A friend of mine was a very successful businessman. He climbed the corporate ladder rung by rung until eventually he got to the top. That was it – he had made it. He had the house on the beautiful road, the paved driveway, the Mercedes, and his children all went to private schools. What more could he ask for? This son of immigrants epitomised all that capitalism has to offer: success, comfort and luxury. But he wasn’t happy.
You see, in order to get to where he was he had to tread on, bully, embarrass and destroy many other people along the way and somehow this didn’t quite feel right. Not only that but the time he should have been spending with his family he spent on his career. And sure enough one day, after a long and successful day at the office, he came home and his wife told him she had had enough – she wanted a divorce. He virtually lost his family.
In our greed-driven, materialistic culture, if you are still on your first marriage at forty there is something wrong with either you or her. As one moves up the corporate ladder the trappings of success are very important. Sooner or later the Toyota is traded in for the Mercedes and the first wife is discarded in favour of a younger model. Common decency, family values and trust are all offered up on the altar of success, prestige and money. It is not only families that fall prey to this, but institutions too. When charities become successful they often lose sight of their aims and instead work hard to quash the opposition in order to stay top of their field. We are far too greedy.
Our forefather Abraham worked his entire life to reach the highest level of prophecy. Although already at the age of 75, God spoke to Abraham telling him to leave his father?s home and go to the Land of Canaan, the Zohar tells us that until his circumcision at the age of 99 his prophecy was somewhat clouded. It was only after he circumcised himself that God actually appeared to him in a revealed way.
The Torah tells us that on the third day after his circumcision Abraham was sitting outside his tent in the heat of the day when God appeared to him. At that moment, Abraham saw three people coming towards him and he wanted to invite them into his tent as his guests. And here we come to a most moving Midrash (Rabba). Abraham says: ‘my Lord, if now I have found favour in your eyes please do not pass over from your servant, ‘ and the Midrash explains that Abraham is effectively telling God to wait while he goes to invite the three men in.
Picture it. Here was the moment that Abraham had spent his whole life working towards. He even went through the painful experience of circumcising himself at an old age to merit this type of revelation. But while it was actually happening he gave it up in order to invite three idol worshipers* in for a meal. He cared more for others than about himself and his own prestige.
Later on in the narrative we find Abraham going back to his prophetic vision and talking to God. Again one would imagine that a spiritual person such as Abraham would use the opportunity to bask in the Divine presence rather than arguing with it. Not Abraham. He loses no time in wrangling with God, begging Him not to destroy Sodom and Gomorra together with its wicked inhabitants.
Abraham was the personification of selflessness. He cared for others no matter who they were. To Abraham it was worth passing up the most profound – once in a lifetime – Divine experiences to help someone less fortunate then himself.
The Midrash (Eliyahu Rabba) says that one should ask oneself, ‘When will my deeds reach those of our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ‘ This is indeed a searching question and it needs to be asked now more than ever.
* He did not realise that they were actually angels!