Vayera: On rebuke and cleaving to haShem
Torah From The Holy Land by Rabbinical Student Sam Blustin
As haShem prepares to destroy the sinful people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Torah records a curious statement in God’s name: “Now the Lord had said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do [with Sodom], since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him?” (Bereshit 18:17). This passage prompts many questions, such as why would haShem care at all about Abraham’s opinion in this case? However, the more interesting question I believe, is why does haShem hesitate at all in asking Abraham’s opinion? If this is a test of Abraham’s piety, then haShem should have asked him outright! I believe the answer to be that haShem was afraid that Abraham would fail, like Noah in not standing up for the people of the earth before the flood, and haShem’s whole monotheistic project would be over.
The Kedushat Levi teaches on parashat Noah that “there are two types of righteous people, both of whom serve the Lord. The first category does so with enthusiasm and profound devotion, but does so as an individual only, not endeavoring to draw other people, admitted sinners, nearer to their Creator.
There is a second category of tzaddik, righteous person, who not only serves the Lord himself, but who also is instrumental in leading sinners back to their Creator. Avraham was a prime example of the latter type of tzaddik. He was busy converting pagans to monotheism.
According to the Ari z”l, Noach was even punished for not rebuking the pagans in his time…”
The Kedushat Levi continues, “Being “good” to one’s peers involves more than being helpful and charitable; it includes admonishing one’s neighbour when one observes him violating G’d’s commandments.”
Being a student consumed by schoolwork, and now removed from my community studying in Israel, I too often feel like while I benefit from my Torah study, I have not made an real difference in the world around me. If I am even a fraction of a tzaddik, I’m much more like Noah than Avraham, spending my hours consumed in Torah with little attention paid to the life around me.
After the recent election, I am all the more convinced that I can no longer sit sequestered in the Beit Midrash (hall of study), but I must get out into the world and stand up for the ideals of love and justice that I hold to be so holy. I must stand up with those whose rights are being trampled on, and who have not been granted the privileges that I have. This is the holy task which Avraham models for us; it is not enough to endeavor to be close to haShem, but we must also stand up to rebuke those who sow the seeds of hatred and division, and help to bring them closer to that loving essence of the Creator. This is the test haShem hesitantly gives Avraham, and the test that we must rise up and pass now as well.
Tefillah: “They are a people whose hearts go astray”
For some time now, I’ve been bothered by the ending of Psalm 95, which is the first psalm we say every Friday night during Kabbalat Shabbat.
Arbaim shanah akut b’dor, vaomar am toei levav hem, v’hem lo yadu d’rachai. Asher nishbati v’api, im yevo’un El menuchati.
For forty years I strove with that generation. I said, “They are a people who hearts go astray, who have not understood My ways.” So I swore in My anger, “They shall not enter My place of rest.”
What kind of way is this to start out Shabbat? Why do we need to be reminded now of the fact that we can be a little stubborn? I couldn’t figure it out, until I was davening Kabbalat Shabbat a few months ago, and it suddenly came to me. I realized that far from a throw away verse, this was actually the most important key to observing Shabbat.
For forty years, the people stubbornly held onto their ways, closing off their hearts to haShem, and thereby others as well. They lusted after other gods and peoples, created the Golden Calf, and complained incessantly, causing them to stray from the truly important things in life, which are a life dedicated to love and the revelation of haShem in the world through our acts of chesed, lovingkindess. As a punishment, haShem vows that they will not enter the resting place of God. As we know, one of the important mitzvot of Shabbat is menucha, rest (look at the Shabbat song Menucha v’simcha, rest and joy). But without opening our hearts in love, we can never achieve what is the essence of Shabbat: rest. This is why Kabbalat Shabbat begins with Psalm 95; to remind us that we will never be satisfied in the pursuit of the fulfillment of our own egos. Only by opening our hearts will we find peace and menucha, a true Shabbat Shalom.
Sam Blustin is an alumnus of the Conservative Yeshiva (2014-2015) and a current Rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary (Class of 2020). You can view more divrei Torah at www.samblustin.com or contact Sam directly at samblustin@gmail.com.
