GEN899 It was irrelevant to Abraham whether his guests shared his faith.   According to the rabbinic understanding, when travelers thanked Abraham and Sarah for their hospitality, the couple would direct the guest’s thanks to God, the ultimate source of food Tanhuma Lekh Leckha 12. Through such behavior, Judaism’s premier patriarch and matriarch made people aware of God’s existence and made God lovable to them.   TELVOL1:458-9

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GEN947 If you suspect that a statement made by one person about another may cause trouble, don’t repeat it.  TELVOL1:333

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GEN949 The Chaffetz Chayyim, Judaism’s foremost scholar on the laws of speech, rules that when a person ask you what another has said about him, and the statement was derogatory, then, “if one can formulate a reply which will not repeat the bad things which were said and will also not be an outright lie, one should reply in this way.  However, if one knows that one’s friend will not accept such a reply, then it is permitted to tell a complete lie, because of peace” Laws of Rechilut 1:8.   The Chaffetz Chayyim’s position is based on the Talmud’s teaching that, for the sake of peace, one can modify the truth, and on Maimonides’ ruling, “[A scholar] does not alter the truth in his speech, not adding or subtracting, except in the interest of peace and the like” Mishneh Torah, “Laws of Character Development” 5:7.   In English, we have the expression “to be brutally honest.”  If being honest means that you will have to be “brutal,” then you should reconsider your words.  TELVOL1:439

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GEN991 God explains the mission of Abraham, the first Jew, as being ethical [this verse].  Abraham, in turn, understands justice to be a – perhaps the – defining characteristic of God.  When he fears that God is acting unfairly in planning to destroy the cities of Sodom of Gomorrah, he challenges Him, “Shall not the judge of all the earth act with justice?” Genesis 18:25  TELVOL 1:13

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GEN1010 We should not condemn others based on hearsay. In the Bible, God sets and example of how to avoid condemning others without first checking the facts.   Since God is all-knowing, the words “I will go down to see” are obviously an anthropomorphism. We must try to make sure that we know the whole story before we assume the worst about another, and certainly before we attack him.  TELVOL 1:76

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GEN1015 The Rabbis understood Abraham as wanting to preserve God’s “good Name” in the world.  Thus Abraham protested to God that if He destroyed the innocent along with the guilty in Sodom [this verse], people would believe that God treated evil and good people alike, and was therefore unjust.   TELVOL 1:459

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GEN1030 We can learn from the narrative, as well as from the legal portions of the Torah how to live and how not to.  We learn from Abraham the importance of being hospitable Genesis 18:2-8, and of not being afraid to argue with anyone, even God, when we think an injustice is being committed [This verse]; from Judah, the need to acknowledge when one is wrong Genesis 38:26; and from the prophet Nathan the obligation to criticize unjust behavior Samuel 2:12.  TELVOL 1:512

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GEN1067 It is necessary to study in order to know how to act ethically: “An ignoramus cannot be a saintly person” Ethics of the Fathers 2:5.   We need not only to have good intentions but to know the right thing to do.  The Torah describes Lot, Abraham’s nephew, as a generous host who invites two strangers (unbeknownst to him, they re angels) to his home as guests.   … Obviously, the spiritually unaware Lot believed that [offering his daughters to the mob in place of his guests] was what hospitality to one’s guests demanded of him.  TELVOL1:510

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GEN1081 After we have requested forgiveness, we should ask the person whom we hurt to pray to God on our behalf.   This advice is based on three biblical episodes.   [This verse].  Later, when Miriam and Aaron sinned against Moses, and Miriam was punished (it seems that she was the primary offender), Aaron asked Moses to pray for her; after Moses did so, she was soon healed of leprosy Numbers 12:11-13.   Finally, Job’s friends slandered him by insisting that all his sufferings (the death of his ten children, he sickness, and the loss of his wealth) were God’s punishment for evil he had done.  At the end of the book, God reproved the friends for having spoken so cruelly, then instructed them to pacify Job: “Let Job, my servant, pray for you, for to him I will show favor and not treat you vilely” Job 42:8.   TELVOL1:165  

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GEN1134 One [is permitted to] mislead others so as to avoid sharing information with them that they have no need – and no right – to know.   When Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac, he set off for the mountain where God had instructed him to carry out the sacrifice, along with his son and several servants. When they arrived at the site, Abraham, who had no wish to share what he was planning to do with the servants, told them [this verse].  A short time later, God sent an angel to stop Abraham from carrying out the sacrifice (verse 12).  But at the time Abraham told the servants, “we will return to you,” he had every reason to believe this to be a lie.  Abraham apparently reasoned that what would happen that day was between God, Isaac, and himself, and did not concern the servants.   Perhaps he also feared that if he simply said, “The boy and I will go up there,” and nothing more, they might follow along and thwart his intended sacrifice.   TELVOL 1:449

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