Vayera

The tale of Sodom and Gemorrah is woven into this narrative. The tale of the decadent cities is compelling, appalling…and revealing. 
Evil is a recurrent theme in the history of humanity. But the Torah has a higher concern. Its main thrust concerns how we respond to it. Even if we cannot stop evil we are called to move against and not remain silent. Here the Torah lifts up the uttered concerns of Father Abraham as he attempts to find redemption in a place where there is none. It is a futile exercise for Abraham. Yet at the same time the fact that Abraham tries to rescue the damned is what Torah wants us, his children, to aspire toward.
Rabbi Hirsch of Rimanov one tragedy after another. Many children died in their youth. There was only one surviving child, a daughter, died in childbirth. Her husband turned to the rabbi and said, “You offer prayers that others will be blessed with a long life and the Lord hears you. Why do you not pray for yourself?” 
The Rabbi replied, “Abraham prayed that the people of Sodom would be saved. But he did not pray that the Lord would save his son Isaac from being offered. A true tzaddik serves the Lord in every way even at the cost of the things that are most precious to him.”
Is this the meaning of “Love your neighbor as yourself?" (Lev. 19:18)
Rabbi Jonathan Case

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