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Vayera | Avraham and Sedom

 

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Dedicated in memory of Rabbi Jack Sable z”l and 
Ambassador Yehuda Avner z”l, 
by Debbie and David Sable
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Dedicated in memory of Eliokime ben Michoel z"l, 
whose yahrzeit is 19 Cheshvan, by Family Rueff
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Dedicated in memory of Rav Michael Bloom – "Mike",
on his second yahrzeit – yehi zikhro barukh,
by Akiva and Shanen Werber and family.
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The Mystery Regarding the Selection of Avraham

Why did God choose Avraham in particular to be His standard-bearer in the world?

This famous question is usually discussed at the beginning of Parashat Lekh Lekha, when readers first wonder at seeing Avraham burst out to the forefront of the biblical stage without any explanation.[1] However, a parenthetical note at the beginning of Parashat Vayera justifies postponing the discussion of Avraham's selection to our parasha. At the end of the angels' visit to Avraham’s tent, Scripture shares with us a kind of inner monologue of God:

And the Lord said: Shall I hide from Avraham that which I am doing; seeing that Avraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the Lord may bring upon Avraham that which He has spoken of him. (Bereishit 18:17-19)  

God's desire to “bring upon Avraham that which He has spoken of him" apparently alludes to a past revelation in which Avraham merited promises from God. But to which revelation is Scripture alluding? If we compare the wording that God uses here to the revelations that appeared in previous stories, we find clear allusions to the revelation that opens the stories of Avraham.[2]

 

Bereishit 18:18

Bereishit 12:2-3

Avraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great

and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him

and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed

 

The shared wording of these two passages indicates that God seeks to go back to the first revelation in which He "spoke of him," and to fill in the reason for his selection of Avraham – that very reason that has been concealed from us so far. We now learn that Avraham was chosen to educate future generations to keep the way of God to do righteousness and justice.

This reason seems at first glance to resolve the mystery of Avraham's selection, but upon closer examination, we see that the question remains and has even intensified. First, this reason does not actually explain why Avraham was chosen, but only for what end he was chosen. Second, it is difficult to understand why the Torah refrains from justifying God’s choice of Avraham from the very beginning. Third, one cannot but wonder about the "incidental" location of the reason, after the announcement regarding the birth of Yitzchak and before the announcement regarding the destruction of Sedom.

Selection That Is a Reward and Selection That Is a Mission

To better understand the nature of the selection of Avraham, one must distinguish between two types of selection: selection that is a reward, which is directed primarily toward the past, and selection that is a mission, which is directed primarily toward the future. A clear example of a selection that constitutes a reward is found in the story of Noach, the hero of the flood:

And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said: I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repents Me that I have made them. But Noach found grace in the eyes of the Lord… Noach was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God. (Bereishit 6:5-9)

 

In a world where evil rules and corruption reaches the point that even God, the Creator of man, repents for having created them (6:5-7), Noach stands as a beacon of righteousness. Thus, we are not puzzled – not when we hear of God's decision to destroy the world as recompense for the wickedness of its inhabitants, and not when we hear of His decision to save Noach in return for the six hundred years in which he walked with God. After the flood, Noach is not called upon to perform great deeds, and such deeds apparently did not occur. (The one story told about him after the flood – the story of his drunkenness – is not very flattering.)

The selection of Avraham belongs to the second type – a selection that constitutes a mission. This selection is directed not toward Avraham's good deeds in the past, but toward the good deeds that he is expected to perform in the future. The distinction between the selection of Avraham and the selection of Noach becomes clear from the following comparison:[3]

 

Avraham (Bereishit 17:1-2)

Noach (Bereishit 6:9)

The Lord appeared to Avram, and said to him: I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be you wholehearted

Noach was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noach walked with God

And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly. 

(see 9:1-17)

 

Whereas Noach is presented already before the story of the flood as a righteous and whole-hearted man who walked with God, in the case of Avraham, God uses conditional phrasing that is directed towards the future: "Walk before Me, and be you whole-hearted. And I will make My covenant between Me and you" (17:1-2). If Avraham will walk before God and be whole-hearted, he will in the future merit the establishment of a covenant with His Creator.[4]

The reason for choosing Avraham, which we mentioned above: "To the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice" (18:19), confirms our theory – Avraham was selected not because of what he did, but for the purpose of what he will do![5]

That is to say, the Torah does not speak of the good deeds performed by Avraham before he was chosen, because they are irrelevant and may even distract us from the main point. On the other hand, the Torah describes at great length the trials that Avraham endures after he is chosen – starting with the first "Go you," when he is required to give up his father's house in order to merit children, and ending with the last "Go you," when he is called upon to offer up his son without being promised anything – because passing the tests is the real justification for choosing Avraham.[6]

Sedom as a Contrast to the Path of Avraham

The fact that the selection of Avraham was not a reward but rather a mission explains the Torah's silence about Avraham's past, but still does not explain the strange location of this mission, at the end of the story of the angels' visit to Avraham and before they continue on their way to destroy Sedom.[7]

One possible explanation is that Avraham's mission is: "To the end that he may command his children and his household after him" (18:19). Since he must educate his children to continue in his path, it is right that the description of his mission should be given after he is informed about the imminent birth of his son Yitzchak.[8] And since Avraham is described as one who knows how to educate not only his children but also "his household," it is right that the description of his mission should be given close to the story of Lot's hospitality in Sedom, in which is revealed much of the education that he had received in the house of Avraham.[9]

This perspective, however, does not explain the puzzling fact that God sent the same angels on a single mission that started with the announcement of Yitzchak's imminent birth and ended with the destruction of Sedom. There would appear to be an essential connection between the two halves of the angels' mission, and between the two of them and the statement of Avraham's mission.[10] What is that connection?

Setting the story of the angels' visit to Avraham alongside the angels' visit in Sedom reveals a vast system of thematic and linguistic contrasts.[11] For example, the angels in Avraham's tent are the beneficiaries of wonderfully generous and respectful hospitality, whereas in Sedom the people of the city pursue them and try to get them into the street to abuse them.

Avraham loves justice, and his tendency to "do righteousness and justice" finds immediate expression when he tries to save the people of Sedom: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly?" (18:25). In contrast, the people of Sedom reveal themselves as haters of justice when they rebuke Lot: "This fellow came to sojourn, and he plays the judge" (19:9).[12]

If so, the story of Sedom is a contrasting complement to the announcement of the birth of Yitzchak. The birth of Yitzchak is supposed to herald the selection of "the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice" (18:19), which is rewarded with a blessing for generations, whereas Sedom represents the way of wickedness, repaid with destruction and annihilation.

Sedom and the Seed of Avraham

Based on the above, it might seem that the story of the wickedness of Sedom and their destruction is significant only as it emphasizes the righteousness of Avraham and his household. However, anyone who considers the place that Sedom assumes later in the Bible will see that God's decision to announce the birth of Yitzchak alongside the announcement of the destruction of Sedom serves as an important warning regarding the future of Avraham's seed. As the Radak writes:

"For I have known him" – that he fears Me and loves Me, and that it is his intention that his sons be like him, "to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice" – for he will say to them: Keep the way of the Lord, and He will do good for you; and if you do not keep it, He will do the opposite. And all that He has spoken to do good to me and to my seed after me, He will not do if you fail to keep His way. Lest you say: He will not concern Himself with your deeds, see what He did to Sedom and Amora because they were wicked. And if you say: It was a coincidence, as we see places that have collapsed because of an earthquake, surely He said to me before He destroyed them, that He would destroy Sedom and Amora because of their evil deeds. (Radak, 18:19)[13]

Indeed, the fate of Sedom is given extensive attention later in the Bible. Thus, for example, Moshe uses the fate of Sedom to illustrate the punishment awaiting Avraham’s descendants if they forsake their covenant with God:[14]

They will see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick; and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown and does not produce, and no grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sedom and Amora… which the Lord overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath. (Devarim 29:21-22)

Yeshayahu uses Sedom as a derogatory term for Israel, in order to bring them to repent for their sins:

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sedom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Amora…  Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. (Yeshayahu 1:10, 17) 

Yirmeyahu references Sedom when he accuses the false prophets of leading Israel to wickedness and destruction instead of rebuking them so they would mend their ways:

But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies, and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, that none returns from his wickedness; they are all of them become to Me as Sedom, and the inhabitants thereof as Amora. (Yirmeyahu 23:14)[15]

Yechezkel uses Sedom to describe the profound level of corruption that Avraham’s descendants eventually reached, a level of corruption that even the original inhabitants of Sedom did not reach:[16]

And your elder sister is Shomeron, that dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, that dwells at your right hand, is Sedom and her daughters. Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but in a very little while you dealt more corruptly than they in all your ways. As I live, says the Lord God, Sedom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. (Yechezkel 16:46-48)[17]

The destroyed city of Sedom is not only a parable and a rebuke in the mouths of the prophets, but an actual mound of absolute destruction that scars the earth itself. This concretizes in the eyes of the inhabitants of the land the terrible danger inherent in the deeds of Sedom, even after the voice of the last of the prophets has long since been heard. And as long as Sedom remains in ruins, it reminds the seed of Avraham of their duty to adhere to a life of righteousness and justice and of the dangers of forsaking their destiny.

(Translated by David Strauss)


[1] Stories describing Avraham’s early years and his crusade against idolatry already appear in the literature of the Second Temple period and in midrashic literature. (See, for example, the Book of Jubilees [M. Goldman, ed.], in: A. Kahana [ed.], Ha-Sefarim ha-Chitzonim I, Tel Aviv 5716, 11-12 [pp. 246-249]; Bereishit Rabba [ed. Y. Theodor and Ch. Albeck] 38, 13 [pp. 361-364]; see also A. Reutman, "Yehudit 5:6-9 – Makor Nishkach al Reishit Chayyav shel Avraham," in: M. Chalamish, et al [eds.], Avraham Avi ha-Ma' aminim, Jerusalem 5762, pp. 47-58.) Why, however, did the Torah choose to conceal all this from us? According to the Ramban: "The Torah did not want to elaborate on the opinions of the idolators and explain the theological issues in dispute between him and the Kasdim" (Ramban 12:2-3; compare to the explanation of Y. Zakovitz and A. Shinan, Lo Kakh Katuv ba-Tanakh, Tel Aviv 2005, p. 136). In contrast, Grossman suggests that "bringing the background story of the selection of a person makes that selection conditional… Not providing a specific reason for the selection of Avraham turns his selection into something that does not depend on any particular factor, but rather rests entirely on free Divine choice" (Y. Grossman, Avraham: Sipuro shel Masa, Tel Aviv 5775, p. 38).

[2] Many have pointed to the similar formulations found in the two revelations, but usually without attributing any special meaning to the parallel. (See, for example: Rabbi D. Tz. Hoffman, Sefer Bereishit [ed. and trans.:  A. Wasserteil], I, Bnei Brak 5729, 18:18 [pp. 286-287]; Y. M. Emanueli, Sefer Bereishit: Hesberim ve-He'arot, Tel Aviv 5737, p. 274; see also T. Rodin-Oberski, Mei-Eilonei Mamre ad Sedom, Jerusalem 5742, pp. 80-81.) Verdiger comments: "This is a repetition of the beginning and the end of the initial promise to Avraham, and it may mean that it is God's intention to keep His first promise to Avraham in full, from beginning to end" (T. Verdiger, Bereishit Tzipiya, Holon 2018, p. 66).

[3] This comparison aroused a certain discomfort among Chazal: "It is written regarding Noach: 'Noach walked with God' (6:9), and it is written regarding Avraham: 'Walk before Me' (17:1). One who reads this might think that Noach was greater than Avraham, but this is not so!" (Tanchuma [ed. S. Buber], Vilna 5643, Lekh-Lekha 26 [p. 81].

[4] In the words of my teacher, Professor Uriel Simon: "Noach's righteousness is a fait accompli ... by virtue of which he saves himself and his home, and secures the future of mankind. Avraham's righteousness, on the other hand, is a challenge and a mission…" (U. Simon, "Avraham ha-Mikra'i – Birkat ha-Nigudim," in: M.Chalamish, et al (eds.), Avraham Avi ha-Ma'aminim, Jerusalem 5762, p. 42.

[5] According to Chazal, this "promise" is fulfilled at the time of the giving of the Torah: "When did the Holy One, blessed be He, make Avraham into a great nation? When Israel left Egypt, and they came to Sinai, and received the Torah, and Moshe looked at them, and said: They are as the Holy One, blessed be He, promised to the old man, as it is stated: 'And what great nation is there [that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law]' (Devarim 4:8)" (Tanchuma [above note 3], Lekh-Lekha 4 [p. 62]). Verdiger adopts the linguistic connection pointed out by the Midrash: "The words of God regarding Avraham and the reason for his selection resonate in the words of Moshe… and the words of Moshe can be seen as an interpretation of Bereishit 18:18-19)" (Verdiger [above note 2], p. 68).

[6]  See also N. Leibowitz, Iyunim be-Sefer Bereishit be-Ikvot Parshaneinu ha-Rishonim ve-ha-Acharonim, Jerusalem 5727, pp. 83-87.

[7] It is no wonder that some biblical scholars have argued that this passage (18:17-19) is a later addition. See, for example, A. Kahana, Sefer Bereishit (Tanakh Kahana), Zhitomir 5664, pp. 57-58; H. Gunkel, Genesis (trans. M. E. Biddle), Macon 1997 (19011), ­ pp. 201-202; and in contrast, see Rodin-Oberski (above note 2, pp. 78-83).

[8] See also Leibowitz (above note 6) pp. 118–123.

[9] See, for example, Grossman (above note 1), p. 217. Many have noted the great resemblance between the deeds of Avraham in our story and the deeds of Lot in chapter nineteen, and the contrast between the two and the deeds of Sedom. Nevertheless, a careful comparison indicates that at the same time, there are details that allude to the similarity between Lot and Sedom and the difference between Lot and Avraham. (See, for example: E. Samet, Iyunim be-Farashot ha-Shavu'a, 3rd series, Tel Aviv 5773, I, pp. 83-94; Tz. Shimon, Ha-Adam ha-Bocher: Ha-Sipur ha-Mikra'i ki-Derama shel Bechira, Jerusalem 5775, pp. 99-161 [at great length]; Grossman (above note 1), pp. 208-214; 231-237.) One of the places where the connection between the family of Lot and Sedom is revealed is the story of Lot and his daughters in the cave (19:30-38), as Grossman writes: "The ironic connection between the two images is striking: At first the people of the city tried to force themselves on Lot's guests, and therefore Lot suggested to the people of the city that they rape… his daughters; in the end, these daughters themselves force their father to have relations with them. This is not merely an irony that mocks Lot and his proposal, but rather it alludes here to a connection between Lot and the people of the city: That which Lot suggested that the people of the city do to his daughters, he in the end does himself" (Grossman, pp. 233-234). In light of the "Sedomic" births of Amon and Moav, perhaps Tzefanya's prophecy is appropriate for them: "Therefore as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Surely Moav shall be as Sedom, and the children of Amon as Amora, even the breeding-place of nettles, and salt pits, and a desolation, forever; the residue of My people shall spoil them, and the remnant of My nation shall inherit them" (Tzefanya 2:9).

[10] According to Grossman: "It stands to reason that the angels did not come to Avraham's tent in the first place to inform him of the birth of his son, but rather to conduct a dialogue with him about the destruction of Sedom… Owing to the special hospitality that they received, they promised Avraham and Sara a son, but that was not their purpose… The picture in which Avraham received guests and received the promise of a son is voluntary and should not be seen as part of the Divine plan" (Grossman [above note 1], p. 179). It is, however, difficult to assume that the angels came to Avraham's tent only for the discussion that would be conducted when Avraham would go out to see them off. For this reason, Rabbi Yitzchak Arama goes in the opposite direction: "They departed from him and wanted to talk about matters pertaining to Sedom, and he was walking innocently with them to accompany them, thinking that he was not bothering them. But they delayed talking because of him, until He said: 'Shall I hide… we will talk, and if he hears, he hears" (Rabbi Yitzchak Arama, Akeidat Yitzchak, Jerusalem 5774, 19:19 [p. 287], and see also his remarks there, ha-to'elet ha-revi'i [p. 280]); compare Abravanel, Peirush ha-Torah – Bereishit (ed. Y. Shaviv), Jerusalem 5767, p. 428.

[11] The connections between the story of the angels in Avraham’s tent and the story of the angels in Sedom are so deep and ramified that many see them as two parts of one wide-ranging story. See the sources cited in note 9.

[12] Another contrast is perhaps alluded to in the play of sounds between the characterization of the house of Avraham with the word tzedaka, righteousness, and the characterization of the deeds of Sedom in the next verse with the word ze'aka, cry. As we find in Yeshayahu: "And He looked for justice, but behold violence; for righteousness [tzedaka], but behold a cry [tze'aka]" (Yeshayahu 5:7). See, for example, Grossman (above note 1), p. 183, and bibliography there. 

[13] See also Chizkuni 18:19; Abravanel (above note 10) p. 429; A. B. Ehrlich, Mikra ki-Peshuto Divrei Torah, Berlin 5659, 18:19 (p.47); Emanueli (above note 2), pp. 177-178.

[14] It is possible that God's reluctance to smite Israel in such a harsh manner is reflected in the prophecy of Hoshea: "How shall I give you up, Efrayim? How shall I surrender you, Israel? How shall I make you as Adma? How shall I set you as Tzevoyim? My heart is turned within Me, My compassions are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger, I will not return to destroy Efrayim; for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of you; and I will not come in fury" (Hoshea 11:8-9). See, for example, A. Harel Fisch, Shirat ha-Mikra: Edut u-Poetika (trans. S. Milo), Ramat Gan 5753, p. 143. In contrast, according to the prophecy of Amos, God did smite Israel as He smote Sedom: "I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sedom and Amora, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet have you not returned to Me, says the Lord" (Amos 4:11). It is possible that the book of Eikha raises the claim that in the end God punished Israel even more stringently than He punished Sedom: "For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sedom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands fell upon her" (Eikha 4:6; according to Ibn Ezra, ad loc.).

[15] The wording of the verse is not unequivocal. It is possible that the result of the failure of the prophets is that "all of them" – all the inhabitants of Jerusalem – were like Sedom (Abravanel ad loc.). However, since the false prophets are also accused of adultery, which is reminiscent of one of the sins of Sedom, there is room to interpret the words "all of them" as implying that "the prophets are like the people and the people are like the prophets in wickedness and in evil deeds" (Radak, ad loc.).

[16] The exact same message, even without Sedom being mentioned by name, emerges from the design of the story of the concubine in Giv'a (Shofetim 19-21; the main parallel is found in Shofetim 19). See, for example, Y. Amit, Shofetim im Mavo u-Feirush (Mikra le-Yisrael), Tel Aviv and Jerusalem 5659, p. 283, 287-289; S. Edinberg, Parashat Pilegesh ba-Giv'a (Shofetim 19-21) – Tahalikh Chibura, Mekoroteha ve-Hekshera ha-Histori (Ph.d. thesis), Tel Aviv University 2003, pp. 213-231. The story of the concubine in Giv'a clearly echoes the story of Sedom, with several of the comparisons perhaps teaching us that not only did the sin of the people of Giv'a rest on the legacy of Sedom, but it went far beyond it.

This message may also be alluded to in the words of Yirmeyahu: "Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man, if there be any that does justly, that seeks truth; and I will pardon her" (Yirmeyahu 5:1). See also Y. Hoffman, Yirmeyahu im Mavo u-Feirush (Mikra le-Yisrael), Tel Aviv and Jerusalem 5761, pp. 196-197, 201.

[17] Surprisingly, Yechezkel also prophesies in this chapter about the future redemption of Sedom, alongside that of Jerusalem and Shomeron: "And I will return their captivity, the captivity of Sedom and her daughters, and the captivity of Shomeron and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in the midst of them… And your sisters, Sedom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Shomeron and her daughters shall return to their former estate, and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate" (Yechezkel 16:53-55).

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