<html>
<body>
It has become increasing common to "sanitize" things in
certain circles. Many "gedolim books" leave out aspects of the
lives of these great men, because they do not fit what some consider to
be the appropriate behavior of a gadol. For example, there is no mention
of the fact that Rav Pam, ZT"L, attended college and earned a
master's degree in mathematics in the biography of Rav Pam. Someone once
told me that he even taught math at one time in the high school of YTV,
but I have not verified this. In any case, he did attend college and
earned two secular degrees.<br><br>
Is it really the Torah approach to "cover up" things that do
not fit with the conceptions that some of how a gadol is supposed to be?
I think that the answer is a resounding "No!" The
following is from RSRH's commentary on Bereishis 12:10 - 13. (It is not
Rav Hirsch's entire commentary on these pesukim, and I urge those who are
interested to read his entire commentary on these pesukim.)<br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4><b>10
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>There was a famine in the
land, and Avram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, because the famine
was severe in the land.<br><br>
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4>11
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>When he was close to
entering Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife: Look, I do know that you are
a beautiful woman.<br><br>
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4>12
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>So when the Egyptians see
you, they will say: She is his wife, and they will kill me, but you they
will keep alive.<br><br>
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4>13
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Please say that you are my
sister, so that they will deal well with me to get to you through me, and
so that, through you, I will remain<br>
alive.<br><br>
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4>10–13
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4><i>Vayehi
</i></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3> <b><i>ra'av ba'aretz
.</i></b>With these words we come to a story that at first glance<br>
seems more than a little strange. Avraham left the Land that had
been<br>
promised to him; he did not rely on God, Who knows how to provide<br>
even in a wilderness; and it appears at first glance that he
compromised<br>
the moral welfare of his wife in order to save himself!<br><br>
Yet, even if we were incapable of explaining the strange events in<br>
this story; even if we were forced to conclude as the
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>RAMBAN
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>concludes —<br>
“Our father Avraham inadvertently committed<br>
a grave sin by placing his virtuous wife before a stumbling block<br>
of iniquity because of his fear of being killed . . . His leaving the
Land,<br>
about which he had been commanded, because of the famine was another<br>
sin he committed ” — nevertheless, none of this<br>
would perplex us. The Torah does not seek to portray our great men<br>
as perfectly ideal figures; it deifies no man. It says of no one: “Here
you<br>
have the ideal; in this man the Divine assumes human form!” It does<br>
not set before us the life of any one person as the model from which<br>
we might learn what is good and right, what we must do and what we<br>
must refrain from doing. When the Torah wishes to put before us a<br>
model to emulate, it does not present a man, who is born of dust.<br>
Rather, God presents Himself as the model, saying: “Look upon Me!<br>
Emulate Me! Walk in My ways!” We are never to say: “This must be<br>
good and right, because so-and-so did it.” The Torah is not an
“anthology<br>
of good deeds.” It relates events not because they are necessarily<br>
worthy of emulation, but
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>because they took
place</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>.<br><br>
The Torah does not hide from us the faults, errors, and weaknesses<br>
of our great men, and this is precisely what gives its stories
credibility.<br>
The knowledge given us of their faults and weaknesses does not
detract<br>
from the stature of our great men; on the contrary, it adds to their<br>
stature and makes their life stories even more instructive. Had they<br>
been portrayed to us as shining models of perfection, flawless and<br>
unblemished, we would have assumed that they had been endowed<br>
with a higher nature, not given to us to attain. Had they been
portrayed<br>
free of passions and inner conflicts, their virtues would have
seemed<br>
to us as merely the consequence of their loftier nature, not
acquired<br>
by personal merit, and certainly no model we could ever hope to<br>
emulate.<br><br>
Take, for example, the
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Anavah</i>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>(humility) of Moshe. Had we
not known<br>
that he was capable also of flying into a rage, we would have
assumed<br>
that his humility was an inborn trait not within our capacity to
emulate.<br>
It is precisely his outburst
(</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Bemidbar
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>20:10) that<br>
lends his humility its true greatness: We thus infer that he
acquired<br>
humility through hard work, self-control, and self-refinement, and
that<br>
we are all obligated to emulate him, since it is within our capacity
to<br>
do so.<br><br>
Also, the Torah relates no sin or error without telling us of its
consequences.<br>
</font></body>
<br>
</html>