Vayera <\/em>(Genesis 18:1-22:24), has its share of minor characters, some quite villainous, one may say \u201csadistic,\u201d like the population of Sodom and Gomorrah. Others, like Ishmael and Avimelech, upon whom I will reserve judgment for now because of the complexity of their moral standards.<\/p>\nBut the outstanding personalities in this week\u2019s parsha <\/em>are clearly the man and woman now renamed by the Almighty as Avraham and Sarah. They are surely this week\u2019s \u201cstars.\u201d<\/p>\nThey are both precursors to millennia of heroes and heroines, all paragons of the \u201cGood\u201d, who deserve the title Yashar<\/em>. Before defining the term, I must make you aware that the Bible itself refers to the Book of Genesis, Sefer Bereshit<\/em>, as Sefer HaYashar<\/em>. The Bible does so in Joshua 10:13 and again in Samuel II 1:18. You might wish to look up these verses and see for yourselves.<\/p>\nSo, what does yashar<\/em> mean? Some define it as \u201cstraight,\u201d in the sense of a \u201cstraight line,\u201d veering neither to the left nor to the right, geographically or morally. I prefer to define it as \u201cupright,\u201d as the verse in Kohelet, <\/em>\u201cThe Lord made men yashar<\/em> but they engaged in many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29).<\/p>\nSome of the \u201cnear-synonyms\u201d which will give you a better idea of what I mean by upright are the following: virtuous, principled, worthy, trustworthy, rightful, correct, faithful, truthful. In short, a person of integrity.<\/p>\n
Why would the Bible itself refer to Bereshit<\/em> as the \u201cBook of the Upright\u201d? For the answer, we must consult the Talmud (Tractate Avodah Zarah <\/em>25a) which quotes the sage Rabbi Yochanan who asserts that it is named the \u201cBook of the Yashar\/<\/em>Upright\u201d because it \u201crelates the story of Avraham, Isaac, and Jacob who were all yesharim<\/em>\/<\/em>upright individuals.\u201d<\/p>\nWho referred to our Patriarchs as \u201cyesharim<\/em>\u201d? Of all people, Balaam! When asked by Balak to place a curse upon the people of Israel, he demurs and says, among other praises of the people he is asked to curse, \u201cMay I die the death of the yesharim<\/em>\/the upright (i.e. the Patriarchs), may my fate be like theirs.\u201d (Numbers 23:10)<\/p>\nI urge you to recall the verse in Devarim <\/em>which proclaims that the Almighty Himself is called yashar<\/em>, as in Parshat<\/em> Ha\u2019azinu<\/em> (Deuteronomy<\/em> 32:4), \u201crighteous and upright is He!\u201d<\/p>\nWhat does it mean to be yashar<\/em>, and how does Avraham earn this appellation?<\/p>\nFor this, I must introduce you to Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, the nineteenth century sage who headed the famed yeshiva in Volozhin, Lithuania. He is known by the abbreviation of his full name, Netziv. He was a most prolific writer, and arguably his most famous work is his commentary on the Chumash entitled HaEmek Davar. <\/em>He devotes his introduction to the Book of Bereshit<\/em> to the definition of an ish<\/em> yashar<\/em>, an upright man.<\/p>\nHe begins with a description of the faults of the generation of Jews just prior to the destruction of the Second Temple:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those days, the population contained many tzaddikim <\/em>and chassidim<\/em> [devout and pious folk] and those who toiled in Torah study. But they were not \u201cupright\u201d in their dealings with others. They held hatred in their hearts, one against the other, so that if they but suspected that another person was not as pious as they considered themselves to be, they accused him of being a Sadducee or an apikores<\/em>, a sectarian or a heretic.<\/p>\n\u201cIn the extreme, this led even to murder and to every possible transgression. Thus was the Temple destroyed\u2026 For the Holy One Blessed Be He does not tolerate such \u201ctzaddikim<\/em>\u201d \u2026 Even if such perversions are supposedly performed for the \u201csake of Heaven,\u201d they bring about the erosion of the Creation and the ruin of civilization.<\/p>\n\u201cIt is to the credit of our Patriarchs that besides being tzaddikim <\/em>and chassidim<\/em> and lovers of the Almighty to the extent humanly possible, they were also yesharim<\/em>! And so, they dealt humanely with other nationalities, and even with despicable idolaters. They dealt with them as peers and were concerned about their welfare because of their own universalist concerns.<\/p>\n\u201cWe see this clearly in the fact that Avraham extended himself to pray for Sodom. Even though he disdained the people of Sodom and their ruler because of their evil acts, he nevertheless wanted them to be spared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why Avraham is called av hamon goyim<\/em>, father of the multitude of nations. Fathers desire the well-being of even their wayward sons.\u201d<\/p>\nNetziv dedicates the rest of his introduction to the Book of Bereshit<\/em> to justify why it is called the Sefer Hayshar<\/em>\/\u201cthe Book of the Upright.\u201d He demonstrates how both Isaac and Jacob exhibited similar tolerance and sympathy toward individuals who were less than worthy. Examples include Isaac with Avimelech and Jacob with Laban, as we will soon read in future weekly Torah portions.<\/p>\nI close by sharing with you an account of my several experiences leading groups of tourists on trips to Eastern Europe. Among the highlights of all these trips were the visits to the graves of Jewish religious leaders, many of which date back five or six centuries. Before each such visit, I would select a text written by or about the person whose grave we were about to visit.<\/p>\n
One of those graves was the final resting place of Netziv, who died brokenhearted after his beloved yeshiva in Volozhin was forced by the Russian government to close its doors. Soon after that tragic disappointment, in 1892, he spent time in Warsaw and passed away there. He was buried in the large cemetery there. The famed Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, who died several decades later, was buried next to him.<\/p>\n
At the end of each of these journeys, I would ask the members of the group to comment upon their emotions and submit a written description of any life-changing experiences they may have had in the course of the weeklong adventure.<\/p>\n
I still cherish those scraps of paper and remain amazed and inspired by how many of the participants reported with pride and sincerity that they found Netziv\u2019s words greatly influential, if not actually life changing.<\/p>\n
I encourage you, dear reader, to try to read Netziv\u2019s introduction in its eloquent original. Perhaps you too will be affected by it sufficiently to expand your attitudes towards others in your surroundings and to join the company of our treasured ancestors, the yesharim<\/em>.<\/p>\n
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