Abraham Confronts God

Newsletter October 30, 2023 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

It took my breath away. Reading Abraham’s words in this week’s Torah portion. “Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?” 

Watching the IDF’s bombings and ground incursions into Gaza this past weekend on a mix of people, some Hamas and many children, Abraham’s verse jumped out at me. 

Will we sweep away the innocent with the guilty? 

The Torah story backdrop is that of a wayward population of Sodom and Gemorrah which God intends to destroy. But the progenitor of Judaism, Abraham, bargains with God. What if there are 50 righteous people there? 

Abraham asks (Genesis 18:24-25):

“What if there are 50 righteous people within the city- will you indeed sweep them away and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 innocent that are therein? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked treating the righteous as the wicked. Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do justly?”

And what could God do but acquiesce? 

But then Abraham makes the same case of there are just 45 righteous there. Then 40, 30, and all the way down to 10. 

So God recognized that if there are even ten righteous people in a city it should not be destroyed. In fact, this is where Judaism gets our idea that we need ten people for a quorum or in Hebrew, a minyan. 

When I look at the suffering and pain being inflicted upon the populous of Gaza, I wonder- aren’t there 10 righteous people there? Of course there are. 

So what would Abraham say to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this situation? Why are the innocent being swept away with the wicked? Have you seen the videos and images? That is what is happening. And there is great risk that the Israelis taken hostage will be swept away in the process, too. Many of their family members are gravely concerned.

This activity comes the weekend when the number of Israeli hostages in Gaza has now been updated to be 239. To say nothing if the Gazan children who live there. Innocents. And yet already, according to the international organization called Save the Children, 3,195 children have been killed there.

So what would Abraham say? Should we sweep away the innocent with the guilty? 

We know Torah is a guide. And honoring its principles, morals, and values, and applying them to our lives today is how we keep it sacred. 

Together, we’re #keepingitsacred…

Rabbi Heather Miller

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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