GEN1031 … unquestionably the greatest stumbling block to religion [is] the problem of evil, traditionally expressed as “the suffering of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked.” Through the ages sensitive and suffering human beings found the testimony of tradition being challenged by the evidence of experience. The dialectic between faith and doubt finds poignant expression in the literature of Sumer, Babylonia and Egypt, centuries before the Bible.  However, it is the Bible, the most magnificent testament of faith in God, that contains the most powerful confrontations with God.   The lawgiver, historian, sage, and psalmist, all the biblical “men of faith,” do not hesitate to demand that their God abide by the standard of righteousness they derive from Him.  … It is a tragic fact of life that all men are born for trouble and no nation goes through life unscathed.  GORLAW 80-2

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GEN1036 Shortly before his resignation, a former President of the United States presumed to say that, as sovereign, the Chief Executive is above the law.   Had the ancient prophets been here today, they would have laughed him to scorn.  They would have reminded us that there is only one sovereign, who is God, and no one stands above the moral law—not even God, its source and guarantor.   GORLAW 154

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GEN1034 See [[EXOD1033]] Exodus 34:6 compassionate SPERO 69-70

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GEN1035 See [[EXOD1033]] Exodus 34:6 compassionate SPERO 69-70

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GEN1039 While mishpat is a complex term that even in biblical literature developed many interesting extended uses, its primary use in the Pentateuch may be said to refer to moral rules, the proper or just relationships between people as far as these can be brought under a rule. E. Berkovits, “The Biblical Meaning of Justice, Judaism 18 no. 2.   It is not difficult to imagine how the language in its development proceeded from a consideration of mishpatim as particular decisions rendered by particular judges to the abstract concept of mishpat as justice, or that quality which ought to inform all proper judgments. [this verse and Genesis 19:19] SPERO 24

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GEN1040 Seven things are [typical] in a clod, and seven in a wise man; [The Wise Man] does not break in on the speech of his fellow-man. Pirkei Avot V:9   … it is only common courtesy to let someone complete his thought before we respond.   An eagerness to interrupt, straining at the leash, usually comes from an overpowering conviction that we know exactly what the other intends to say before he has said it, and already we perceive his fallacy.   Such a conviction often turns out wrong.   But right or wrong, anyone speaking should be given the right to express himself freely as he sees fit, without interruption, until he is done.  Avoth d’R. Natan (37) gives two illustrative examples from Scripture… (Leviticus 10:16-20) … The other example concerns Abraham the Patriarch.   When the Almighty was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He told Abraham, and this man of piety and loving-kindness began to plead. First he asked that the cities be spared if fifty righteous men could be found there; when that prayer was granted, he asked the same grace should only forty-five tzaddikim be found. That granted, he lowered the number to forty, then thirty, then twenty, and finally ten. Each plea was accepted favorably in turn. [this verse and subsequent]. The Lord knew that were there even five or four virtuous people in Sodom, it would be saved from destruction. Seek them there, however, and you could not find them. Nevertheless, the Holy, Blessed One waited for Abraham to finish, and only then did he send him off, as it is stated [at the end]: the Lord went His way when He had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.” As it were, He as much as told him, “Now I am free [to act].” The lesson, continues Avoth d’R. Nathan (B40), is clear: The world and all that fills it is the holy, Blessed One’s; yet he did not wish to break into our father Abraham’s words. How much more certainly should a man – dust, [food for] worm and maggot – not break into the words of his fellow-man. It would be well to remember, though, that the courtesy should not be entirely one-sided. If a person speaking is to be permitted to conclude, let him forbear to abuse his privilege. He should not ramble but learn to express himself succinctly and concisely.   The story is told of an “august personage” who rose to address a rabbinic meeting.   After an hour and a half he was still talking, refusing to relinquish his precious opportunity. Then he remarked, “I once heard a great scholar say …” Suddenly a listener called out, “That cannot be!” There was a stunned silence. Sputtering with rage, the speaker shouted to his heckler, “How do you challenge me when I did not even tell what this great man said?” Replied the other, “You could never have heard any scholar say anything. You never give anyone else a chance to speak at all!”   SINAI3 103-4  

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GEN1041 This teaches us that the righteous shield the world. Sanhedrin 99b. TEMIMAH-GEN 87

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GEN1043 Once the evil instinct began to thrive, as we have described, among most adherents to the Torah, they had to counter it with the special abstinence defined at the beginning of this chapter [in summary, “the regimen prescribed by the Torah and the intellect for the welfare of our souls in the next world” - AJL].   Employing it, they could stand up to the instinct, until [abstinence] restored them to the right path of the Torah, which is essential to the religion and to the world.   Hence, it became necessary that there be, among the adherents to the Torah, select individuals who would be the bearers of this special abstinence and assume its conditions.   Their [example of] abstinence would then assist the adherents to the Torah when their hearts and traits inclined to low desires under the influence of the instinct.  They would serve as physicians of religion and of the souls, healing them when they strayed from honorable traits to those that lead to shame, when their evil instincts overcame their minds, and when worldly excesses distracted them from the things vital to their faith. … They [function] in the world like the sun, which spreads its light throughout the universe, above and below; it illumines the stars and [celestial] bodies, those above it as well as those below it.   So [it is with] these select individuals whom I have portrayed for you: in this world, as it says [“I will spare the whole place for their sake” (this verse].   “Had not Moshe, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to turn away His anger from destroying” Psalms 106:23; and in the next world, as it says: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life” Proverbs 11:30.  Thus Devorah said, “But those who love God will be like the sun going forth in its strength” Judges 5:31.  You will find that such abstinence was practiced by the prophets, peace be upon them, and by the pious among our predecessors in every generation …   DUTIES 795-799

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GEN1042 (Continued from [[DEUT1709]] Deuteronomy 32:47 empty GATES 315). Anybody who forsakes [even] one principle of the Torah, refusing to acknowledge it, is one who treats the Torah with impudence, such as a person who says, “What have we gained by having Torah scholars? If they amass knowledge, they do so for themselves, and we receive no share in their reward.”   These people have denied what is written in the Torah [this verse], i.e. righteous people in the city would have saved Sodom from destruction.   GATES 315-6

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GEN1044 If one has as good eye, an humble temperament, and a lowly spirit, he is of the disciples of Abraham our Father. Pirkei Avot V:22   These were truly Abraham’s characteristics. A “good eye,” we know, denotes a generous sense of benevolence, a wish to let and help others live, a joy at finding or making the world a bit happier.   Abraham’s “good eye” can be discerned in Scripture readily enough. For three strangers who happened along, we read how "Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, ‘Make ready quickly three measure of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.’ And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the servant; and he hastened to prepare it. …” Genesis 18:6-7 Earlier, when he defeated the four kings who had captured Lot, he gave one tenth of the war booty as tithe to Melchizedek “the cohen [i.e., priest - AJL] of God Most High.” Genesis 14:18,20 And when he needed a place of burial for his departed wife Sarah, he readily paid four hundred shekels of silver for it; he did not hesitate or haggle. Genesis 23:15-16.   An humble temperament, Abraham had too. When he came to ask the people of Heth for a burial ground for Sarah, his first words were, “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you,” although he was a venerable man of some renown. When he saw the three strangers mentioned above, he himself ran to entreat them to stay and eat, though they looked like ordinary Arabs. According to the Sages, it was the third day after his circumcision.   And when he stood before the Almighty, his heart open to plead for Sodom and Gomorrah (a further instance of his generosity), he said, “Here have I taken upon myself to speak, and I am but dust and ashes.” [this verse]. SINAI3 201

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