Dvar Torah: Parshat
Vayera
5774/2013
In late June of 1863, Isidor Bush, Jewish leader of the
German-American community in St. Louis Missouri, spoke his mind that
emancipation of slaves was absolutely necessary in the face of a state
government that favored 1876 as the year for emancipation of slaves.
Here are some of his concluding words:
“I pray you have pity for yourselves, not for them. Slavery demoralizes, slavery fanaticism binds
you; it has arrayed brother against brother, son against father; it has
destroyed God’s noblest work-a free and happy people…”
A lone, strong voice, calling out to the chamber, to think
again, to persuade them. What was the
message? It is the leadership that
should be ashamed of its actions, having been twisted by enslaving others,
eventually causing the implosion of self and country, an offense against the
Creator.
Eloquent.
Powerful. Courageous.
How do we convince anyone of anything? Do we put together the best information? Do we speak softly and gently from the heart? Do we stand on the desk and shout the truth
to the world?
I am partial to the first two methods. Solid information and the passion from a
person’s well-informed and positive convictions tend to convince me. I tend to shut down when there is shouting,
bullying, and standing on principle to the last like Butch Cassidy and his
partner shooting out their last bullets with the army closing in outside.
Abraham tries methods one and two, information and heartfelt
words, to try and save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also shows his humility, “I am just dust
and ashes,” he is not arrogant. God
listens to his entire line of thinking, all the way until he argues that these cities,
however wicked their people overall may be, deserve to be saved on account of
at minimum 10 righteous people that may be found in these places. After all, God saved Noah and his family from
the Flood amongst the countless inhabitants of the world at the time, so it
would make sense that if there were 10 good people in just one or two cities, they would merit being saved.
Think of a time that we convinced someone else of something
for the better. What was the “tipping
point” and how did we get there?
Abraham, unfortunately, is unsuccessful in the end. Even his strategy of starting big and ending
with a minimum number of good people to be found, reducing expectations, does
not work out.
Is there still a victory here? Has Abraham taught us something of value?
The Shinever Rav teaches that once God destroys the cities,
and Abraham ‘returns to his place’, Shav limkomo, he keeps up his strong level
of faith in God, does not question God’s justice. Difficult as it can be to watch any project
of ours fail, or to see others in crisis, worse still is the possibility that
we might lose faith altogether, that me might lose all motivation to help
ourselves and others, that we might give up hope, turn inward, and in doing so
become more like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than the righteous and good
people who Abraham had hoped to find.
After all, the Rabbis teach us that the way the people of
Sodom think is “What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is yours.” We’ll stay apart, not share, and instead of
being like a community we’ll just tolerate each other like two ships who pass by
each other as they both use the ocean but don’t share supplies and information
with each other about the waves and weather from they directions they both came
from.
Now, we cannot live this way if amongst ourselves we are
meant to teach the messages of the Torah.
We need to summon the courage of Isidor Bush and Abraham, to stand
before people and God to proclaim with judgment, gentleness, but with full
conviction of our souls the truths and teachings we want to pass on. We need not be proselytizers or zealots in
this work. We simply need to let the
message fill us up and it will overflow in our words and actions. And this energy that will radiate from within
will be longer lasting than the best cup of Joe, the strongest energy drink, or
the push from the best workout at the gym.
If Abraham’s story (either our ancestor or the President who
pushed through the Emancipation Proclamation) is an indication, when we
advocate in this way, God is listening.
Shabbat Shalom.
