Abraham’s share of folly

It is one thing to weather a famine in the land of Canaan that was not heavier than the one that Jacob’s Israelite clan would experience (Gen 43:1), and it is another thing to opt to relocate to Egypt, where food was available, which is what Abram does in this week’s Torah portion. (Unlike the land of Canaan, Egypt does not rely on the vicissitudes of precipitation to nourish its land but on the regular flow of the Nile River.)

Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, purchased food from Egypt during the severe famine in Canaan, but remained in the land; only his sons shuttled back and forth to procure grain in Egypt, a journey that did not require many days to complete. Finally, however, and only after Joseph miraculously showed up, not only alive but as Egypt’s second in command, and extended a most generous invitation to his family to ride out the remainder of the famine in Egypt, did Jacob heed God’s urging to do so, for it was accompanied by a pledge that He will also see to the subsequent return of his family to the land of Canaan.  Although a traditional (apologetic) commentary claims that Abram too complied with God’s command to move to Egypt with his whole household, the fact is that nothing in the text alludes to such a divine command.

Although God had assured Abram a prosperous future in Canaan, not in Egypt, Abram did not trust his ability to endure the famine; with neither vacillation nor procrastination (which Jacob would display), he relocated to Egypt. To be sure, Egypt was a place known for its “debased practices” and obscene sins (Lev 18:3), and notorious for killing foreign men with beautiful women, like Sarai, and then taking them to the royal harem.

Even if he was willing, under his dire circumstances, to concede his wife’s chastity for the price of staying alive, (and consequently even gain material benefits) by lying to the Pharaoh in saying “She is my sister” (Gen 12:9 — paternal siblings that is as in 20:12), how did he hope, let alone think realistically, about extricating himself from Egypt with Sarai – now a wife to the Pharaoh — when the famine ran its course, and repatriate to Canaan?  Why should the king discharge Sarai, so she would return with her “brother” to Canaan?  Didn’t Abram think of that before coming to Egypt and passing Sarai off as just his sister?

Adultery is such a grave offense that the Rabbis defined it as a cardinal sin that one must avoid, even by accepting death rather than committing it. Sarai’s great-grandson, Joseph, understood that by dodging the repeated orders by Madam Potiphar, his Egyptian mistress, to commit adultery with her, he endangered his own life; in her frustration and humiliation, she could quickly order his execution for refusing as a slave to carry out her commands or mocking her.  Although jeopardizing his very life, Joseph demurred: “How then can I perpetrate this great evil and sin against God?” (39:9) While Joseph was willing to die and not commit adultery, Abram was willing to set Sarai up for a forced marriage with the Pharaoh, as long as he stayed alive and even profited from it.

What did Abram think about when he was not merely surviving the famine (that prevailed in Canaan), but acquiring lavish wealth from his “brother-in-law,” all the while Sarai, his wife, became a wife to the Pharaoh? The foolhardiness of this shameful skullduggery and profound failure to honor the sanctity of marriage is cushioned by a Midrash that argues that Abram relied on “a possibility” that adultery would be avoided after all. “And in such a case, his plan, executed under duress, was justified. Had adultery occurred, Abram would have been held guilty.”

If Abram relied on miracles that the Pharaoh would allow him to leave for Canaan with his “sister” Sarai when the famine ended, and that he would also abstain from conjugal relations with Sarai, then he was oblivious to the empirical rationale behind such Talmudic teachings as: “A miracle does not happen every hour” (Megillah 7 b) and “One must not rely on miracles happening” (Paschim 64 b).   Abram then took a grave risk in playing what amounted to a kind of Russian Roulette gamble, where the prospects of winning are essentially nil. As such, Abram’s conduct in Egypt cannot but be described as recklessly foolish.

But it gets even worse: there is a déjà vu repetition of his morally disturbing actions that defy the Torah injunction of keeping “far from a false matter” (Exod. 23:7), let alone the utter prohibition against adultery. And it happened in total contrast to Abraham’s iconic and heroic dialogue with God about the fate of Sodom (and the nearby towns – See Chapter 18), where he exhibited his uber ethical values that God embraced in full.

Again, the semi-nomadic shepherd decided to move to G’rar (likely, the Gaza area), though there was no acute reason for doing so as before. But he needed the local king’s permit to dwell on his land, where he feared he might be killed if the king, like the Pharaoh before, set his eyes on Sara, his attractive wife. Why move then to such a place, especially when he did not need to do so? Again, Abraham introduced Sarah as “She is my sister” (Gen 20:2, 5), without revealing that they were a married couple … Sarah, who, in full collaboration with Abraham, confirmed her deceptive personal status (lest she expose Abraham as a liar), was soon taken by King Abimelech to become his wife.

It was through a nightly dream that God revealed to Abimelech the truth about the woman, whom he thought was Abraham’s sister, but unbeknownst to him, also his wife. Indeed, in another night dream, God told Abimelech that he had done nothing wrong by taking Sarah, even as he had not yet consummated the marriage.   When Abimelech confronts Abraham and fulminates for what he had done to him – “deeds that ought not to be done” – Abraham has very little to say in his defense, and even that was morally untenable; he had feared for his life.

Why, then, did he opt to go to G’rar, where he felt that his life would be menaced unless Sarah was taken to another harem? Abraham, then, failed again, not only morally but by choosing to act foolishly, not having an exit option. Like in Egypt, how did he expect to leave G’rar one day while requesting that his “sister” join him, despite her being married to the king?  Or as it has been said: “Folly fells numerous victims” (Mishle Asaf – Y. Stanov), especially as in the case of Abraham, where ”a gram of folly outweighs a lot of wisdom and honor” (Eccl. 10:1)