Finally, after six weeks the pants were ready. He tried them on. They fit perfectly and were absolutely beautiful, but he was irritated that it took so long."You know," he said, "I just don't understand. It took God only six days to make the entire world. But it took you six weeks to make one pair of pants."
"Ah," said the tailor. "But just look at this pair of pants, and then look at the world."
One of the things I love about Judaism is our ability to disagree and challenge. Although Judaism does ask us to accept much on faith, we are never forbidden to question and challenge. We can even question and challenge God. This is what Abraham did when God told him that God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked God not to destroy the righteous with the wicked, and negotiated on how many righteous people were required for God to save the cities.
One of the great Orthodox leaders of the last century, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, made a keen observation about the phrasing of one of the questions Abraham asked God:
"Perhaps," said Abraham, "there are fifty righteous people in the midst of the city. Will you save the city for their sake?"
Rabbi Hirsch noted that Abraham didn't ask God about there being fifty righteous people in the city, but rather fifty righteous people in the midst of the city. Rabbi Hirsch wrote that Abraham phrased his question this way for a specific purpose.
Abraham knew that a righteous people can only help society if they are part of society. That is: if they are involved with other people, if they teach them, demonstrate by example, and rebuke them when they do wrong. Righteous people who live in isolation, and are only concerned about themselves, and who don't share their wisdom and goodness outside their door, have little value to anyone but themselves. Abraham knew that God would save Sodom and Gemorrah if righteous people existed in the midst of city, who were connected with society, because perhaps one day they would be able to transform the evil around them into good.
In order to make a difference we need to be engaged in the society in which we live. To be engaged means to run to help when we see troubles or want and to invest our time, energy, and resources to make this world happier and healthier. Not only do we need to be kind and good, but we need to encourage and teach those around us to be the same.
