Pensamento Judaico sobre Gênesis 18:25

Just as it is inconceivable for G-d to create a creature and endow such a being with all the Divine qualities, since the image of Divinity itself would suffer thereby, so it is impossible to imagine that the Almighty in His capacity of absolute perfection would act unfairly or unjustly towards anyone or anything in His universe. Were He to do so, our concepts of what constitutes absolute perfection would be shattered. This thought is expressed by Moses (Deuteronomy 10,17-18), "For the Lord your G-d is the Lord of all lords, Master of masters; the great Power, the mighty and awesome One, who does not show favor or accept bribes. Rather, He does justice with the orphan and the widow, loves the stranger and gives him food and clothing." This teaches that the very essence of being "the Lord of lords" makes it impossible for Him to be reduced to the physical. His very perfection makes it impossible for Him to be unjust. Abraham understood quite correctly when he asked, "It is obviously impossible for the Lord of the universe not to do justice and kill the good together wih the wicked!" (Genesis 18,25). Similar thoughts are expressed in Job chapter 34 and Jeremiah chapter 12. This subject will be discussed in connection with the "induced" obstinacy of Pharaoh. Because man is frequently perplexed by the seeming paradox of the suffering endured by the righteous and the success of the wicked, David proclaims in Psalms 145,17, "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and full of kindness in all His deeds." Despite the rule of justice-- a general guideline—chessed, kindness is employed in all His actions whenever possible (whenever the recipients benefit thereby). Some serious problems in our Parshah:

The objective yardsticks of ethics and morality are the laws given by G-d. When David prayed "Grant, O Lord, to Solomon Your justice, to the king Your righteousness," it is as if David had prayed for Solomon to be granted that objective yardstick of justice which is reserved for the Lord Himself. Proof that this prayer was granted is found in Chronicles I 29,23, "Solomon sat on the throne of G-d as king, replacing his father David.” The first example of Solomon having been granted this Divine yardstick of justice, is the story of the two mothers who accused each other of having switched babies (Kings I Chapter 3). If human yardsticks were to be applied, the mother in possession of the surviving baby should have been awarded custody, since the other mother had no proof to offer. Solomon's initial decision to cut the living baby in half, and divide it between the two claimants, runs counter to Talmudic law, i.e. the example of two people each holding on to part of a garment, since in this case possession had not been shared. Obviously then, Solomon only used this to demonstrate that the ultimate decision was inspired by a superior logic, i.e. G-d’s. The idea of dividing the baby was so abhorrent to Rabbi Yehudah bar lla-i, that he says only a minor could have come up with a decision like that (Solomon at the time had not yet reached his thirteenth birthday). Rabbi Yehudah applied the verse in Kohelet 10,16, "Woe to the country that is ruled by a child." The same people who were aghast at a decision that would have resulted in the death of the surviving baby, hailed Solomon's eventual decision. This reflects the verse in Kohelet 10,17, "Hail to the country whose ruler is truly free." The Midrash stating that the words "she is his mother" were spoken by a Heavenly voice teaches that Solomon's decision was indeed the correct one. Solomon's initial verdict did not even correspond to the Talmudic principle of gud o agud (Baba Batra 13), which stipulates that in cases where physical division of disputed property would result in irreparable loss to either litigant, division of the disputed property is to be arranged in kind. It is clear that suspension of the Divine system of justice would result in perversion of justice, since our yardsticks of comparison would vanish. When only a small section of mankind indulges in false morality, the result, while damaging, might help to restore true morality elsewhere. To the Jew, Abraham's query "Shall the judge of the whole earth not do justice?" (Genesis 18,25) is not a question of "if," but a question of “how.” The fact that G-d’s morality is objectively true morality is axiomatic; our concern is only with attempting to comprehend some of its aspects. The premise is "the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice" (Deuteronomy 32,4). Similar statements can be found throughout the Bible. If we become too perturbed when enquiring into apparently unjust occurrences and one forgets this premise, then the danger of heresy is very real, and one can no longer claim to be a searcher for truth, but becomes a doubter of truth. This is the lesson the prophet Chabakuk (2,4) teaches, "The righteous lives by his faith." We proclaim the truth of G-d both by day and by night immediately following the shema yisrael, "hear O Israel," prayer.

R. Simlai expounded: One should always order the praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, and only afterwards pray. From where do we learn this? From Moshe; as it is written ”And I pleaded with the Lord at that time…” and it continues, “O Lord God, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven and earth who can do according to your works and according to your mighty acts…” and afterwards is written, “Let me go over, I pray, and see the good land... (Devarim 3:23-25)” [Berachot 32a]³⁹It is noteworthy that the gemara choses to learn this lesson from Moshe’s prayer in V’etchanan, where it is made clear once and for all that his desire to enter the land will remain unfulfilled. Why learn from Moshe’s ‘failed prayer’ and not his ‘successful ones’ like his intervention on behalf of Am Yisrael after the Golden Calf and Miriam after her slander? This question is what drives Rav Kook to insist that Moshe’s prayer was not premised on the notion that G–d would change. The coming sections are going to rework our understanding of the traditional three part structure which underlies prayer – praise, request, and thanksgiving. In this and the following section, R’ Kook is teaching us that the purpose of praise is not to “butter up the boss” before we make our request, but rather to disabuse us of the notion that G–d’s will can change by exposing us to His absolute grandeur. For his re-understanding of request see section 2:5. For a re-working of thanksgiving see Olat Reiyah, Modeh Ani 1.
Prayer must be clean of any notion of altering will⁴⁰If we relate to the world as an expression of G–d’s will in a simple sense, then there is a fundamental problem with prayer as request. If G–d is perfect and therefor His will immutable, then what is the point of prayer? Not only is it arrogant to think I know better than G–d, it is futile to try and change Him. And yet we see that when Avraham Avinu was confronted with the immanent destruction of Sedom, he turns to G–d and says “Far be it from You to do such a thing…shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?!” (Bereshit 18:25) Not only that, it seems from the verses which introduce the interaction between Avraham and G–d, that G–d expected such a response from Avraham. Avraham was not just arguing with G–d (the first instance we have of such a stance in the Torah and perhaps the reason that G–d felt the need to tell him of Sedom’s doom in the first place) he was saying – G–d, I know you better than that. You don’t want the innocent to die with the wicked. He is demanding not that his own will be done, but rather that G–d’s deepest will be manifest in creation. This is one way of understanding the requests we make of G–d – I know You don’t want sick mothers, or hungry children, or war, or exile, so please manifest your true will. This posture in prayer rejects the notion that the world as it is represents the full manifestation of G–d’s will and demands that He display His deeper will. Thus Rav Kook can say that we simultaneously ask for change while knowing that G–d does not change. As he says, we change and the world changes with us. We feel the lack in the world and allow it to change us through our desire that it be made whole. And when we lift up all the changes in ourselves and the world to Him, we become a channel for the manifestation of His higher will. And then the world changes. or affecting response in G–d’s decree, a false conception in relation to Divinity which brings about the destruction of the ways of human perfection⁴¹Perfection (שלמות) does not exist in this world of process, except in so far as one is always in the process of perfecting oneself ((השתלמות. This appears to be the aspect of G–dly perfection which this world expresses. See the gemara Bereachot 64a with the Maharsha. In contrast, the actual value of prayer and the surety of its impact, within the realm of its terms, even aside from the attainment of that which is sought and the elevation and clarification of the soul through prayer, is a great cornerstone in the completion of humanity. Therefore, all who pray must understand that prayer is a wondrous statute⁴²The word חק is central to this piece. Traditionally the chukkim are understood as the laws given by G–d whose rationale lies beyond the comprehension of man, see Rambam, Hilchot Me’ilah 8:8 for a moving articulation of this definition. In biblical Hebrew it can also mean the fixed portion one receives from the one who sustains you (see Bereshit 47:22). In this piece it is important to see that Rav Kook is embracing the incomprehensible paradox of G–d’s grace in giving us the power of prayer, together with the impossibility of prayer changing anything within the Divine will. And that this is the lot we’ve been given from on high. which the Holy One, blessed be He, engraved⁴³חקק This can mean legislated, or engraved. There is an aspect of receiving law comes from adding a layer to existence, like ink on paper. This presumes that the person stays as they were and receives something new. There is another aspect of receiving which is a removal of part of the self – like the removal of stone in order to communicate meaning through engraving. One might think that the first is liberating and the second constraining, but see Pirke Avot 6:2 about the Tablets we received at Sinai. in His world for the completion of His works in all manners of perfection, and in particular to accomplish of their moral completion which grows out of it. Prayer does not lie within the bounds of those things embedded in His decrees, G–d forbid (See Hilchot Teshuva 5:1-2) . It is therefore fitting that every prayer be preceded by the telling of praise, to teach that it is right to give great praise over the fixing of the statute of prayer not according to that which is understandable, so to speak, as the nature of His divinity⁴⁴The vision of prayer laid out in this piece fights against any mechanistic notion of action and reaction, but rather embraces the wondrous paradox of intimate relationship with the Infinite.. And the proof from Moshe is very important. He, in his great understanding, would certainly never come to think that prayer could bring about any change in will or responsiveness in the decree of G–d. Nevertheless, his prayer was preceded by abundant praise, in order to reveal the truth of the proper consciousness fit to be impressed on the heart through prayer. All the more so we, ‘unsteady man,’ (See Tehillim 116:11) who might go astray after false ideas, should begin with that which elevates the soul and sets it on right conceptions.