Parashat Vayera
Genesis 18:1 – 22:24
Abraham, after hearing the amazing news that he and Sarah will be blessed by God with a child, hears the appalling news that an entire region, encompassing two cities, will be destroyed by God because of their absolute evil. Abraham steps forth and challenges God in order to save those evil people. As a moral choice it is astounding to us. As a religious choice it is astounding to us. How could Abraham have the temerity to challenge God, and not for the innocent, but for the guilty? But Abraham’s move is not astounding to God, Who chooses to inform Abraham ahead of time about God’s intention precisely because God knows that Abraham will argue before God to renege.
After Abraham argues that the cities should be saved if there are only 50 righteous people in them, and God agrees, he continues to argue: “Look, please, that I have begun to speak to my Lord, I being but dust and ashes.” (Gen. 18:27) The words sound like a humble expression of a dedicated servant, seeking to gain his Master’s attention. But if it is really an expression of humility and debasement it is hard to see it as an appropriate opening to be such an audacious challenger to God. (See last year’s Torah Sparks for more discussion on this point.)
It is possible, though, to hear Abraham’s self-identification with “dust and ashes” in another way. We read, at the very end of Maimonides’ monumental code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah, a description of his vision of the end of days. Maimonides writes: “In that [Messianic] era there will be neither famine nor war, neither jealousy nor strife. Blessings will be abundant, and all comforts available like dust.” (Laws of Kings 12:5) The quality that Maimonides associates with dust is not its lowliness, but its common availability to all.
Perhaps Abraham’s statement is not merely one of humility, but one of connectedness. Perhaps we can hear Abraham saying something like this: “I am like dust and ashes – available to all and anyone, even strangers who are guilty of terrible sins.” It is Abraham’s openness and willingness to be available to all that grounds his sense of responsibility to argue on behalf of his fellow humans, as wicked as they may be. The dust of the earth is our common grounding. It is our common origin and our common end. It is the basis for recognizing how much we share in this world – with everyone.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Greenstein
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Image: “This quintessence of dust” by Daniel Oines is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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