Vayera
Gen. 18:1-22:24
Précis: God “appeared” (vayera) to Abraham in the form of three travelers to whom Abraham shows hospitality. They promise the birth of Isaac, overheard by Sarah (who laughs). God reveals His plans for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham argues for its salvation for the sake of any innocents who might dwell there. The scene shifts to Sodom where Lot lives, and he and his family are rescued first from an unruly mob and then from the destruction of the city itself. Lot’s wife glances back and turns into the pillar of salt. His daughters, fearing that they are the last females alive, make Lot drunk and engage in sexual relations with him, later giving birth to founders of the tribes of Moab and Ammon (traditional adversaries of the Israelites).
Back with Abraham, Sarah conceives and gives birth to Isaac. She becomes unhappy with the continued presence of Ishmael and prevails upon Abraham to expel Ishmael and Hagar from the household, which he does (after being promised by God that Ishmael, too, will be the father of a great nation). Thereafter, the story continues with the attempted sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham, called “the Akedah” (the Binding of Isaac).
Gen. 18:23-33 “Abraham came forward and said, ‘Will you sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? What if there be fifty innocents within the city…? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death to the innocent as well as the guilty…’ And Adonai said, ‘I will forgive the whole place for their sake.’ And Abraham said, ‘What if the 50 innocents will lack five? Will you destroy the whole city for want of the five?’”
Our tradition suggests that when we act as God acts, we live righteously. God is the ultimate “dugmah” (model for behavior). Thus, midrash suggests that God appears to Abraham to comfort him following his circumcision, and so we should visit the sick. Here, however, is a unique challenge: Abraham argues with God, who eventually agrees to spare the city if 10 “innocents” dwell there. Apparently, they did not, and so the city was destroyed.
Nevertheless, the destruction of Sodom must have included the destruction of some innocents, be they a handful of good men, or children or aged. Yet God proceeds to destroy the entire city. During World War II, the Allies undertook the intentional destruction of entire cities, including Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Dresden. As regular readers of my weekly musings know, I am no fan of PM Netanyahu. Nevertheless, he was quite accurate this past Monday when he said that no one told the Allies to stop targeting Germany because of the human toll of their bombing raids. "You didn't tell the Allies, 'Don't stamp out Nazism because of such tragic consequences,'" he said. The concept of “collateral damage” to innocents is protected under international law, and is recognized as a price which must be paid to prevent greater death.
Today, Israel is at war with Hamas – evil and chaos. There is a second front to the war: Jews on American college campuses (including my own alma mater, Cornell) and Jews around the world have been threatened if not attacked by antisemites because of support for Israel.
Those who threaten we Jews because of our support for Israel may think of themselves as modern-day Abrahams, arguing for an end of destruction for the sake of the “innocents.” What they fail to understand is that Israel is fighting in self-defense against an enemy who terrorizes not only Israel, but those they rule as well.
