Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE BEREISHIT STORIES 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, Lot, and S'dom [3] From this we learn of Lot's own merit" (Sanhedrin 104b). So the Midrash teaches: "Remembered? Hashem remembered the kindness that Lot did in that he remained silent in Egypt when Avraham said that Sarah was his sister" (B'reishit Rabba 41). To which Ramban adds: "Hashem remembered the chesed that Lot did with the Tzaddik in that he went with Avraham to Eretz Yisrael". However we still have to find out what was the purpose of saving Lot over and above his relationship with Avraham. We know that although earlier they had parted company, nevertheless Avraham later went to war to redeem Lot. Yet Lot had gone back to S'dom thus showing that he had left the Avrahamic path, so what was the point of saving him? The stories in Bereishit are the story of the preparation of the Abrahamic family for its subsequent role as the Holy Nation, a Kingdom of Priests. As such they are a spiritual progression in purified holiness from universal Adam and Noah to the descendants of Shem, a particular family in Haran. As an integral and essential part of that progression, Avraham had left that family to go to the destined Land and Lot had gone with him. Ideas, merits and sparks of that progression resided also in Lot even though he dwelled in S'dom, as we see from his chesed towards the strangers. These sparks of holiness that were destined to be part of the Abrahamic Nation could not remain there, so Lot had to be saved from the destruction of that city. The other sparks of holiness and chesed that still remained in Haran were enhanced by bringing Rivka, sister of Lavan the Aramean as a wife to Yitschak and by the mission of Yaakov to find Rachel and Leah the daughters of Lavan, as brides. Since sexual relations with daughters are permitted to a Noachide (Sanhedrin 59b) halakhically Lot did not sin. Nevertheless, a fine soul would regard it as depraved and remove himself from such lusts; not everything that is legal may be done - morality starts where the law ends. There are many examples of acts that are halakhically permitted to Jews, but refined and religious people distance themselves from them: "Legally, rabbinic interest need not be repaid, yet one who is careful about his soul will return it (Shulchan Arukh Baal HaTanya). So too, "G-d extracts payment from one who reneges on an agreement even where it is legal and where no loss is caused to the other party" (Choshen Mishpat). Furthermore, the Rabbis saw as an additional blemish that Lot, seeing what had happened after his drinking on the first night, did not refrain from any wine on the second, hinting that the second incest at least, was intentional on his part. So it is difficult to understand how sparks of holiness and sanctity could be brought out through incest between Lot and his two daughters. This can be explained by the distinction between men and women in the law that Ammon and Moav are forbidden from entering Israel through marriage. While the reason lies in their hiring Bil'am to curse us, and because they did not return the chesed that Avraham had shown to their ancestor Lot, yet these two traits have their true source in the mamzeirut that Lot begot. "Mamzeirut is a blemish that remains for generations, even as it is written, (B'reishit 19:37): 'He is the ancestor of Moav… and of Ammon until this day. It leads to a corruption of the soul since its root lies in arrogance that regards egoistical desires as desires that may be satisfied at all costs" (Meshekh Chochma). The Torah's restriction on intermarriage does not apply to the women of these two nations. Not only is this so because the negative traits that caused the restriction are not commonly within women's spheres of influence, but also because regarding the incest there are redeeming features among the women that were absent by Lot. "The daughters of Lot thought that the whole world had been destroyed as during the Flood and therefore if they did not seduce their father all Mankind would disappear (Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Rashbam). "They said 'let us do this thing, perhaps Hashem in His mercy will grant us a boy and a girl and through them the world will be rebuilt'; as it is written (T'hilim 89:3) 'through mercy the world is built'" (Ramban). "The whole story is told in order to show the antecedents of Ammon and Moav, descendants of Lot, to whom Hashem gave an inheritance because of what he gained from Avraham. Israel en route to Eretz Yisrael, was commanded not to make war against Moav and even not to oppress Ammon; this favorable distinction is made because of the younger daughter naming her son Ben Ami, concealed Lot's disgrace" (Radak). Those sparks of the Avrahamic Nation that were brought out of S'dom, were destined to be magnified beyond their origin in Lot. "When one learns some Torah from a Tzaddik, that Torah develops, increases and is even enhanced over time" (Baal Shem Tov, Avot 6:3); in the future these sparks came home to that Nation through the descendants of Lot, Ruth of Moav who brought the Chesed essential to the Jewish concept of Kingship and Naama the Ammonite, the wife of Yeravam who inherited the throne of Shlomo HaMelech. This is the 108th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
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