Rabbi Sacks on Avraham’s Silence and Protest |
This essay is one of the winning submissions to the Rabbi Sacks Essay Contest. Drawing on the teachings and writings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l, students were invited to reflect on contemporary questions through the lens of his ideas. This piece reflects the voice and perspective of its student author.
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“Who asked you to throw a soul into me?” exclaims Israeli singer and songwriter Hanan Ben Ari in his famous lament, “Ma Atta Rotze Mimeni” (“What Do You Want From Me”), where he articulates the deep human frustration with the relationship with the Divine, blatantly challenging G-d, “all of the prayers, empty words. We kept quiet enough, now speak.”
Despite this harsh attack on G-d and expression of despair, Hanan remains a religious, shomer mitzvot Jew. In another song, “Amen Al Hayeladim Sheli” (“Amen On My Children”) he begs G-d to protect his children and make sure “they will always be healthy,” raising a sharp self-contradiction. How can a religious man criticize G-d in one instance, but pray for His mercy in another? This is the exact question Rabbi Sacks attempts to answer in his analysis of Parshat Vayera – why does Avraham stay silent and leave the fate of his child in the hands of G-d, but before that, protest against Him to save innocent lives in Sodom?
Firstly, Rabbi Sacks explains in his essays that in ancient times, the concept of the individual was undeveloped, and people were defined by their family, with the male being the head, rather than their own personal being. For example, the term “patria potestas” was used in Roman times to describe the notion that the male head of the family had absolute legal authority over his descendants. In simpler words, children were the property of their parents.
However,........