A Criminal? No. Just a Fugitive

I’d like to settle down, but they won’t let me
A fugitive must be a rolling stone
Down every road, there’s always one more city
I’m on the run the highway is my home.

[Casey Anderson and Liz Anderson. 1966]

Some 3,000 years ago lived the patriarch of Israel. Like Merle Haggard, who sang of being on the run, Abraham’s reputation was that of a rebel and outlaw. He was hunted down by Nimrod, emperor of the world. He was turned into the authorities by his father Terah for smashing idols. He cheated customs in Egypt and through his beautiful wife Sarah put a scam on Pharoah that made this wandering and maiden Jew extremely rich.

That’s right, folks. Abraham the criminal is our model. From the Bronze Age until today his descendants have been outlaws from North Africa to North America. They didn’t kill, or steal, certainly not more than others: They were just different, and that in most societies is illegal.

G-d said to Abram, “Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. [Genesis 12:1]

Abram’s destiny was to leave Ur Kasdim and Chaldean society. He would correct a historical injustice — the theft of the Land of Israel by Canaan, the grandson of Noah. Even his father offered to come along, but G-d said no. Abraham, still known as Abram, must do it alone. His partner would be the Almighty, whose tests included refusing to tell Abraham where he would finally settle.

Going through life as a minority of one requires immense faith and common sense. Some of Abraham’s actions puzzle leading commentators: Why would he endanger his wife by entering Egypt, a land of loose morals and roving hands? Why did he accept the fortune given by Pharaoh in exchange for praying for the monarch? Moses Ben Nachman goes so far to say that G-d punished Abraham for putting Sarah at risk.

One answer is to see Abraham as the personification of Psalms 18. King David outlines how G-d deals with people. David’s message might be summed up this way: Do to others what others would want to do to you — and do it first.

With a kind one, You show yourself kind. With a sincere man, You show Yourself sincere. With a pure one, You show Yourself sincere. With a pure one, You show Yourself pure.

But with a crooked one, You deal crookedly.

And that’s what Abraham did. He outwitted Pharaoh and refused to befriend despots. At the same time, he loved his family — whether his jealous wife Sarah or his errant nephew Lot. In the Land of Canaan, Abraham was what could be called an isolationist: He did not intervene in the world war that swept the Levant. But when Nimrod kidnapped Lot, Abraham did not think twice. He gathered a small force and chased Nimrod and his thugs until Damascus. Then he brought back Lot, no questions asked.

The stories of Abraham and the others in the Torah are not merely meant for bedtime. They serve as a guide for all of Israel — from the top to the bottom. When a Jew is in trouble, his coreligionist must drop everything and help. Simple.

Can we say we saw that on or since Oct. 7, 2023? The other day Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was fired by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. In his resignation address, Gallant, still wearing the black shirt of mourning, declared that he had been responsible for Israel’s security and was proud of his achievements, particularly since the Hamas invasion more than a year ago.

The security of Israel was and remains my life’s mission and I am committed to that. Since Oct. 7, I have focused only on one mission: Winning the war.

Gallant skipped over the obvious: If he was the defense chief on Oct. 7, then why did he remove Israel Army units from the Gaza Strip border weeks earlier amid intelligence that Hamas was about to attack? Why did he order the confiscation of assault rifles from residents of border communities? Why did his army commanders threaten soldiers who warned of a Hamas invasion? Why did he approve a festival of thousands to be held five kilometers from the border on the day Hamas was scheduled to strike? Why did he stop police and army units from responding for up to eight hours — thus ensuring that thousands of people would be killed, injured and abducted? Why is it that more than a year later, Gaza remains in Hamas hands?

King David would have simply quoted from Psalms about the liars and hypocrites that fight to remain king of the castle. The black worn by Gallant and Netanyahu, David would add, is to cover the blood on their hands. Their daily promises and boasts are merely brazen words by brazen men.

One whose eyes are raised up high and his heart is expansive, I cannot tolerate him…He will not dwell in my house. He who practices deceit, who speaks lies, will not be established before my eyes. [Psalms 101: 5, 7]

And that is what Abraham understood more than anything. When he returned with Lot after defeating Nimrod, he was offered a deal. The king of Sodom, where Lot had lived, requested that Abraham return his subjects. In return, the king said, Abraham could keep all their possessions.

Abraham could have taken the deal. He could have negotiated for a higher price. Instead, he turned his back on the cunning monarch.

“I have raised my hand and sworn to G-d, the Most High G-d, maker of heaven and earth, that I will not even retain a thread or a shoe strap from among the returned belongings! Nor will I take anything that you offer me from your treasury as payment, so you will not be able to say, ‘It was I who made Abram rich.’ [Genesis 22-23]

Suddenly, Abraham isn’t such a bad guy after all. Like the rest of us, he’s just a fugitive.