TORAH FOR CHRISTIANS
SEASON EIGHT EPISODE TWO
Wars of the Kings
It’s time to look at a relatively minor character who plays a major role in our discussion of the Israel-Hamas War. It’s a Lot to chew on. Welcome to Torah for Christians. I’m Rabbi Jordan Parr.
MUSIC
Before we begin, I know that I said that we would talk about the importance of Jerusalem in Islam. We’ll get there next week; I just thought that this episode would lay the foundation for the next one. I appreciate your indulgence.
With the horrific news coming from Israel about the dozens of Israelis – men, women, children, babies, the elderly, etc. – captured by Hamas, I thought we would look at the first captive described in the Torah, Lot. In Genesis 14.1-24, we read that during a rebellion against a dominant king, Lot was taken by force from his family in Sodom and brought to Hobah, a city north of Damascus. If you know anything about the geography of the region, you know that Hobah is quite a distance from Sodom, which is located at the midpoint of the Dead Sea on the western shore. The Torah does not tell us whether Lot was mistreated or even why he – and not someone else – was captured. Perhaps it was because his uncle, Abraham, was quite wealthy and he was being held for ransom.
What is interesting about this obscure story is that Abraham (then called Abram) assembled an army, traveled to Homah and rescued Lot. He allied himself with the southern kings and led a posse – it’s the only way to describe it – and gave chase to the kidnappers.
There was a violent battle at Hobah, but Abram prevailed. He rescued his nephew and returned him safely to his family. The Torah also recounts that his soldiers captured a considerable amount of treasure, including women and children.
The Torah makes no judgement about the ethical problems associated with kidnapping women and children. And in light of today’s events, when Israeli men, women and children are being held hostage, we should have qualms about Abram taking human captives. But later in the Torah, this type of action is subject to certain rules that protect, at least in part, the rights of female captives.
Abram, though, eschewed the riches that he brought back, giving them to his allies instead. He did not desire any of the booty; he only wanted to save his nephew from whatever fate the Northern Kings had in store for him. The Torah though has no record of the Northern Kings returning to Canaan to free their captive women and children.
Had I authored this essay last year, I would have discussed the historicity of this war, which might be a faithful description of an actual event. There are ancient cuneiform tablets, a written record baked into clay, that might describe this event. While Abraham and Lot might not appear in these records, the Torah might just have added this subplot to a larger story and twisted it so that Abram and Lot became the focus.
I might have written about King Melchizedek of Salem (Jerusalem), who is described as a ‘priest of God most High,” and how he blesses Abram upon his return. It’s interesting that a pagan king, ruling over what will become the holiest city in Judaism, would praise the God most High. The Hebrew, El Elyon, mentions El, a major Canaanite deity and the father of Baal, the chief pagan god of the Canaanites, represented by a bull. I doubt that King Melchizedek worshipped the God that we call Adonai, or YHVH, but if he did that would be most interesting regarding the development of Biblical theology.
Or I would have remarked on how Abram suddenly becomes a general and a great warrior. Nowhere else in Genesis is Abram portrayed as a military figure. But it would have been a great entry point to the 1st Century CE Jewish historian Josephus, who does describe Abraham as a warrior-king, an ideal Roman leader.
But when we consider the horrific events in Israel, there is another theme that takes on greater urgency: the commandment to free the captives. Called in Hebrew pidyon shivuyim, the redemption of the captives is one of the most important mitzvot in the entire Torah. It is so important, we ask God every morning in our prayers to be a matir asurim, a God who frees the captives.
The mitzvah of redeeming the captives takes priority, even over the support of orphans. As Moses Maimonides wrote in his opus legal code, the Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor (8.1), we learn:
The redemption of captives receives priority over sustaining the poor and providing them with clothing. [Indeed,] there is no greater mitzvah than the redemption of captives. For a captive is among those who are hungry, thirsty, and unclothed and he is in mortal peril. If someone pays no attention to his redemption, he violates the negative commandments: "Do not harden your heart or close your hand" (Deuteronomy 15:7 , "Do not stand by when the blood of your neighbor is in danger" (Leviticus 19:16 , and "He shall not oppress him with exhausting work in your presence" (ibid. 25:53). And he has negated the observance of the positive commandments: "You shall certainly open up your hand to him" (Deuteronomy 15:8 , "And your brother shall live with you" (ibid. 19:18), "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18 , "Save those who are taken for death" (Proverbs 24:11 , and many other decrees of this nature. There is no mitzvah as great as the redemption of captives.
Few things in life are worse than being held against your will. And nothing is worse than not knowing if your loved one is being held captive – or dead. God forbid it happens to any one of us.
But it has happened to dozens of Israeli families. When we look at Abram’s story, we see that this mitzvah takes on a holy significance. This story, along with the teaching of Maimonides, forms the foundation of why the Israeli government will spare no expense to free the captives held by Hamas. It is a Biblical imperative.
But there is one more Biblical example of pidyon shivuyim to explore. Even God engages in freeing the captives! And where is this story found? It’s the Exodus story; God frees the Israelite slaves, held against their will for 400 years.
And if God personally (as it were) frees captives, how much the more so should we do everything that we can to free captives as well. Not just Israelis, although that is our topic today, but all who are being held against their will: victims of human trafficking, women in Iranian jails, Russian dissidents and all who dream of freedom.
We conclude with this prayer found in the Selichot Service, the midnight prayers offered on the Saturday night before Rosh HaShanah:
The deeds of Your first righteous remember, [as well as] the strength of Your friendship. Command the redemption of Your servants. Reveal Your hidden secret. Return the captives of the tents of Jacob and save us for the sake of Your Name.
Selichot Nusach Ashkenaz Lita , Fast of Gedaliah 12
Rabbi Avrohom Davis, Metsudah Publications, 1986
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
I want to thank you for listening to Torah for Christians. You can find previous episodes, such as the first podcast of this series, about Biblical covenants, at www.torahforchristians.net or on your favorite podcast site, such as Google, Apple or Spotify. You can also comment on this podcast on our website or on our Facebook page. Polite comments only, please.
Next week, we will finally examine the role of Jerusalem in Islam. While I am not an expert in Islamic thought, it’s important to know from the Muslim perspective just why this battle is so important. I’ll try to make it clear.
Now, more than ever, we say Hinei Mah Tov. L’hitraot. Till we meet again. I’m Rabbi Jordan Parr and this is Torah for Christians.