One of the most puzzling stories about our forefather Abraham is his passing off his wife as his sister. This tactic seems to put Sarah in danger in order to protect Abraham. Rashi puts an even worse spin on things by interpreting Abraham’s statement that ‘things will go well for me because of you’ as meaning that he would receive gifts because of this ploy. How are we to understand this sort of behaviour in such an otherwise noble character? Some commentators explain that Abraham never intended that Sarah would be taken by another man, but rather that people thinking she was his sister would woo her by giving him gifts, as was the custom at the time. They would then leave before things got to hot The trouble was that the plan backfired, Sarah being so popular the king grabbed her first. This, however, scarcely makes things better and comes across as some sort of scam. The fact is that Abraham was afraid. He was travelling with a beautiful wife in strange territory where he had no kin, and so none of the normal customary protection. He was thus easy game and knew it. He thus devised a plan to protect both himself and his wife, who initially concurred, and if this resulted in better business opportunities that would be an added benefit. It is easy to criticise such a scheme and say that Abraham should have trusted in G-d. Yet this ignores the fact that our forefathers, however great, were still human and subject to human fears and failings. Furthermore, it presupposes that it would in fact have been correct for Abraham simply to trust in G-d to save him, while taking no effort to protect himself. That however is not the Jewish way. We are not permitted to rely on miracles, even though we sometimes might need them. We must first act on our own behalf, trusting that G-d will reward our efforts with success. Abraham never made the mistake of taking G-d for granted. He always, even when taking great risks, acted on his own behalf first. So it is in this case. He may be criticised for acting in the way he did but not for simply taking measures to protect himself. He may have been wrong but was mistaken for the right reasons. That is the greatness of the Torah. It does not portray supermen but very human characters striving to be correct in their dealings with G-d and man. They may indeed fail, but only because they fail can we learn from them.

ALIYAH BY ALIYAH SYNOPSIS

Sidra Statistics