[Avodah] abraham and sarah in Eygpt

[Daniel Eidensohn]

R' Ari Kahn wrote:
> Quoting the question that Alschech Hakosh asks is a "gross 
> misrepresentation"? Sorry - you lost me. That is the question that he 
> asks, he and others offer solutions - perhaps read my entire essay.
The quote of the Alshech's question which you offered in your essay is 
taken out of context. You wrote the following in your essay:

"One of the classic commentaries, Rav Moshe Alshech poses the question thus:

    How could a man like Abraham come up with a plan which would save
    his soul from being taken, God forbid, to leave Sarah, who was
    greater than he in prophecy, to be defiled by heathens, she being a
    married woman. This is one of the seven Noachide laws, and (Abraham
    was) someone who observed (even) Eruv Techumin! (12:10-13)

The Alshech Hakadosh expresses shock and moral outrage at Abraham's 
behavior (and, if I am not mistaken, his words contain a degree of 
sarcasm and cynicism as well). How can a spiritual giant like Abraham, a 
man who uniquely and alone discerned the Divine imperative, a man who 
reportedly adhered to the entire Torah, including halachic minutia, be 
guilty of such morally questionable behavior? To save his own skin, he 
was willing to have his wife consort with the enemy."

=====================================
I read your entire essay and my statement stands. Let me offer a full 
translation of the Alshech's question rather than your partial citation:

        *Alshech(Bereishis 12:10-13): *It is appropriate at this point
        to notice that despite G‑d’s promises that were made concerning
        Avraham’s leaving his homeland to go to Israel…Avraham when
        faced with the material problem of parnasa immediately descended
        into Egypt because of the famine and did not rely on G‑d’s help.
        This is especially troubling since G‑d obviously took care of
        those goyim that remained in Israel. Wouldn’t He surely have
        sustained Avraham? What happened to the promises which G‑d had
        given? The Ramban writes that because of this sin the decendants
        of Avraham were exiled in Egypt. **_*H**owever in contrast to
        this negative assessment of Avraham’s behavior we see that our
        Sages (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezar 26) view Avraham’s behavior as
        meritorious. They count it as one of the 10 tests that Avraham
        passed.*_ **An additional question which bothers me is how was
        it possible  that a great man like Avraham would do such actions
        which could cause death. How could he in response to the threat
        against his life devise a plan which would leave Sarah - who was
        greater than he in prophesy -  in a situation where she was
        exposed to sexual attack. This is especially troubling since she
        was a married woman and this was a violation of one of the seven
        mitzvos of Noach. How could he do such a thing when he observed
        even the commandment of eruv tavshilin? This is more bitter than
        death when he says to her that she should present herself as his
        sister in order that it should save his life …and she should end
        up in sexual relations with these uncircumcised people. Who can
        hear such a thing and not have it grate against one’s ears. The
        Ramban also counts this as a sin of Avraham. _***However in
        contrast Chazal considers this to be praiseworthy (Pirkei
        DeRabbi Eleazer 26) and included in his Tests.** "*_

By deleting the fact that the Alshech is contrasting the rational human 
response to a literal reading of these Torah verses with the fact that 
Chazal view these events as positive - the impression is created that 
"The Alshech Hakadosh expresses shock and moral outrage at Abraham's 
behavior (and, if I am not mistaken, his words contain a degree of 
sarcasm and cynicism as well)." The fact is that the Alshech - in his 
question is acknowledging from the start that the "apparent" problem can 
not be taken at face value because it is refuted by the statements of 
Chazal. His question is not how Avraham could do these terrible things 
but rather how do we reconcile that which appears to be terrible with 
the fact that Chazal praise Avraham for these deeds. By deleting the 
Alshech's citation of the positive view of Chazal - a great 
misrepresentation of the concern of the Alshech is created.

Daniel Eidensohn




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