Midreshet Amit

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Questions? Let's Ask Them!

By: Charlotte Steinblatt and Daniella Glass


We all know that God confided in Avraham before he destroyed the city of Sedom, which enabled Avraham to eventually save his brother-in-law, Lot. But did you know that the reason Lot was saved was only because Avraham actually tried bartering with Hashem, and even convincing Him not to destroy the city? Avraham asks God if he plans on destroying the righteous people as well as the wicked people, and tells God it’s worth saving the wicked people just to spare the righteous. He argues with Hashem, and continues bargaining, trying to get him to save any number of people. God never once puts up a fight or tells Avraham to leave His choice be. He allows him to continuously question His decision, even when Avraham goes as far as to ask “äÂùÑÉôÅè֙ ëÌÈìÎäÈàÈ֔øÆõ ìÉ֥à éÇÍòÂùÒÆ֖ä îÄùÑÀôÌÈÍè”- will the judge of the entire world not perform justice?
 
We see here, that when given a glimpse of Hashem’s plan for the rest of the world, Avraham feels comfortable questioning Hashem, and Hashem doesn’t resist Avraham’s questions. Shortly after the destruction of Sedom, though, Hashem commands Avraham to sacrifice Yitzchak, and he sees no reason to question it. Growing up, we learned from the Akeida that we should admire Avraham’s willingness to follow Hashem’s mitzvot without questions. Now, though, we're older, and we find that  the side of Avraham who argued with Hashem and questioned his plan resonates more strongly with us. Here we are constantly trying to grow, and form a deeper connection with God, despite our uncertainties about His plan. We learn from Vayera that we should model ourselves after Avraham in that he trusts Hashem enough to listen to Him, and follow His commandments, but still argues with Him in order to better understand Him.
Shabbat Shalom!