con-
In courteous language, yet with the
sider Abraham to be greater than
daring of a great hero, Abraham pleads
Noah? By what right was
with God: "Wilt Thou, indeed, sweep
Abraham empowered to chal-
away the righteous and wicked?" Had
lenge God? If Abraham had lived
Abraham stopped at this point and
during the Holocaust of this cen-
said no more, the implication would
tury, what would have been his
have been, "Therefore, God, save the
response to the tragedy of our
time?
Irwin Groner is senior rabbi of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

Shabbat Vayera:
Genesis 18:1-22:24;
II Kings 4:1-37.

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