A Mission

 Lech Lecha

Gen. 12:1 -17:27

 

Précis: This parasha, “get you up” or “go yourself” (lech lecha) begins with “the call” of Abram to leave his home and depart for a new land. At God’s command, Abram and Sarai journey to Canaan. When famine strikes, they travel to Egypt, where Sarai is taken into Pharaoh’s harem after Abram calls her his “sister,” but she escapes without harm. They then leave Egypt, with Abram now a rich man. To avoid family squabbles, Abram separates himself from his nephew Lot (who moves to Sodom), but Abram is forced to rescue Lot and reaches a negotiated settlement with the locals. God promises him an heir. Because Sarai is barren, she offers Abram her servant (Hagar), and Hagar gives birth to a son, Ishmael. Abram is then promised a son through Sarai, to be his true heir. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham, and Sarai’s to Sarah, in recognition of the new Covenant with God, which is then symbolized by Abraham’s circumcision.

 

Gen. 12:1 “And Adonai said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your land and your birthplace and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’”

 

I have been a devoted fan of Star Trek since its debut on September 8, 1966. It’s been a few weeks more than 55 years since Captain James Tiberius Kirk initiated a 5-year mission “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

            I had not connected Abram to Captain Kirk before. Nevertheless, their “missions” had remarkable similarities (although probably not in the mind of the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, who has been quoted as saying he was trying to write a series like the then-popular western, Wagon Train, only moving it into space). Abram was sent to explore a new world, to seek out and create a new civilization, and to go boldly where no one had gone before (at least metaphysically speaking).

            I usually write this weekly message to bring the Torah’s teachings to major issues we face together. This week, I write to honor William Shatner, the original Captain Kirk, as he became the oldest human to briefly venture into space, aboard Blue Origin, at the age of 90. Live long and prosper, William Shatner!

Causes of Cataclysm

 Noach

Gen. 6:9-11:32

 

Précis: The story of Noah (Hebrew: Noach) and the Flood appear in this parasha. Noah, called by God, builds the Ark and collects the animals. It rains for forty days and nights. Noah and his family are saved, and afterward leave the Ark, build an altar, and make sacrifices to God. God sets a rainbow as a promise not to destroy mankind again. Noah plants a vineyard, makes wine, and becomes drunk. An odd incident with sexual overtones takes place with his sons. The story of the Tower of Babel is included in this parasha, and it ends with a genealogy of the ancient peoples of the Bible, concluding with Abram.

 

Gen. 6:13 “The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth, God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth.’”

 

It is clear that the text is telling us that there is a direct link between human corruption (Evil? Intolerance? Hatred? Sins of the flesh? – the text doesn't tell us what) and God’s actions. It sets up a traditional sin causes punishment dialectic which much of Jewish tradition accepts.

            I have a problem with this view. Cataclysms are not the result of sin, despite what some fundamentalist religious authorities aver. One might even argue that God’s creation of a rainbow after the Flood was a signal that He would never eradicate humanity in any fashion.

            But some cataclysms are the work of humanity. Ignore, if you will, that climate change poses a threat to ourselves and future generations. That ignorance is willful and wrong. Ignore the millions of economic refugees seeking a better life, and that ignorance is also willful and wrong. Refuse vaccination because you fear that the vaccine doesn't work (it does) or because it somehow impinges on your personal freedom (there are far greater limitations we accept without thinking). That ignorance is also willful and wrong

            Last week, I suggested that when God created Man, He knew His creations could create the most terrible darkness. We can create Holocausts and plagues, wars and floods, mass extinctions and what we politely call “inhumane” activities. When God created Man, He also endowed human beings with the ability to care for others, to seek knowledge, and as we most often recite, to see to the needs of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger.