GEN832 We see how characteristic it is for the pious to express concern even regarding a mitzvah that has been fulfilled, saying, “Perhaps, Heaven forbid, something objectionable is intermingled in it.”  As for Abraham, after he had gone to the assistance of his nephew, Lot, who was in captivity, he became freighted and said that maybe his deeds were not completely pure.  This [derives] from what they of blessed memory explained Genesis Rabbah 44:4 about [this verse].  “Rabbi Levi said: Because Abraham became frightened, saying: ‘Among all the people that I have killed, might there not have been one righteous person or one God-fearing person?  [See also, 32:8 AMJV 62-3] Therefore he was told, ‘Abram, do not be afraid.’” In the Tanna D’Vei Eliyahu it says Eliyahu Rabbah 25: “Abram, do not be afraid’ [teaches us that] one only says ‘Do not be afraid’ to one who truly fears Heaven.  This is the true fear about which they said Berachot 33b: “The only thing the Holy One blessed be He has in His world is a storehouse that contains the fear of heaven.”  Only Moshe was able to attain it easily because of his great attachment to the Blessed One’s name.  For others, corporeality is unquestionably a great deterrent.  Nonetheless, every pious person should strive to attain as much as he is capable of attaining; and it says Psalms 34:10: “Fear the Eternal – you, His holy ones.”  PATH 172-3

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GEN834 The ideal Jewish home is created by the conviction that a blessing unfolds itself within the life of husband and wife and their children through the family. This is both of a natural and of a spiritual order. Home life is on a partnership basis; there is the love and the care of the parents for their children and there is the obedience and the respect of the children towards their parents. In their father and mother, the children have before their eyes that union between man and wife which is Kiddushin (holy). It is from the care and love for him that the child first learns the meaning of God as “Our Father who art in Heaven (avinu she’bashamayim).”  One of the many answers that could be given to the question “What is Judaism?” is this: It is a religion in which the family is in possession of God’s blessing and in which the parents hand down this blessing to their children. It is in the happiness of the family life that the Jew experiences his nearness to God.  The question might also be asked “What is marriage?” The answer could equally be given very simply. It is not merely a social relationship but an attempt to create joy and peace in the world, to build a sanctuary out of a worldly institution. Husband and wife and enabled through marriage to share in the creative work of God, “renewing the creation every day continually” Singer’s Prayer Book, p. 37.  Both can sustain life and make it holy; empowered by their life together to bring out the best that is in them.  “Thou are consecrated unto me by this ring according to the Law of Moses and Israel” is the translation of the nine Hebrew words by which the bride becomes a wife. They form a gateway through which the couple proceed towards their future life of joy and holiness, at the same time impressing upon them that they are now dedicated to each other for life. Jewish family life will always be the main reason for the survival of our people; for it is the ideal home that forges characters able to withstand extinction. No gain in national territory could ever offset the tragedy that would ensue were those ideals of Judaism – marriage, the Sabbath and Kashrut – to suffer a decline in the State of Israel. Thucydides, the historian of the Peloponesian Wars, records that Greece fell not because of the clash of arms but because home life was being destroyed.  Rome had a similar tale to tell. On account of the danger existing to the sanctity of marriage not only in the Golah [i.e., exile/diaspora – AJL] but also in Israel, it is the task of spiritual leaders constantly to be on their guard to defend and explain the ethical import of a Jewish union. … Marriage is holy, for it gives to men and women the opportunity of taking art in the miracle of creation and provides for the children resulting from such a happy union the best environment for their sound and healthy development – a united and happy home and the love and care of devoted parents. It is also blessed, because it offers to the majority of men and women the greatest chance of achieving personal happiness and the joy of companionship with a beloved and chosen partner. Judaism sees in marriage a mitigation of the essential loneliness of life and the opportunity of shared interests which gives content and significance to things around us.  LEHRMAN 246-9

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GEN833 A surprising number of biblical figures had fertility problems. Abraham and Sarah, Rebekah and Isaac, Rachel and Jacob, and Elkanah and Hannah (who ultimately bore the prophet Samuel) all had difficulties. [this verse, Genesis 18:1-15; 25:21; 30:1-8, 22-24; 35;16-20; 1 Samuel 1:1-20). No other culture’s sacred scripture focuses so extensively on infertility. What can we learn from this? First, that children are precious. Indeed, the Jewish tradition sees them as a great blessing. In part this is so because of the psychological growth and joy they bring to their parents. In addition, of course, the future of Judaism and the Jewish people depends on procreation. But the very difficulty that so many couples have in conceiving and bearing children is itself a mark of how precious they are when they come. Second, the biblical stories amply indicate that infertility causes immense tensions in a marriage. Infertile couples begin to question who they are individually as a man or woman and what their future together holds. … Some couples break up over this issue, and those whose marriages survive must revise their hopes and dreams of their lives together. (By Elliot N. Dorff) OXFORD 321-2

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GEN835 One important facet of Judaism that many people overlook, however, is the importance of making things beautiful. While this may seem somewhat superficial, it is actually an important part of our religion. For instance, it says in Genesis 15:2, “This is my God and I shall glorify Him.” The Rabbis who wrote the Mechilta, a commentary on Exodus, understood this to mean that one should always perform the mitzvot with as much beauty as possible, as an act of devotion to God. Therefore, it is actually incumbent upon us to make things in our lives more beautiful. (By Adam Goodkind)

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GEN836 … when Abraham took upon himself the mission of teaching mankind about the existence of God, he was not confident that his efforts would succeed until he had a natural son who, bound by the ethics of kibbud ov, [honor owed a father -AJL], would carry over his teachings to the later generations.  After years of childlessness, Abraham fully well realized that his disciples, Eliezer or Lot, would not be able to carry on after his death. Their resolve would not be able to withstand the pressures of the pagan culture. And so wearily and tragically Abraham complained to God, “What can you give me? For I go childless.” [this verse] It was only after a divine promise of a son that Abraham was consoled. And only after the birth of Isaac, God declared, “and Abraham will become a great and strong nation, all the nations of the world will praise themselves in him. For I know him, that which he will command his children and his family after him they shall keep the way of God to do righteousness and justice. Genesis 18:18-19.  Only the special authority which a father could expect from a son would assure the transmission of Abraham’s noble ideas for the coming generations.  BUILD 243-5

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GEN837 God’s very first blessing of Abraham (when he was still called Abram) is that he may have children, and it is the promise of many offspring that changes his name from Abram to Abraham, “father of many nations.”  (Genesis 17:5).  DORFFWITO 228

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GEN838 For when you walk in the way of the moral virtues, you do justice unto your rational soul, giving it what is its due.  And because every moral virtue is called sedaqah, it says ‘[this verse].  I refer to the virtue of faith.  EWM 143

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GEN839 Great is tzedakah [righteousness or charity] by which the Holy One Blessed be He, is praised when He will bring salvation to the Jews, as it is written Isaiah 63:1: “I speak with tzedakah, might to save.” Great is tzedakah, which confers honor and life upon its practitioners, as it is written Proverbs 21:21: “He who pursues tzedakah and lovingkindness will find life, tzedakah, and honor.” Great is tzedakah, through which the Holy One Blessed be He, is destined to redeem Israel, as it is written Isaiah 1:27  “Zion will be redeemed through justice, and those who return to it, through righteousness” Shabbat 139a. Great is tzedakah, through which our father Abraham was praised s it is written [this verse] and Genesis 18:19: “For I have known him that he might command his children and his household after him to heed the way of Hashem, to do tzedakah and justice.”  TZADIK 313-5.   

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GEN840 (Continued from [[1037]] Leviticus 25:35 live with BOROJMV 126). The Tur’s [Jacob b. Asher, D. 1340, Arbaah Turim (The Four Pillars), “Yoreh Deah” (He Teaches Knowledge), Ch. 251] ruling [regarding help priorities] returns to the traditional hierarchy, almost equating our connection to parents and then to adult children with the obligation to first help ourselves.  We are told to help others only after we have taken care of “our” own needs.  “Should it happen that his parents have been taken captive and he does not have the means to ransom them all, he should follow this priority: He should ransom his father and leave the sons, then ransom the sons, then his brothers, then his other relatives, then his neighbors, then other people from the city, and after these, [He should ransom] captives from other lands.” Even when lives are in danger, perhaps particularly when that is so, we should follow the classic tzedakah priority list.  Though we may empathize with the downtrodden of the whole universe, we must first use our means to save those who gave us life and only then reach out to others with our remaining funds. We pray that God spares us from such heart-rending choices! But should they occur, the Tur gives us tradition to guide us. “Should anyone’s extended household include poor orphans, it is a mitzvah and a good thing to employ them as servants; even though this means over-staffing has home, it will surely be “accounted to him as tzedakah” [this verse]. Translated into English, the phrase “even if it means over-staffing” maybe too literal. In fact, the Tur directs us to hire this needy person, even if we have little use of the services. So, for example, this holds if we have one domestic and don’t need two. This hiring has little to do with household needs, but everything to do with the needs of the orphan, whom we thus help. BOROJMV 126

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GEN841 Trust is impossible without belief, as is written Psalms 9:11: “And those who know Your name will trust in You.”  For those who know His great name and recognize His greatness and strength and believe in Him wholeheartedly – they can trust in Him, for trust and belief go together.  If there is no belief, there is no trust; and if there is no trust, there is no belief.   And belief is the apex of Torah, as it is written Exodus 20:2-3: “I am Hashem your God…you shall not have any other gods.”  TZADIK 205

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