Comentários de Citação sobre Gênesis 18:13

ואנשים מבני ישראל חמשים ומתים, “and two hundred and fifty of the elite of the Children of Israel.” Who were the men whom the Torah referred to here as the “elite” of the nation? They were Elitzur ben Shdeyur, the leader of the tribe of Reuven and his companions. Even though the Torah did not name them here, it provided us with hints to their identity. We find the expression: ואנשים מבני ישראל, “and distinguished men from among the Children of Israel,” (Numbers 1,17) They appear here in 16,2 again almost referred to in identical terms. Our sages explain this in a parable. When a person up to that time respected for his absolute integrity, was found having stolen something in the public bath, and the owner of the stolen object did not want to embarrass the thief, he started throwing out hints, such as asking the thief: “who stole your robe?” He assumed that a person of high repute would realise that it was he who was referred to, and after the owner describing the thief in detail without mentioning his name, would give him a chance to return the stolen object, making some excuse. The Torah did something similar here by not referring to these rebels by name. (Tanchuma, section 2 on this portion) If you needed proof how serious the sin of Korach and his followers was, consider that as a rule the heavenly tribunal does not judge someone guilty until he reaches the age of 20, as we know from Yishmael in Genesis 21,17 where his prayer was accepted although he was already 16 or 17 at the time, whereas human tribunals hold people accountable already from the age of 13. In this instance, where Korach and followers were judged by a heavenly tribunal, even their infants were punished alongside their parents. The Talmud in tractate Baba Metzia, folio 87, learns from this that maintaining peace between human beings is so important that those who destroy it are judged and punished immediately regardless of age. (Compare author’s commentary on Genesis 18,13).

Such a claim would be reinforced by normative halacha, which does not view truth as indispensable in all circumstances. Some superseding values such as domestic harmony take precedence over the prohibition of lying. The rabbis actually prove this by claiming that God Himself changed Sarah’s words so as not to get Avraham upset with her. Sarah expressed amazement that God could give them a child despite Avraham’s advanced age. In reporting this to Avraham, God says that Sarah expressed wonder because of her own old age (Yevamot 65b, commenting on Bereshit 18:13).

והיה כל מבקש ה' יצא אל אוהל מועד אשר מחוץ למחנה, “and whoever sought Hashem would go out to the Tent of Meeting.” This teaches that the Shechinah was no longer resident within the camp of the people. Actually, we would have expected the Torah to write: “whoever wanted to seek out Moses, etc.” The fact that the Torah does not use this syntax indicates that seeking out Moses was equated with seeking out G’d’s presence. Moses was described by the Torah as “Hashem” in this regard. We find that our patriarch Yaakov was also accorded the title “G’d” in Genesis 33,20 where the Torah wrote: ויקרא לו אל אלו-הי ישראל. I have explained all this in connection with that verse. [seeing that every judge is called אלוהים in the Torah, this is not as mind-boggling as it appears at first. It is simply an extension of the principle that the messenger is equipped with the status of the sender, a well-known principle in the Talmud. Ed.] When Rivkah experienced an unusual pregnancy, the fetuses struggling within her womb, the Torah describes her as inquiring from G’d what all this meant. The words used by the Torah are ותלך לדרוש את ה'. The meaning there is that she went to a representative of G’d to ask the meaning of her experience. There too the person whom she inquired from is described as Hashem (Genesis 25,22). There are numerous other examples of the same thing throughout the Bible. We learn from Rivkah’s experience that when the Torah wrote ויאמר ה' לה, that she did not experience a revelation or direct message from G’d, but that she received the word of G’d by means of a person designated by G’d to tell her that she would give birth to twins, etc. We find that both the Messiah and the city of Jerusalem have been accorded the title “G’d” on occasion, such as in Jeremiah 23,6 and Ezekiel 48,34. In the latter instance the word שמה must be read with the vowels קמץ twice instead of a שוא under the letter ש. In all the instances mentioned the rule is simply that the messenger adopts the name of the Sender.