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Parshat Vayeira: Genesis 18:1-22:24;
II Kings 4:1-4:37.

A

s the parshah opens,
Abraham is faced with a
choice between two values:
honoring God or hachnasat orchim,
welcoming some travelers he sees in the
distance.
The narrative is enigmat-
ic. God visits Abraham and
without taking leave of the
Almighty, Abraham "lifts
his eyes and looks" and sees
three men. He runs to greet
them and proceeds to offer
them food and drink.
To put it in more contem-
porary terms, imagine that
the president of the United
States drops in for a visit.
While sitting and discussing
policy in your living room, you notice
a friend passing by on the street and
without so much as asking the president's
pardon, you run out and greet your
friend.
But even more, you invite him in,
give him a drink and begin to make him
feel at home, all the while, ignoring the
president. And, indeed, some commen-
taries find fault in Abraham's failure to
properly take leave of God.
In answer to this seeming dilemma,
my revered teacher, Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz,
of blessed memory, would refer to a pas-
sage in the Babylonian Talmud (Taanit
21a) which discusses the sad state of
Nachum Ish Gamzu. Nachum was blind
and paraplegic. He also suffered from
boils on his body and was bedridden in a
shaky house. His students feared for his
safety as the house shook with the wind.
He instructed them to remove all his pos-
sessions first and only then to carry him
from the house.
Upon exiting, the house collapsed.
As it was apparent to all in attendance
that the house remained standing on
his merit alone, the students demanded
to know what had happened that their
revered teacher would be condemned to
such a miserable existence.
Nachum related that when he was
younger and worked for his wealthy
father-in-law, he was leading a few ani-
mals laden with merchandise when a
poor person appeared and begged for
food and drink. Nachum replied, "Wait
until I get off the donkey, and I will be
glad to give you food and drink." By the
time he dismounted, the man died.
Nachum explained to his students

that he was so overwrought with regret
that he spread himself over the deceased
individual and declared that the hands
that had no sympathy for the man's
hands should lose their agility. He con-
tinued his lament, bemoaning
his eyes' lack of mercy and his
legs' lack of alacrity, praying
for them to lose their abili-
ties to atone for this travesty.
He goes on to explain that he
could not calm his conscience
until he willed his body to
become afflicted with boils.
Many students, when they
study this passage, are taken
aback by the intensity of
Nachum's remorse and the
severity of his self-inflicted
punishment, but Rabbi Lifshitz never
elucidated further. However, I believe the
message of the Talmudic passage and the
answer to Abraham's dilemma are clear.
Human life is fragile and only scant
seconds can make a difference. And
as much as humanity is fragile, God is
invincible. God's honor can wait when
human life hangs in the balance.
In the wilderness of Alonei Moreh,
the heat can kill and travelers needed
water and sustenance. Abraham put
God's honor aside and rushed to the
visitors. As the story of Nachum Ish
Gamzu illustrates, just the few seconds
it takes for niceties may be too long for
someone to survive.
Of course, we need to modify our
analogy. If the president was sitting with
you in your house and a friend passed
by, it would be improper to suddenly get
up and run to greet your friend. But if
you were to see a stranger trip and get
hurt in the street, the calculus would be
different. ❑

Rabbi Tzvi Klugerman is head of school at

Akiva Hebrew Day School in Southfield.

Conversations

• What dilemmas of conflicting
values occur in our own lives?
• Is it so simple to disregard a
person's honor for another? How
might it be easier to put aside
God for a human, rather than one
friend for another?
• Is the equation the same
when we pit God's honor against a
person's honor?

,1

George Frideric Han

rn

to

NOVEMBER 10--1

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November 1 . 2012

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