GEN1051 See [[EXOD250]] Exodus 16:7 what PATH 154-5

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GEN1052 See [[GEN959]] Genesis 18:17 hide DUTIES 587

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GEN1053 See [[GEN957]] Genesis 18:17 hide TZADIK 67

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GEN1055 [I]f we are to oppose genocide as Jews, then surely we need to be able to say that the biblical genocides should have been opposed.   Or we at least need to say that we now recognize their wrongness, even if that involves arguing with God.   But we have precedents for arguing with God.   Abraham argued against God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, though he stopped short of a flat-out condemnation of what God was doing.  His last question was [this verse].  Surely he should have kept going—what if there were five, or even one?   And since this was an argument only about adults, Abraham should also have insisted that all the children in the two cities were innocent—like the 120,000 children of Ninevah, “who do not yet know their right hand from their left,” for whose sake God spared the city, against the wishes of the prophet Jonah (Jonah 4:11).  DORWAR 60

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GEN1058 See [[GEN804]] Genesis 13:10 before GREENBERG 55-56

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GEN1056 Among the laws of kashruth is the central prohibition against eating the flesh of an animal considered trefah, an animal which had a physical ailment of such seriousness that it would likely have died within a year. The Talmud and Codes enumerate in detail all the possible categories of physical disability and disease which render an animal trefah. Now, if a fowl has fallen and struck hard against body of water and it is uncertain whether the bird has sustained serious injuries, the Talmud gives a rule: See how it behaves in the stream of flowing water.  If the bird tries to swim against the tide, it will live. If the bird merely floats with the tide, it is mortally wounded! Hullin 51b.   So too with Jewry. Once free as a bird in our homeland, we fell and suffered severe bruises and wounds when our beth ha-mikdash, our Temple was destroyed and our land conquered, and our people sent into exile. And so, today, if an individual Jew fights the environment and swims against the mainstream, his Judaism lives within him. But if he takes the path of least resistance and simply flows along with the tide, then his Jewishness is fast ebbing away.   … Think back to the pleas of Abraham, trying to save the people of Sodom. The Almighty agreed at last that if there were ten righteous people among all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities would be spared for their sake [this verse].   Ten people could save two cities! Such is the power, the profound influence of those who can successfully withstand the influence of their milieu and rise above it.  If amidst the corruption and perversion of Sodom, a group of righteous ones can hold out and retain their piety, then all is not lost. SINAI1 238-9

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GEN1057 Eventually, God establishes to Abraham’s satisfaction that there are fewer than ten righteous people within the city (for whom God sends angels to lead out) and that no one else living there is worthy of being saved.   (Had there been ten or more righteous people there, Abraham would have gone on arguing to save the whole city, evil people included.  With a core of good people, there is reason to hope that the evil people will also be affected.)  Still, Abraham’s question, in insisting that God, no less than human beings, is bound by the demands of just behavior, establishes the unique biblical emphasis on this virtue.   Even in late medieval England, a king’s unjust behavior went unchallenged on the grounds of the “divine right of kings,” which was widely understood as meaning that the monarch, who was seen as serving by the grace of God, had the right to do whatever he wanted.   Abraham (and the Hebrew Bible’s theology) was quite different.  For Abraham, justice is a value to which “the King of kings” Himself is bound.   TELVOL 2:404-5

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GEN1059 Never leave on trip unannounced: Announcing one’s departure shows honor to the other person.  One should not leave his teacher or friend without informing him or her of one’s departure.  All can learn such good manners from the All Present, Who said, as it were, to Abraham, “I am not leaving,” as it is stated [this verse].   Derech Eretz Rabbah 5:1 DERECH 548 and   ISAACS 96

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GEN1061 We should not interrupt people when they are speaking.   Avraham asked God to spare the inhabitants of Sodom for the sake of the righteous people in the midst of the city (verses 23-32). The Creator knew that Sodom was devoid of righteous people; nevertheless, He allowed Avraham to finish speaking.  From here we can learn the importance of allowing people to finish speaking without interrupting them.  Pirke Avos 5:7 and Avos D’Reb Noson 37:12.   PLYN 77

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GEN1060 It was taught: “One should never take leave of his master or his neighbor without asking leave to do so.  In this regard, we learn proper conduct from the Holy One Blessed be He, of whom it is written: ‘And the Lord went when He finished speaking to Abraham.’   He said to him, as it were: ‘I would like to take leave of you’” Derech Eretz 5 TEMIMAH-GEN 88

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