Weekly Announcements
Ahavat Yisrael of Wesley Hills Announcements
Lech Lecha
Nov 8 – Nov 14
7 Cheshvan – 13 Cheshvan
Rally In Washington: There will be an Israel Rally in Washington, DC on November 10. You can visit the website to find out more information: https://standtogethernovember10.org/ . To register with OU got to: https://go.ou.org/Rally24
Kiddush is sponsored by a number of members for the newly elected President and the new administration.
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY (11/8)
Candle lighting/Mincha: 4:25 PM
SHABBOS (11/9)
Shacharis : 9:00 AM
Latest time for shma: 9:08 AM
Parsha Shiur: 3:30 PM
Mincha: 4:10 PM
Shabbos Ends/Tehillim: 5:27 PM
Maariv: 5:33 PM
SUNDAY (11/10)
Shacharis: 8:00 AM
Rabbi’s Gemara Shiur at shul and zoom: 8:45 AM https://zoom.us/j/3812539596
Mincha/Maariv: 4:25 PM
MONDAY – THURSDAY (11/11-11/14)
Tehillim: 8:55 PM
Maariv: 9:00 PM
Wednesday: Parsha previews on zoom 8:00 PM https://zoom.us/j/3812539596
Dvar Torah & Thoughts on Lech Lecha
Rabbi Asher Bush
The encounter between Avraham and the King of Sdom is well known, but something is just not right. I do not mean that something is not right with the way the King of Sdom talks or thinks, which is certainly true, but that there is something that just doesn’t sound right, meaning it seems factually incorrect. When Avraham returns from Syria bringing back the residents and possessions of Sdom, the king greets him almost demanding the people back, but offering the spoils to Avraham. When Avraham turns down this offer he swears in the name of God saying שלא תאמר אני העשרתי את אברם/that you shouldn’t be able to say that I have enriched Avraham. Rashi seems to explain this at face value, that God had promised to make Avraham wealthy, so he would not take wealth from other people. But this is only half true, as indeed God had promised him wealth, but must that preclude accepting wealth from others? Hadn’t he already taken gifts from Pharaoh, even though it was after the Divine promise of wealth?
While there is a certain similarity between these two stories, as in each case a king is offering him wealth, in the case of Pharoah it was a “good will offering” to make up for the fact that he had wronged Avraham and Sarah. Secondly, as much as Egypt is a land of immorality, that immorality was not about their money. But when it comes to Sdom, the offer of wealth was not about an apology for wronging him, and in the case of Sdom, their wealth was directly related to what made them such bad people.
To accept a gift from Pharaoh was an acknowledgement by all that Pharaoh had indeed wronged Avraham and Sarah, this was in many ways officially setting the record straight where it might later have been blurred. But in the case of Sdom there are two reasons why Avraham could not and would not take their possessions, even though technically they already were his as spoils of war.
Firstly, to take this compensation might well lead to the conclusion that the real or main reason that Avraham and his men rushed off to battle was for these financial benefits and not for the sake of helping Lot and a community in need. This message would be nothing short of a disaster, as it could leave us with the impression that this had nothing to do with goodness, caring and self-sacrifice, as it was all about the bottom line. This would literally undermine one of the most important messages of Avraham’s life and the Torah itself, that chesed and all of the good things we do are not about “what’s in it for me” but what does my friend or neighbor need.
This same insistence is seen in the story of Elisha who refused compensation from Naaman, (only to be followed by Gehazi spoiling this beautiful moment by falsely claiming that Elisha had changed his mind and decided that he did want to be paid for having helped cure Naaman).
Secondly, the wealth of Sdom was literally the symbol of its evil. As spelled out by Yechezkel, this was a wealthy community whose core values included not sharing with the less fortunate. How could Avraham, the pillar of chesed in this world, take such gifts from a community whose material wealth stood in opposition to everything that his life was about. Such “dirty” money could not have a place in his house or be part of his life.
The words that Avraham used, “so that you should not (be able to) say that I have made Avraham wealthy” might politely be explained to the King of Sdom to mean that he was relying on and waiting for the Divine promise, but in fact he meant exactly what he said, that the King of Sdom should not be able to undermine the chesed of Avraham by telling people that there was nothing so special about what he did, after all, many people risk their safety to make money, and he was no different. Why would the King of Sdom feel the need to do this? I believe the answer is seen in the account of the night before the destruction of Sdom, that as Lot went to speak calmly with the men of the city who had surrounded his house, they said האחד בא לגור וישפט שפוט/”this man has come to live in our midst and he judges us!”, not that he was literally a judge, but the very fact that he lived a life that was morally superior to them was an indictment of their lives. So too with their king who would certainly love to bring down Avraham, to reduce him to their level thus removing any reason or guilt to consider acting in a better, more giving manner. To this Avraham could not just say “no”, but needed to swear in the name of God, as this literally is the difference between the life that God wants us to live and the life of Sdom.