Fighting for hope & change (Vayera)
Rav Johnny's original thoughts on the weekly parsha
Among the various episodes recorded in Parshat Vayera is the destruction of Sdom. As we know, before God destroyed Sdom He informed Avraham about His plans, which then inspired Avraham to plead for its salvation.
Interestingly, the word used by the Torah to describe how Avraham approached God ahead of the planned destruction of Sdom is ‘Vayigash’, meaning ‘and he approached’ (Bereishit 18:23). Quoting the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 49:8), Rashi (on Bereishit 18:23) explains that the word Vayigash is sometimes used in the Tanach when approaching for war (see Shmuel II 10:13); sometimes it is used in the Tanach when approaching another to appease them (see Shmuel II 44:8), and sometimes it is used in the Tanach when approaching God in prayer (see Melachim I 18:36). On this basis, Rashi then states that Avraham expressed all three of these sentiments - as if he was saying to God: “If I must use harsh words (ledaber kashot) towards You, then that is what I am doing by approaching and coming to You. If I must engage in appeasement with You God, then that is what I am doing by approaching and coming to You. And if I must engage in prayer with You God, then that is what I am doing by approaching and coming to You.”
You will note that Rashi reinterprets ‘approaching for war’ (milchama) as ‘approaching using harsh words’ (ledaber kashot) – which is certainly understandable since it would seem illogical to at Avraham was threatening God with war. Still, Rashi changes the words of the original Midrash which clearly states that included in Avraham’s statement is the sentiment that: “If [I must engage in] war (milchama) towards You, then that is what I am doing by approaching and coming to You.” The question we must ask is: Why, in addition to expressing words of appeasement and prayer is Avraham using words of war towards God?! And if war actually means using harsh words, what is the connection between the two?
This question is directly addressed by Rabbi Yosef Elazar Rosenfeld (1843-1919), who served as the Av Beit Din of Freistadt (Austria), in his Chavat Ya’ar commentary, and he begins his response by making reference to a remarkable debate between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel as recorded in Eruvin 13b:
‘For two and a half years, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagreed. These ones said: “It would have been preferable had man not been created than to have been created., while these ones said: “It is preferable for man to have been created than had he not been created.” Eventually they counted and concluded, stating: “It would have been preferable had man not been created than to have been created, but now that he has been created, he should examine his actions (yefashfesh bema’asav) and seek to correct them,” while some say, “he should scrutinize his planned actions (yemashmesh bema’asav).”
Inspired by this debate, Rabbi Rosenfeld explains that while it is true that humanity have often failed in their moral responsibilities, nevertheless, as it was God who created humanity, it is God’s responsibility to provide humanity with the opportunities to examine ourselves, to scrutinize ourselves, and to improve ourselves.
Accordingly, the idea of Avraham ‘engaging in war with God’ refers to Avraham speaking up and fighting for the chance for humanity to change – thereby making Rashi’s explanation of ‘using harsh words’ (ledaber kashot) equivalent to the Midrash’s original language of, “if [I must engage in] war (milchama) towards You, then that is what I am doing by approaching and coming to You.” Understood this way, rather than ‘war’ being a contradictory sentiment to ‘appeasement’ and ‘prayer’, all three concepts of ‘war’, ‘appeasement’ and ‘prayer’ are expressions of hope for humanity to improve and change.
Shabbat Shalom!