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Read about Isaac's spiritual journey! Then let me know what you think!

Spiritually Yours,

Laura Weakley

Walk the Walk: Genesis Chapters 18-22

Genesis  18:18-19

יז. וַי־הֹוָ־ה אָמָר הַמְכַסֶּה אֲנִי מֵאַבְרָהָם אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי עֹשֶׂה:

18. And Abraham will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the world will be blessed in him.

יח. וְאַבְרָהָם הָיוֹ יִהְיֶה לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וְעָצוּם וְנִבְרְכוּ בוֹ כֹּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ:

1. For I have known him because he commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord to perform righteousness and justice, in order that the Lord bring upon Abraham that which He spoke concerning him."

    Teaching the generations righteousness and justice is spoken of in the first portion of the parasha for the week.  Soon after, this is put to the test under extremely harsh circumstances (to say the least!).  We are taught through G-d’s examples what this means to G-d.  We also see through G-d’s testing of Abraham that Abraham understood what righteousness and justice mean - and maybe more importantly - passing the importance of it, along with the knowledge, through the generations.  Abraham taught not only his own children, but also everyone in his “household”, basically meaning everyone with whom he had contact.  Righteousness and justice are every person’s responsibility.  

    Certainly if G-d is omnicient, than Adonai was well aware of what was happening in Sodom and Gomorrah.  But we are not G-d, so Adonoi sent his angels to find the truth.  Teaching us that just because we think we know the truth, we owe it to those we judge, and if we are to have a system of TRUE justice, judges owe it to defendants to actually find out the truth.  For you attorneys, read this in this manner: make sure to do due diligence.  We shouldn’t jump to conclusions, nor should we accept gossip as the truth.

    Abraham demonstrated a lot of chutzpah standing up to Adonai and arguing for the lives of people he didn’t even know.  We learn how important it is not only to refrain from rushing to judgment, but we are also responsible for standing up for those who may not be able to stand up for themselves.  Abraham argued that a whole town should not be destroyed if there are righteous people who live there.  In other words...don’t punish the innocent!  Also, if there are righteous people, then the others may have a chance to change.

    If you are surrounded by people (call this peer pressure) who commit acts you know to be wrong, it is very easy to join them.  Standing up to them, and more importantly, trying to teach them the error of their ways, is what righteous people do.  We have numerous historical examples of people whose lives turned around due to the care and concern shown to them by someone modeling healthy behavior  Simply put, someone who cared about their future.

    We are taught by the examples in this week’s parasha how acting righteously doesn’t translate to lectures.  Abraham “walked the walk”, so to speak.  He taught by example, as did the angels and G-d.  

    Abraham treated the strangers (some of us call them angels) like family.  Perhaps I should say as family should be treated.  The strangers inquired about Abraham’s wife Sarah, showing respect for both of them.  Abraham saw to the strangers’ comfort first, and once he had delegated the cooking tasks, he talked to the strangers and showed interest in them.  Let us not forget that Abraham did all of this just after his circumcision.  Midrash teaches us this occurred on the third day after his circumcision, and this is when a man is in the most pain and feels his weakest.  Abraham was sitting at the tent opening, basically looking for a way to help others despite his own painful situation.  He ran to greet the strangers, welcome them, and took care of them.  He didn’t even eat with them, he just kept them company, which indicates the importance of making certain your guests, as well as strangers in your midst, have enough to eat.  Had Abraham supped with them, someone might have still been hungry.  

    King Abimelech demonstrated concern for others and not just himself.  Once Abimelech found out, through his dream, that Sarah was Abraham’s wife, he still had the choice upon waking to ignore his dream or to make reparations.  Pharaoh, once he found out Sarah was Abraham’s wife, was so scared for his own well-being, he gave Sarah back and told them to leave.  Abimelech, on the other hand, while he was also afraid, took extra steps to make sure Sarah and Abraham’s reputations were intact, and they were treated with respect.  Of course, he also told them to leave, but they left with heads held high.  He made certain they weren’t shamed.

    While Abraham lied by omission, and did so to protect his own life, I have to believe he had faith that Adonai would watch over Sarah, and see no harm or adultery would come to her.  While one could say Abraham shared a little too much - and I have to agree - the story is in the Torah for a reason.  Along those lines, I choose to think Abraham, having quite a personal relationship with G-d, knew Sarah would be fine.  Also, as Abraham felt Abimelech’s kingdom was full of godless people, he knew he could (with G-d’s help) teach the people through Abimelech’s experience how to treat others.  Not treated lasciviously, nor greedily, but kindly and with respect.

    We are told in the narrative all of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were sinful by the use of inclusiveness of these words, “...from young to old, all the people from every quarter.”  Lot and members of his family were saved not by their own true righteousness, but because of Abraham’s.  Lot, while not as demented as the rest of the people in those towns (yes, I’m judging, but based on what the Torah tells us), wasn’t exactly operating on moral high ground either.  I won’t delve into how angry his behavior makes me, suffice to say it’s highly offensive he offered his own daughters to the raucous crowd rather than turn over the angels to them.  Lot was aware he was no saint, as he was ashamed to go home to his uncle, which the angels had instructed him.  And he didn’t want to return to Abraham, both because of his own shame, as well as the shame he knew he’d bring upon Abraham and his house.  He then kept his mouth shut and didn’t dispel his daughters’ collective view that the whole world was destroyed, as they had thought, and he allowed them to ply him with alcohol and ....well, I’ll leave this PG-rated.  You adults understand what happened next.  Lot was clearly given a chance to change his evil ways, and he did not.  At this point in the passage, Abraham took his family and left town.  

    Lot chose to live amongst and amidst evil people, Abraham wanted nothing to do with them, but was very concerned with giving people a chance to change.

    We are responsible for demonstrating through our own behavior, as well as helping others to come to make better choices through experience.  But the important point is we are in fact responsible, or shall I even say, we are our brothers’ keepers.

    G-d, by speaking about Abraham to the angels, within ear-shot of Abraham himself, gave Abraham “an out” as we say in the U.S.  Abraham could have pretended he wasn’t listening, or he could have chosen to take action, which he did, and intervene.  I would imagine that challenging G-d must be pretty intimidating, especially because of Abraham’s rather unique one-on-one relationship.  Abraham was well aware of G-d’s power.  Yet, he wasn’t thinking about himself or his own safety when he argued for the lives of others.

    The angels could have intervened and told Lot how to behave, but they didn’t, they simply made their presence known.  Abraham could have taken his chances with Abimelech, but he didn’t: he presented Abimelech with the choice of acting righteously or not.  Abraham also didn’t voice what he was doing, he - in cooperation with G-d - instead gave Abimelech his own choices and, of course, the consequences of those choices.  G-d did not speak directly to Abimelech, but instead chose to come to him in a dream.  This put the ball in Abimelech’s court, figuratively speaking.  Upon waking up, he had the choice of ignoring his dream or heeding it.  

    We teach by example.  Truly righteous people don’t just “talk the talk”, but they “walk the walk”, and by doing so exemplify correct, righteous, and just behaviors.  Truly righteous people don’t preach to others what they should do.  They understand everyone must be given choices, and learn from experience.  They do this by acting the way they would like others to act.  They just are righteous.  They are humble and don’t “toot their own horn” because they understand that doing so would undermine their own righteousness.  I recall reading an Ann Lander’s column, or it might have been from Miss Manners, but it was a very long time ago, so please excuse me for not giving exact credit.  Someone wrote about what someone was doing wrong in their eyes (and most likely in reality too), and the writer was asking if it was OK to correct the person publicly, as they had been at a social event together.  The answer was that although the one person’s action was wrong, to publicly point it out would actually have been worse.  Care about others and teach by example, and if you feel you must point out a faux pas, please do so privately, gently, and with compassion.  Don’t publicly shame another person.

    We learned these themes from the passage: respect others in their homes, and show genuine interest in their lives, as Abraham did.  Don’t forget to show respect by inquiring about someone’s spouse, just as the angels demonstrated by asking about Sarah.  Finally, treat others as you would treat your own family, and treat your own family members with respect.  Lot didn’t do either!  Basically, walk the walk!

    I’d love to know what you think!

 Spiritually Yours,

  Laura Weakley