Spiritual and Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach; JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim)
by Dr. Meir Tamari

These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical.

Avraham and Sarah in Egypt [1] (B’reishit 12:10-13:4)
"Avraham Avinu was tested with 10 trials and he withstood them all; this shows the degree of his love for Hashem" (Mishna Avot 5:4); "to teach the world that Avraham was G-d fearing and perfect in all his midot" (Rabbenu Yonah). "All of these trials are specifically mentioned in the text of the Torah [others appear in midrashim]. These were the estrangement when Hashem commanded him to leave his birthplace, his country and his father's house, the famine in the land that was supposed to be his greatness, the oppression by the Egyptians in taking Sarah to Pharaoh, the war against the militarily superior 4 kings, the taking of Hagar after his conclusion that Sarah could not give birth, the circumcision in his old age, the oppression by having Sarah taken by the king of Gerar [Avimelech of the Philistines], the expulsion of Hagar after he had been established through her by the birth of a son, the expulsion of Ishmael that the Torah tells us was bad in the sight of Avrham, and akeidat Yitzchak" (Rambam, Commentary on the Mishna).

"The Aggada tells us that these 10 tests were parallel to the 10 sayings with which the world was created to teach us that the whole world exists in the merit of Avraham. The 10 generations that lived from Noah till Avraham, although they also sinned, were saved from the destruction that had come upon the 10 generations from Adam to Noah because Avraham guided them to repent. Because of the 10 trials, Israel was granted the miracles of the 10 plagues on the Egyptians and the 10 miracles at Yam Suf. As a reward for his steadfastness, Israel was given the 10 commandments" (Rashi,Avot).

All the trials of Avraham must be seen in the light of the Divine promises made to him. For instance he had been promised that Hashem would make him great in every respect in the land, whereas he had no sooner arrived there than there was a famine and he and all his dependents had to suffer hunger and privation. Alternatively, Hashem told him, "Walk before Me, through the land as I have given it to you", yet when he had to bury Sarah, Avraham had to purchase a burial plot and pay exorbitantly for it. Despite these trials, he did not question or doubt the Divine Word. That is the hallmark of Avraham and his spiritual greatness, the single-minded obedience to Hashem's Words no matter whether it was 'lech lecha' or whether it was to offer his only son as a sacrifice.

"'And there was a famine in the land and Avraham went down to Egypt'. Avraham Avinu sinned a great sin, albeit in error, by leaving the sanctity of the Promised Land and going down to Egypt. Instead, he should have trusted in the Divine Providence that He would save them from all suffering. As a consequence his descendants were exiled to that country" (Ramban). "However, the words in the text make it obvious that the famine was very severe. W e see that Avraham made every endeavor not to leave the country; rather he first sold off all his cattle and herds, and movables and it was only when these were exhausted, that he was forced to leave" (Haemek Davar). "There were 2 reasons to justify Avraham's going down to Egypt. Firstly, he thought that the mitzva was to dwell in Eretz Yisrael, but that did not preclude going to chutz la'aretz, temporarily, for trade or for other purposes.

[Halakhically, one is permitted to leave the Land of Israel in order to learn Torah, to find a wife and for reasons of parnasa, livelihood.] As we see in the text, his intention was not to dwell in Egypt but merely to be there, and to return immediately the famine was over. In this there was approval from on High, since the text says, 'lagur', to dwell there temporarily, not to settle. The second reason lies in the Divine Wisdom that wishes that Mankind should keep His mitzvot and live by them, not die through them. Our Sages teach us that if hunger comes to the city, one should move from there. Here the famine is described as very severe, supporting Avraham's understanding that seeking food and sustenance through natural means, was in accordance with the Divine will and so not an infringement of mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael" (Abarbanel). The Malbim adds that Avraham, in his typical modesty, ['I am ashes and dust' (B’reishit 18:27)] did not consider himself worthy for G-d to change the course of nature and perform a miracle in order to save him. So he chose to seek out a solution through natural means. In this connection, it is instructive to note that in the whole of Bereishit, in contrast to the other books of the Torah, there are no visible and open miracles, no supernatural changing the workings of nature; only hidden ones. The Chassidic Masters explain that it was only the merit of Klal Yisrael that gained them miracles.

So we see that, there is an issue raised by some of our Sages as to the spiritual quality of some of Avraham's actions. This is a question that is asked regarding the morality and correctness of some actions of all the figures in the Tanach.

"The Torah says of none of our great men and women, 'Here you have the ideal, in this person the Divine becomes human'. It relates what happened, not because it is exemplary but because it happened. Where the Word of G-d sets a pattern before us to imitate, it places no human before us as the ideal, rather G-d says, 'Look at Me, imitate Me, wander in My Ways'. The Torah is no collection of examples of saints; were the Biblical people without passion, without internal struggle, their virtues would seem to us the outcome of some higher nature and therefore no model that we could ever hope to emulate." (Rabbi S.R. Hirsch, Gen, 12:10-13). At the same time we should not make the error, so common in our own times of seeing them merely as ordinary human beings, with our own weakness, lusts or desires, or psychological and social behavioral ideologies. Rather, they were all great men and women with a desire and yearning to follow G-d's Words towards the highest spiritual, moral and ethical levels.

This is the 97th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times”

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