The Lech Lecha Decision, Adam Budin

The Lech Lecha Decision

Adam Budin

ear ___________, I understand you. I understand that you don’t want to live in a Jewish bubble for your entire life. I understand that you want to meet new people. I understand that you don’t want to go to a Jewish high school. I understand that your belief in God is dwindling. But I also understand that you are a very moral person, always concerned with doing the absolute right thing. You wouldn’t even let me tell the waiter last night that you were twelve so you could order from the kid’s menu. So I aim to tell you why Jewish high school is absolutely the right thing to do. Whenever I asked your grandfather about the importance of Judaism, he would always explain the significance of the Torah. “There’s a reason why we chant Am Yisrael Chai” he would say. “For some reason, the Torah has taught us how to be good people, how to care for another. Throughout history, there have been many people who have not liked that quality. But somehow, some way, we prevailed. We have prevailed through two destructions of the Temple, through the Holocaust, through the constant threat of terror in Israel.” Why do you think you have such a strong moral compass? For years and years, Jews have been interpreting the Torah. We have dissected these narratives and deduced why they matter to us. You have only just begun this process, and look at the good it has done you. Our history’s lessons teach us how to be like you. By electing to go to public high school, I think you will miss out on a possibly transformative experience in your life. In some way, you may not be completely prepared to carry on these lessons to your children. But at the end of the day, I want it to be your choice. Consider this a test. A test, just like the tests of Abraham. I’m sure you have not learned about all of them, but I know you have knowledge of perhaps the most controversial: Akedat Yitzhak. I remember that when you came home after learning the conclusion to the Akedah, you told me that you thought Abraham was a terrible person. You asked, “How could Abraham be in the Amidah if he was going to kill his son?”. At the time, I told you that it was a test of his faith in God. This statement further enraged you, as you questioned how we could pray to a God who would make somebody kill their son.

See Budin, next page D

Budin, from previous page What I think you should know is that the whole story changes when you read it completely in Hebrew with a high level of Biblical understanding. When God asked Abraham, “Kach na et bincha et yechidcha asher ahavta et Yitzhak v’lech lecha el har hamoriya v’ha’aleyhu sham l’olah al achat heharim asher omar eilecha” (Gen. 22:2), to take his son and offer him as a sacrifice, Abraham tells his servants before leaving, “va’ani v’han’ar nelcha ad ko v’nishtachaveh v’nashuva aleichem.” (Gen. 22:5), that they will return. Not only will Abraham return, but Yitzhak as well. From this pasuk, Rashi interprets that “[Abraham] prophesied that they would both return” (Rashi on Gen. 22:5). If you take Rashi’s words into consideration, you will see that it is possible that Abraham was not an “ignorant menace” as you have described him. It is possible for us to value God and each other. Abraham values God by undertaking God’s mission, and Abraham values other human beings (Yitzhak in this instance) by assuring Yitzhak that they would return together. Abraham also displays his ability to value and care for those around him in the story of Sedom and Amora. Rabbi Donniel Hartman defines this ability as the “Ethic of Nonindifference,” Often, the act of seeing and responding to the needs of others is lost in piety. The reading of the Akeidah that you have been accustomed to serves as an excellent example of this. Therefore, as Hartman teaches in Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself, we must not remain indifferent; we must see the needs of others and help figure out the solution. He derives this thesis from Deuteronomy 22:3, which states the obligation to “not remain indifferent.” In stating “v’chen ta’aseh l’avedat achicha asher toved mimenu u’metzata lo tuchal lehitalem.” (Deut. 22:3), the pasuk highlights that we have an obligation to see others’ needs and find the solution. So how does this relate to Abraham? When God decides to share the plan for Sedom va’Amora with Abraham, Abraham responds by not remaining indifferent — he argues with God, asking why God would destroy all inhabitants of the cities if there were righteous among them. He could have just looked the other way, ecstatic that God even told him what the plan was. Abraham is the role model given a place in the Amidah because he is able to respect God and argue with God when God’s intentions are not in line with morality.

n many ways, I think he is just like you. Though outside of your studies you have expressed a dislike for certain Jewish practices and concepts, you put your best foot forward and still try to respect God by giving it your all in both Tefillah and your Judaic Studies classes. But you also have been able to question God’s laws and narratives as shown by your ability to analyze the morally wrong in the Torah. You possess a unique understanding for what we need to do as Jews. I think that if you choose public high school, you will potentially lose that understanding. Without these Jewish classes to invite you to think critically about your religion, I don’t know if you will continue to, well, think critically about your religion.

SeeBudin, page 16 When God decides to share the plan for Sedom va’Amora with Abraham, Abraham responds by not remaining indifferent — he argues with God, asking why God would destroy all inhabitants of the cities if there were righteous among them. He could have just looked the other way, ecstatic that God even told him what the plan was.

IAbraham is the role model given a place in the Amidah because he is able both to respect God and simultaneously to argue with God when God’s intentions are not in line with morality.