Rashi on Chumash Part 16 Abraham and Sodom Part 2 (Rabbi Dovid Gottleib) (Jewish Philosophy)

okay so God said to Abraham I'm going to investigation we'll see whether inside of it happened the way it was reported and if so there's going to be destruction so now verses 23-25 are Abraham's response it's complex so I'll read you through it and explain to you some of the complexities and we'll look at the rashes in care in detail Abraham came forward and said will you also step out the righteous along with the wicked you said destruction does that mean that everyone will die the righteous together with the wicked what if there should be 50 righteous people in the midst of the city would you not would you still stamp it out rather than spare the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people within it it would be sacrileged to you to do such a thing to bring depth upon the righteous along with the wicked so the righteous be like the wicked it was ackless to you so the judge the all the Earth not to Justice that take a minute or two to look at those words those three verses and try to figure out what Abraham wants what does Abraham want from God here this is page 83. I have to reconsider okay that's that's easy enough okay right any specific way hint or ways yeah what the righteous okay that's interesting what you say doesn't judge together in other words as one collectivity indiscriminately but rather the righteous should be judged differently from from the wicked okay is that all he wants his praising a ship yeah he's like you the Great okay it's a kind of Praise but he's saying since you're the judge of all the Earth and you are telling me this is what you're going to do are you not going to do justice that praise that's a praise with you know with an elbow in the ribs like come on come on you can't do that but look at verse 24. what's 24 say ing what does it say s tempted whisper the base for the sake of the French peoples within it what is he asking for 24. no look again not at all not asking to spare the righteous people to save the rest of the city yeah if there are 50 righteous people there save the rest of the city 23 and 25 say one thing the 24 says something else something quite different 23 to 25 say you can't kill the righteous it'll be unjust in the judge of all the Earth we sacrilege to you very strongly 24 says if there are righteous people 50 righteous people in the city don't even kill the wicked that's another thought entirely hmm indeed if I put moral terms 23 and 25 are demands for justice 24 is a plea for mercy not on a part with 23 and 25 at all 23 and 25 are bold statements you can't do this 24 doesn't say that 24 says I'm asking you if there are 50 righteous don't kill the wicked either it's a very complex thing that the Abraham is doing here okay now let's read the rashes gotta be a way to make this stay lit up instead of fading on me all the time okay I'm sure there is yeah to tell how the light's there so 25 uh that's why I only I only only did 25 here and the other ones because the rashes weren't helping it for what I want far be it from you to do such a thing as this to put to death the righteous with the wicked so the writers should be like the wicked far beer from you will the judge of the entire Earth never form Justice Surah she says far be it from you if you say that the righteous will not save the wicked as I asked you in 24 if there are 50 righteous please save the wicked if you say no to that still why should you why should you kill the righteous they're not Wicked far be it from you the Hebrew khalilah means profane whole is as opposed to kodesh Kurdish is Holy and whole is not holy to say that something is whole for God is contradicted to us to his character in a certain sense we're Shadow Boxing here because God's character so to speak we transcend Holiness also but at the very least if we're going to say anything about it Holiness is going to be a central essential characteristic and he says khalilah if you do this will be inconsistent with your Holiness it'll be it'll be profane now here actually says something absolutely crucial where is the profane what's the profane impact listen they will say the onlook of The Observers will say so is his craft he inundates everyone righteous and wicked so he did the generation of the flood the iterations of dispersion since here we know who's righteous and who's Wicked and you killed everybody in stone so we can presume that this is your principle of action Collective punishment what you say before against I think they're very right Collective punishment and then we look back at the the flood we'll say who says the people who are all Wicked we know what God does when things get bad enough it destroys everybody including the righteous ones and the ones who are dispersed in the in the Tower of Babel who says they were all rebellious the majority were needed to be done and the other ones were swept along with it right so the profane element here rashi's stressing is that people will say this it's from the point of view of the onlooker uh I wouldn't have said it that way I would have said if you destroy the righteous together with the with the with the with the wicked you're not doing Justice that's what that's what that's what the verse says right but now what are you complaining about Abraham if if you don't know who's who then you'll never have this complaint God says he's doing destruction right even the righteous with the wicked you would never know that they were in fact righteous unless you could judge that they're righteous do you see that they're righteous you have to have some righteous people in mind right so that's why I think he talks about appearances and this is a recurring theme when the Jewish people create the golden calf and Moses pleads on their behalf not to be destroyed he says what will people say will do the sin of the spies he says again what will people say what will people say is a very important claim vis-a-vis God and the reason is because God's purpose is not to have a special relationship with the Jewish people and the rest of the world can sort of sink in fact like you're shy enough he says we're supposed to be an oil and going we're supposed to instrument by which the rest of the people of the world can be brought back on board so the to appeal to God on the grounds that people will get a wrong impression of what you're doing is a relevant appeal okay so now he says uh excuse me back it says if you do something like this a thing such as this meaning this isn't the only thing that would be contradictory to your Holiness this or anything similar to it would be contradictory far be it from you [Music] um I'm going to skip that one because I don't I don't trust the source will the judge of the entire Earth which says but so you have to be careful how to read it right she says means the judge usually in this context it doesn't say the judge the heart is shall it be so will it be so hey that introduces the question that's why it's vowelized the way it is will EU judges not perform Justice okay now let's go back to the text sheb said if I find this out I'm sitting right 50 righteous people who missed the city then I would spare the entire place on their account I can't resist but add in here and have an Ezra look carefully at 24 carefully at 26 and ask and tell me is God agreeing to what Abraham said read very carefully very precisely and don't allow any redundancies and tell me whether God has agreed to what Abraham said or not okay okay he's talking about saving the entire city all right what are you why why would you say no good morning God says if I find 50 then I won't destroy so if there are he'll find him right he's not going to miss them right it's not exact same words but it's not obviously a disagreement but let me ask you this question where should the 50 be really what is 46 say Channel it seems to me you skipped some words did you read 26 read it again everyone didn't say it Saddam and indeed isn't it something we're talking about so God's words are redundant he adds diaphragm you know if you're writing a contract and the other guys and the other guys put the pencils in add this word in you think oh why is he adding that worded he knows some case law somewhere he knows I'm going to lose my shirt you know I've never lost ask my lawyer you know if he's not going to take it the way we formulated there's something something dangerous going on here and he's absolutely right you have to worry about that so wise God so the evidence says you Abraham said there should be 50 people in the city their their residence is within the city limits I God say that's not enough they have to be publicly identified in the city there has to be political tension in the city some are saying doing it this way and some are saying do it that way and that way there's hope that the city will change but if it isn't that kind of resistance in the city then I'll save The Righteous and I will destroy the wicked you want the the to save the uh the wicked also only if there's some hope for them to change that's what God adds Stone to in the Mississippi City it's a beautiful beautiful voice on the part of the of the of the of the event okay so now um . so that he's sort of so to speak one from God a a a a concession God said if it's this way I'm going to wipe them out Abraham says please save the whole city for the sake of 50 righteous that God says yes so everyone says okay I'm on a roll guys on my side let's see how far I can get as you probably know Bargains it down to 10. look at his introduction to 27. every reason said behold now I decide to speak to my Lord though I am but dust and ish now this is yeah that's what I saw it and but it's not dust it's dirt this is a constant I would call it a mistake in English translations the word Hebrews are far afar means dirt it's a different word uh dust is a different word and Hebrews avak but you know if you're a translator and you're trading for the English reader to say dirt you know just just sounds awful you know doesn't sound clean sounds dirty somehow uh it's like Dustin dust is poetic you know and you can hear that and it's elevated okay but the word means dirt doesn't mean dust dust is that this is a fire okay so Abraham says I am Dustin Ash not worthy of bargaining with you arguing with you of talking to you but I'm gonna I'm gonna do it on as well let's see what Rashi says on Dustin Ash eries that's right that's a correct translation so now she says I was already fit to be dirt at the hands of the Kings and Ashes at the hands of nimrod were not for your mercies that stood by me they thought to make war of the Four Kings of five Kings he could have lost the war have you lost the war he'd have been killed and buried and uh that's what it says in Genesis to Adam that now you're going to die you'll return you were taken from the dirt and you're going to go back to the dirt if the body will disintegrate become part of the dirt them Road the oral tradition tells us wanted to kill Abraham because of his opposition to idol worship and he threw him into a furnace so there he would have been burnt into ashes so that's that's what Abraham says now there are commentaries which say see so in other words according to Rashi the reference of thus and Ash is here is to say how much I've already received from God you saved me from the Four Kings you saved me from New Road I'm very beholden to you and therefore I realize I have no right to speak to you to object to you to bargain with you I have no leverage but I'm doing it anyway others take this to be a statement of humility they register a competition the humility between everyone on the one hand and Moses on the other hand Moses when Abraham went better because when uh the people rebel against him and Aaron he he's used the phrase and we what are we that you are complaining against us meaning Moses goes further there I'm saying I can't say where anything I can only just point out that there's nothing to say that the table is empty evenly said that he was dirt and Ash and Ashes now I forget where I saw this but I think what Abraham was saying is very I say it's poetical but it evokes a very profound idea what is dirt dirt is the source of all life because dirt enables plants to grow and we all live for plants or the animals that eat plants this Earth but dirt by itself is unrealized potential if it hasn't yet supported plant life then it's unrealized potential what is ashes ashes you get when you burn something up that means destroyed actuality hmm so you have two ends in the Spectrum you have unrealized potential on the one side and yet destroyed actuality on the other side neither of which has any value the value lies in the Middle where the act the potential is actualized and give rise to a reality which is functional and Abraham says I'm a two the two empty sides of the spectrum that's a pretty profound poetical way of saying there's nothing of value here and Moses says you're telling me is nothing of value I'm saying there's nothing period just nothing which is a Step Beyond now we know the verse says twice Moshe enough because they are Dumber Moses was more on of which probably the English word humble doesn't do justice to than anyone else so in a competition in in another Abraham Moses going to win but you see the way in which he wins is quite profound philosophically and that's what that's what Abraham says here hmm yeah as I said everything is like I call hovel uh I think that's probably right Hubble means something that's insignificant not valuable uh void meaningless I think that's right that would be a good way of putting Abraham's idea no because he's saying like Abraham there are things that exist they just don't do anything they don't mean anything they don't perform anything of value that was I would see in my neighborhood side I don't think I don't think you can I don't think he can best uh Moses here Moses is like you know okay let's go to the next um the next thing I just sent you today it's a new one nineteen one to 1960. here we go all right okay so then Abraham argues God down to to entertain that's the end of that that uh interaction now reverse chapter 19 page 85 okay the two angels came to Sarah in the evening the Lord was sitting in the gate of Sodom the Lord saw it and Rose towards them he prostrate himself on his face to the ground like Abraham he is after all Abraham's nephew he spent a lot of time with Abraham and he learned some of Abraham's characteristics so says Rashi the two angels one that destroy Sodom and the others are rescue love this same one remember there were three that came to Abraham and two came down to son just explain the numbers this one came to rescue love it was he who had come to heal Abraham well the third would come to make the announcement to son that she's going to have a child had departed as soon as he came out and carried out his mission this is based on the principle that each Angel has one task only one function so [Music] there are there were three things to be done one is to to inform Sarah that she's going to have a child one is to destroy Asylum and one is to save load and also the labor him saving and healing are the same function that's why one angel can carry it out but each Angel has only one function you want to ask the question yeah who part of the healing of Abraham since let's say somehow maybe it was something that was hurting around that blood was followed a certain path and when he separated from that you see no no no no no he finished he says he he healed him from the circumcision that's all that's the only place we the only thing we know about Abraham would make him sick I don't think there's no reason to do that now he's going to to silent to save load that's all it's true that load is saved for Abraham's sake that the verse we'll say later explicitly but doesn't say that everyone was in pain or he was Ill in any way because of that you know like maybe it hurts him oh maybe but it's nothing in the verse to dedicate that nothing was to hang there okay now here it says the angels but elsewhere when they appear before Abraham the scripture calls the men so why does the truth to change its designation so he says when the shrine was with them it calls them men in other words in comparison to the screener they're like men in comparison to Abraham and other people they're like they're like um uh like Angels they're separated from them and there when they're speaking to Abraham they quote God God they say God's words to him at that point the screen is with him that's one possibility changing the designation now another explanation in connects you with Abraham whose power was great and the Angels were as frequently with him as men they calls them men in other words vis-a-vis Abraham they're not so removed from him because Abraham's greatness had many Hazels he was used the angels we saw this even with Hagar when the angel appears to Hagar and she doesn't you know she's not floored and she's not she takes it in stride and right she said there because she was used to Angels the neighbor himself so so what right so vis-a-vis Abraham for whom they were familiar he could call them men as equals to him but not for but but not for load because of angels I I want to edit something here because it's an important point and it's it's sort of related to this did Abraham know when the Angels Came to him that they were angels no okay why would you say no because they look like men must we assume that everyone couldn't see through their appearance you have a better there's a better reason to think that he didn't know they were Angels than that he gave them food why did he feed them he knew their Angels why should he why should he feed them nevertheless the commentaries are split some say he didn't know some say he did know so according to those they didn't know your question now becomes important if he didn't know why did he give them food I'll teach you something deep in philosophy we normally think there's reality and then there are appearances and we say things like don't be misled by the appearances and we here be careful the appearances can mislead you and discard the appearances and go for the reality find out what things really are and I think that philosophically that's a mistake because I think that appearances are just as real as as the reality is it's just a different kind of reality what we call reality is the way thing is in and of itself what we call appearance is the way the world appears to me they're both real I'll give you an example if you haven't done this you should try it fill a glass of water halfway full of water and put it in a knife then look at it flat on from almost every angle it will look as if when the life hits the surface of the water it bends that's the way it looks so we say that's only the way it looks you know don't make a mistake the light isn't bent I hear you that's true it's only the way it looks life isn't really bent knife is really straight but let me ask you a question I'm standing here I'm looking at the glass and I see the appearance of a Bend at the surface of the water it seems to go like this somebody comes up next to me stands next to me looks at the glass and says I don't know what she's talking about looks great to me it was perfectly straight to me he has a problem because it doesn't look straight it really looks bent that's how it really looks he's got a problem with his eyes or his brain or with his mouth maybe he's lying you know but he's got a problem so the straight straightness of the metal of the knife is one thing and the bent appearance is another thing and the bent appearance is just as real as the straightness of the metal now if you once you acknowledge that just as real when you're confronted with the situation where it appearance reality don't agree you have to decide what to do shall I treat the situation in terms of the of reality or should I treat this is raised in terms of the appearance I'll give you an example let's suppose you are assigned to the the security detail for the president United States and you know that from time to time Joe Biden puts on a police a a bus driver's cap and they beaten up leather jacket and he goes wandering the streets of um of Washington in disguise talking to people just to find out what they think to find out what average people you know would see say honestly because those are honestly is the president United States and you know he does that that you're an off hour off hours and you're walking down the street in Washington you look in front of you you say aha I know that build I know that body posture I know that tilt of the head I know that's Joe Biden but he's wearing the base the the the bus driver's cap he's wearing the beat up jacket should you walk up to him and say good evening Mr President I don't think so because he doesn't want to be recognized that's why he dressed up that way here the right thing to do is to treat him in terms of the appearance that he's showing not in terms of who he really is now Abraham in exactly the same way he says these three are standing in front of me I know they're angels but they look like people now why would God send me angels looking like people I bet it's because for whatever reasons God has he wants me to treat them as people that's how he would give them to eat even though he knew they were angels and what this teaches you is don't discard appearances appearances are very important in addition to the way things really are I'll make an analogy of my own we have discovered that the Earth is not the center of the universe that the Earth rotates on its axis which was known 1500 years ago but just wasn't accepted but people did not and that the Earth rotates around the Sun revolves around the sun the sun we all discovered these wonderful things we're so clever we're so well informed right but it still seems to us as if the Earth the universe doesn't it listen the New York Times reports every day the times of Sunrise and sun sets as the New York Times back in the Middle Ages do they think the sun is rising the Sun is setting surely not you know they're really up to date hyper scientific they know it's only but that's the way it looks did you try looking at the sunset and say I know what's going on I'm rotating backwards I can't see the sun anymore because I rotated backwards right it's going to be hard to do that it doesn't feel that way right so I think in addition to explaining our world in terms of this of this astronomy we also ought to explain our world in terms of the appearances we have to say God created us with sense organs which make it appear to us as much as if we're at the center maybe that means we're really at the center okay not physically but maybe that appearance teaches us something very important like the whole thing was created for our sake which is true right don't discard appearances as simply a mistake or a phantom or a mirage it appears as a difficult reality it's the way reality in the way the world interacts with me which is just as real as the way it is when it isn't interacting okay that's what I want to tell you the philosophically yeah what about the people that has a housing hallucinations and stuff like that but the appearance there people have hallucinations so oh so maybe I should have said one more word so then where's the fault what does it means to be careful what they mean is if you you if you take the appearances to teach you what the reality is that's where you can make a mistake sometimes the appearance of the reality have to be divorced with one another they have different characteristics okay that's something to be careful about don't make that mistake but don't throw away the appearances now you have hallucinations that's very important that tells us something about you but your mind but what you're worried about and concerned about also tells us whether we should trust you as a bus driver or not if you've got hallucinations I think maybe you should be an accountant and not a bus driver it's not as if they just throw them away they're very important they're important in their own realm they're important for their own significance okay now back to work um okay so now the last thing it says in this verse is that the Angels arrived in stone in the evening well they let's date me up in the morning they're not hitching rides they're not marching on the road they can get there like that why what took them so long so listen to this this is this is very important this has also other says uh the the Angels tarry so long from Heaven to silent but they were angels of Mercy and they were waiting perhaps Abraham would succeed in his defense for them to the cities now this is very very important first of all angels of Mercy listen Rashi didn't you just tell us that one of the Angel's job was to destroy the city of stone foreign versus me but if you look carefully you will see that the only name of God that is used in the whole story is that you're the head of the hay which is the attribute of Mercy so one has to think about that what are we talking about when this terrible terrible destruction takes place one explanation I saw recently is this that sometimes this name of God which Carlos Mercy is used to say that the crime is so great that even the attribute of Mercy agrees to the destruction usually the function of the actual emergency is to say don't carry out Justice completely immediately don't push it so hard that the destruction is so great way to give time give another chance just as usually restrains Mercy other by the way Mercy usually restrains Justice in this case whether the destruction is absolute using the name of Mercy means even Mercy has no complaint here even Mercy has no after all Abraham stops at 10 doesn't he and there aren't ten okay now she has explanation why he stops at 10 but it can we can build it all in truth is Mercy has Mercy is limited Mercy isn't Unlimited if Mercy is going to say to Justice we're not going to do full justice justice is going to say why not why not who are you to stop me I'm also a Divine attribute and the answer has to be there's some reason why shouldn't be fully carried out so um that's so there's no contradiction that they're called angels of Mercy they are angels of Mercy sent into destruction because even the attribute of Mercy agrees to the destruction I think it's a very profound uh point I forget who said I wish I remember who said it but that's what it says okay now uh right I will add one thing here four times when something happens in in the in the Hamish and Moses doesn't know the law he doesn't know what to do twice he immediately asks God what to do and twice he does not as a wonderful clear I'll tell you the four cases one case is where they came out of Egypt and in the second year God tells them to make a Paschal sacrifice in the wilderness and people come to Abraham to Moses and say we are we have been in contact with dead body and therefore we can't carry it out what shall we do and Moses says um wait a moment and I'll tell you what what God wants for wants for you the second case is where the daughters of self come and say our father died and you're proposing to give the land for my grandfather only to his sons and not to us we think that we should stand in place of our father and inherit what our father would have gotten hey how you been alive if not let my mother do you want to provide another son I mean they have a whole argument with Moses and Moses gets consults with God and God immediately tells him the daughters should inherit don't play we play the same well the sons of this respect and so forth and so on another case is where someone is caught violating Shabbos and the fourth case is where someone blasphemes he curses God in those two cases Moses does not ask God what the law is just Waits and the Clio says in the first two cases they were glorious here were extraordinarily Pious people who were trying to do the right thing in the first case they felt we were going to be deprived of doing God's bits of bringing the Paschal sacrifice how can we be left out why are we being passed over give us a chance also we also want to do them it's what Moses says okay if you're right away and playing a place of of uh fulfilling our father's position in the world look at Moses says right away I'll bring the children to judgment to God right away but in the case of the one who violates Shabbos the one who curses God the question is how to punish them Moses says when when God wants he'll tell me I'm not pushing it I'm not in a hurry to find out how to punish Jews no I'll let it happen when it happens Moses care and love for the Jewish people motivates him to immediately have the wonderful expression of the Jewish people responded to and the other two he doesn't here the angels are doing the same thing we said that it was sent to destroy Stone okay but maybe maybe Moses Abraham will turn it back you know like maybe he'll get some weight to say maybe he should be next year who knows let's give him time let's not rush yeah acting out the bias on the side of Mercy that's that's what they're doing I think that's really very very important very profound yeah see what she learned from Russia okay now um oops so Aaron said to the to the angels behold now my Lord's little L okay well he would say politely please turn to your servant's house and stay overnight and wash your feet and shall arise early and go in your way and he said no we'll stay overnight in the street so so um Russia explains turn what's this turn just tell same come to the house no I'm gonna take a secure this path to my house in a roundabout way that they should not recognize that you are entering there in other words my house is on the corner let's go that way it will come back through the valley and then because if I take you off if I take you into my house they'll know where you are and as you will see the people are going to be viciously aggressive against these strangers but if I take you out to the valley they will know where you're going they won't they won't attack you remember load things to people looking for sure things to people and stay overnight and wash your feet that's a funny way to put it right remember Abraham washed their feet when he had satin at the tree the first thing he did was say wash your feet so here's in the wrong order now it is customary for people to First is it is it customary first day overnight and afterwards wash moreover Abraham said to them first wash your feet but so let's say I hear reasons this is what LO thought to himself if when the people of Sodom come they will see that they have already washed their feet they will invent false accusations against me and they will say two or three days have already passed since you they came to your house and you did not let us know if the people inside of the cub and they see the these people in low tops and they are washed then they'll say no what the hell will they've been here they didn't walk in two minutes ago maybe in a couple of days well what do you mean why are you hiding them vote because the City of Salem Hospitality was strictly forbidden you don't take people in they want to sleep overnight pay for a room in the hotel no free word here no free room here I'm gonna allow that so he says if I tell you come in first and leave your feet dirty then they know that they know very well that you just came in they won't accuse me of having given you a room for the night the last three nights I'm trying to protect you from that because I know what they're what their reaction will be it's better that they remain here with the dust of their feet so that they should appear as though they had just arrived now therefore he said stay overnight first and afterwards wash he's he's playing the order and they said no no we're not coming to your house now Rashi points out to Abraham they said so shall you do you you offered us we and they immediately received for what he said why is there the difference between what they said to Abraham what they said to to load well there could be many differences rashi's difference as his accustomed throughout is teaching people the correct Behavior uh here you learn a double familiar we learned that one may refuse an offer by a person of lesser importance but should not refuse an offer by a great man now I just want to check with this translation not quite sure uh yeah they they translate here is a little too weak the translate the Hebrew is be conscious we do refuse a smaller person and we do not refuse a greater person the Gomorrah says if someone wants to do your favor or wants to put you in a position of Honor uh don't be like unsalted me so say no say no once wait for a second make sure the person really wants it make sure the person's gesture is not just a matter of form but it doesn't really mean it so he's waiting for a second if you wait for a third then you're overcooked like you're you're waiting too long it's not it's not nice this idea of testing whether he really means it or not is appropriate for ordinary people it's not appropriate for a great person a great person you should take for granted he's not doing something just out of out of form after all he doesn't owe you anything he doesn't need anything from you you have to play up to you so if he's offering you something or asking you to do something which will give you honor you should simply say yes right away that's the matter of politeness which could be culturally bound I'm not saying this is an absolute rule but because this in our culture this is the way that you respond when someone asks you to lead the services in the in the in the synagogue the rule there is first say no first say no if they say it again then you know they really want it and then and then you should they should do it if you can okay