It’s a mitzvah to love our fellow. Even someone who we do not know.
But, how would you feel if someone asked you to become pen pals with a convicted criminal? What about a murderer?
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In parashat Vayeira, read this week, we learn of an entire metropolis of such people. S’dom and Amorah (Sodom and Gomorah) were filled with very wicked inhabitants. G-d tells Avraham that He will destroy the 5-city metropolis due to their deplorable behavior.
Avraham has been G-d’s primary advocate throughout his life. At great personal risk he promoted faith in one invisible and infinite Creator. He fought the villain Nimrod and parted ways with his nephew when Lot’s conduct was incompatible with his own moral standards. He managed to gather a following.
We would expect Avraham to welcome this development. Finally, he would have an act of G-d demonstrating who was right. The axis of evil would fall to the wayside. Imagine how many people would join Avraham’s cause! It would be the ultimate triumph.
Avraham’s reaction to this development is surprising. He challenges G-d, declaring, “Would You in Your anger blot out the righteous together with the wicked?” Avraham continues to pressure G-d to spare the cities if there are some righteous people there. Unfortunately, his efforts fall short because there aren’t any righteous people worthy of canceling the decree.
What’s interesting is not only Avraham’s rising to challenge Hashem, which is a study and lesson in and of itself. What is equally striking is his insistence that the wicked should be spared. He doesn’t simply argue on behalf of the righteous. He advocates for the wicked. These are, after all, people deemed wicked by the ultimate Knower of all things. There’s no debate about the purity of their behavior. Yet Avraham insists that they be spared on account of the righteous.
The Midrash claims that in response G-d said, “Because you seek to justify My creatures' behavior, I will reward you by anointing you as My chosen one, which I have never done for another.”
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The people of S’dom and Amorah were not worthy individuals. Their conduct should be condemned. But that doesn’t mean they should not get a second chance. Avraham lived with the theme of judging others favorably. Even those ‘others’ that G-d has already decided were guilty! Still, Avraham sought a justification for their reprehensible deeds.
As one of the famous women of the Talmud, Beruriah, explained the verse, "Let the sinners be consumed from the earth, and the wicked shall be no more" (Psalms 104:35), that the verse actually states: "Let sin be consumed from the earth," adding that "the wicked shall be no more" because they have repented.
Let us all judge others favorably and condemn only sin itself, but not G-d’s creatures.