 "And Terach's years were 205 years, and Terach died in Charan. G-d said to Abram, Go away from your land, your birthplace and form your father's house to a land that I will show you" (11:30-12:1). These two verses are separated from each other by nothing other than the weekly parsha cycle - the death of Terach ending parhsat Noach and the command to Abraham the opening verse in parshat lech lecha . While Terach died many years after Abram left home, the Torah as a rule, completes the story of one generation (Terach) before moving on the next (Abraham). Thus for example while Noach was alive for the first 58 years of Abraham's life, Noach' s life story in the Bible concludes many generations before the birth of Abraham.
Despite this common Biblical approach Rashi tells us that the Terach's death is recorded before Abraham's departure for "propaganda" purposes. It would not look good for all to see that Abraham left an elderly father and moved away. By recording the death of Terach first, Abraham leaving his elderly father would not be so noticeable, and thus potential murmurings against Abraham would be averted. What a strange comment. Not only is this marketing attempt seemingly dishonest - really Abraham did something not nice but the Torah will cover up for one of its own - it is doomed to fail. A cursory reading of no more than 10 verses make it quite clear that Abraham did leave behind his aged father and no rabbinic interpretation will change that fact. Does rashi really think we are so easily fooled? Furthermore why is the Torah so protective of Abraham? The Torah has no problem highlighting the sins of our great leaders. In fact soon after Abraham arrives in Israel a famine ensues and Abraham goes to Egypt to get food. A seemingly logical course of action, as Judaism teaches that one may not rely on miracles. Yet rashi implies, and the Ramban says explicitly that Abraham "sinned a great sin" as he should have displayed greater faith in G-d. And perhaps most fundamentally of all Abraham was following a direct command from G-d to leave his home - how could anyone claim he was doing anything wrong. Would it have been better if Abraham had argued and ultimately defied G-d telling Him I will make aliyah when I no longer have to care for my elderly parents.
The signature of G-d is truth, declare our Sages. The Torah thus tells it like it is - never glossing over unpleasant details to make people look good. Judaism has always maintained that even the greatest of men sin. Our sages never hesitated to point these sins out. This is necessary not only so that we can learn from their particular mistakes but also so that we can relate to our biblical heroes. If they would be perfect, we, who are not, could not use them as role models. However people often have great difficulty recognizing sin and often see sin where none exists. A good marketing firm can make almost anyone look good. Good spin is an art no successful politician can do without. Thus the Sages describe this world as an olam sheker , a world of falsehood where the truth is often hidden and buried.
Avraham avinu took the right and necessary journey, leaving behind his idolatrous father to form a great nation dedicated to the principles of righteousness and justice. Perhaps it is unfortunate but there was no other way for him to be the founder of the greatest revolutionary movement of all times, Judaism. However the correctness of his course of action was not obvious to all and could understandably make Abraham appear indifferent to his parents. Many rabbinic authorities today do in fact prohibit one from making aliyah if doing so would be an act of abandoning elderly parents. Rashi in reality is teaching us that PR in the Torah is not to change falsehood to truth but to ensure the truth be perceived as such. We can not let people malign us when they are incorrect and we must defend ourself explaining why we are right. The Torah is not interested in whitewashing the actions of Abraham. Rather the Torah wants to teach us that don't give others an unnecessary weapon to unfairly malign us. It appears to me that this is a lesson the state of Israel has not fully appreciated. Many Israeli leaders have ridiculed attempts to market the Israeli position to a sceptical world, some on practical grounds and some for ideological reasons asserting that we don't have to defend the truth. Apparently the Torah thinks otherwise.
It is not enough to say we are following the command of G-d. We must be able to justify it to others so that fair minded people will understand that yes at times we have to ignore one value in order to achieve a much greater value.
|
