Redeeming the Captive (Parshat Lech Lecha)
Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary student Avi Mitzner's timely take
By Rabbinical Student Avi Mitzner
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If you like this post, read our previous pieces on Parshat Bereishit and Parshat Noach.
Week 3: Parshat Lech Lecha
Torah Portion: Genesis 12:1 - 17:27
Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16
Summary: Abraham's journey and God's covenant with him highlight themes of faith, obedience, and divine promises. The Haftarah encourages trust in God during times of adversity, linking to the theme of unwavering faith.
Thematic Connection: Faith and Obedience
Every morning I have the privilege as part of my job to lead our morning minyan, our morning prayer services at Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas, TX, where I am the Ritual Director. It is a time for me to pray but also to connect with my congregants who come for their own various reasons. Some attend minyan to say kaddish for a loved one. Some come to support the folks saying kaddish. Others come to start their day Jewishly prior to heading out into the hustle and bustle of their lives.
When the clock strikes 7:00am on any given weekday morning, I greet everyone and say ‘Page 6, Birkot haShachar, please rise, as we start our day with gratitude for the gifts in our lives that are so routine that we didn’t even notice, from the time we woke up, until we arrived here this morning.
In discussing the origins of Birkot haShachar, the Talmud explains:
Upon hearing the sound of the rooster, one should recite: Blessed…Who gave the heart understanding to distinguish between day and night.
Upon opening his eyes, one should recite: Blessed…Who gives sight to the blind.
Upon sitting up straight, one should recite: Blessed…Who sets captives free.
Upon dressing, one should recite: Blessed…Who clothes the naked, as they would sleep unclothed.
Upon standing up straight, one should recite: Blessed…Who raises those bowed down.
Upon descending from one’s bed to the ground, one should recite: Blessed…Who spreads the earth above the waters, in thanksgiving for the creation of solid ground upon which to walk.
Upon walking, one should recite: Blessed…Who makes firm the steps of man.
Upon putting on his shoes, one should recite: Blessed…Who has provided me with all I need, as shoes are a basic necessity.
Upon putting on his belt, one should recite: Blessed…Who girds Israel with strength.
Upon spreading a shawl upon his head, one should recite: Blessed…Who crowns Israel with glory.
What a wonderful way to begin your day! The rabbis are trying to draw us back in time, to force us to pay attention to the very first stirrings of a new day and a new life, and to do that in slow motion, one step at a time. For indeed, no experience throughout the day can compare to the experience of being able to start a day, to rise and become an active participant in living.
Most of the above blessings are pretty straightforward and require no explanation. One however, the third blessing, is quite curious to me:
Upon sitting up straight, one should recite: Blessed…Who sets captives free.
What does sitting up straight have to do with setting captives free? The standard answer to this is that while you are laying down and asleep, you have no power of voluntary movement. In a sense, you are like a captive who too lacks freedom of movement.
But sadly, I believe there is so much more behind this blessing. Judaism is a religion of freedom, and the Torah is a book which decries slavery and oppression. Our origin story as a nation is of our being freed from slavery in Egypt. One of the most well-known quotes of the Torah (thanks to the Liberty Bell) is ‘Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.’
Yet, anyone studies Jewish history is struck by the fact that many thousands of Jews were captured and held for ransom throughout Jewish history and that Jewish communities went to extraordinary lengths to redeem captives. Indeed, the Talmud calls pidyon shvuyim, the redemption of captives, a ‘mitzvah rabbah,’ a great mitzvah, and says that captivity is worse than starvation and death.
Redeeming captives is even written into our origin-story. In this week’s parsha, Lech Lecha, Avraham—still known as Avram—rides to the rescue of his nephew Lot: ‘When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.’ Employing a divide and conquer strategy, he catches the superior forces of the four kings by surprise and is able to return Lot and his fellow captives to the safety of their homes.
It is noteworthy that Avram risks life and limb to save his nephew. The midrash emphasizes this by imagining a conversation between Avram and his men, who argue, ‘The five kings (of Sodom and its sister cities) could not defeat them and (you believe that) we will prevail against them?!’ Avram replies, ‘I will go forth and (if necessary) fall in battle in sanctification of God’s name.’
As I write my remarks, we are in the fifth day of Israel’s being forced back into war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. I can’t foretell what will be when this article is released, but as of now, estimates are that there are approximately 150 people were captured by Hamas in their initial invasion and have been brought back to Gaza in captivity. It goes without saying that we weep and pray alongside their families for their swift and safe return.
But we know that is not likely. We have been through this before. Probably the most notorious case is that of Gilad Shalit. Early on Sunday morning, June 25, 2006, Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants who ambushed an Israeli army post on the Israeli side of the southern Gaza Strip border after crossing through an underground tunnel near the Kerem Shalom border. Shalit remained in captivity until 2011 when he was exchanged for 1027 Palestinian terrorist prisoners.
Is our obligation to redeem the captive absolute? Must we no matter what the cost?
Maimonides rules that he who ignores ransoming a captive is guilty of transgressing commandments such as ‘you shall not harden your heart’’ and other Biblical verses. However, there is an exception to this rule:
‘One does not ransom captives for more than their value because of Tikkun Olam and one does not help captives escape because of Tikkun Olam.’
The Talmud gives two different explanations for this:
because of the (financial) burden on the community, and
so that they (the kidnappers) should not seize more captives"--i.e., paying a high ransom for captives will encourage kidnappers to kidnap more Jews and demand still higher ransoms.
What is the price we are willing/able/morally-obligated to pay to recover our captive brothers and sisters? When do we wage war as Avram did and when do we bargain for exchanges? When is the cost justifiable and when is it simply too high?
May God grant the wisdom to our leaders to be able to navigate these tricky, life and death questions. And may God grant the strength to them to carry out their necessary tasks.
ה' עֹ֭ז לְעַמּ֣וֹ יִתֵּ֑ן ה' יְבָרֵ֖ךְ אֶת־עַמּ֣וֹ בַשָּׁלֽוֹם
May God grant strength to God’s people; may God grant God’s people peace.
1 Talmud, Berakhot 60b
2 Leviticus 25:10
3 Talmud, Bava Batra 8b
4 Genesis 14:14
5 Genesis Rabbah 42:14
6 Deuteronomy 15:7
7 Mishna, Gittin 4:6
8 Talmud, Gittin 45a
9 Psalms 29:11