For more than 50 years the
Giants winning the World Series was merely a vision – and now twice in the last
three years – that vision has become a reality.
This week’s parshah, Vayeira, is
about visions and reality. It begins with a vision appearing to Abraham and
Sarah – the vision of having a child although they are very very old. And it ends with a vision of Yitzhak rescued
by a ram in the thicket. And in between
there is lots of real life drama – conflict between wife and husband, between
half-brothers, conflict between parent and child, even between God and Avraham.
I want to focus for a
moment on the conflict between God and Avraham found in the Torah narrative
about Avraham debating with God about the destruction of S’dom and Amorah (Sodom and Gemorrah).
Avraham both humbles
himself – comparing himself to dust and ashes – and stands tall when he
confronts God over the plan to destroy S’dom and Amorah because it is so full of
evil. The way that Avraham states his case is familiar: "Shouldn’t the judge of justice do justice!?!" (Bereisheet 18:25.)
Avraham continues, "What if there are 50
righteous people there, will you still destroy?
No. What if 45 righteous are
found there? No. What if 40? What if 30? What if 20? What if 10?
In this way, Avraham
distinguishes himself from Noach. You might recall that Noach is also told
about the destruction of the world on account of evil. But Noach is silent; he does not argue with God. (Beresheit 6:9–7:5).
