Dear Friends,
In our Torah portion this week, Va-yera, we continue telling the stories of our patriarchs and matriarchs. We celebrate them as the founders of our faith, and as people to look up to, but the stories in our portion actually paint a rather uncomfortable picture of who they were as people.
In our portion this week, Abraham banishes his wife and child, Haggar and Ishmael, to wander aimlessly in the desert. Then, Abraham binds his other son Isaac onto an altar, and nearly kills him.
Oftentimes, rabbinic defenders of Abraham try to justify these acts by claiming that while on the surface they make us uncomfortable, they were admirable and righteous. The Rabbis claim that Ishmael was wild, reckless, and dangerous, so he needed to go. They celebrate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son as a testament to his heroic and unwavering faith.
But when I think about these acts, they make me somewhat uncomfortable. The way in which Abraham treated his family pushes me to pause and question his judgement. Nevertheless, I think that might be the point. Our patriarchs and matriarchs, just like us, were human. They struggled with the same things that we struggle with, balancing faith, tradition, modernity, family, and somewhat conflicting values.
Like Abraham and Sarah, we strive to do our best, to make the right choices for us in any given situation, which so often seems to have extenuating circumstances. However, all of us, just like Abraham and Sarah, in some way or another, are flawed and make mistakes.
I find the idea that our patriarchs and matriarchs were somewhat flawed to be comforting, because just as God loved them and remembered them, despite their many flaws, the same holds true for all of us. The idea also inspires us to be kind when others make human mistakes.
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh Dorsch
