Shabbat Shalom!
Those of you who know me know that I love
Broadway shows. When I started to read
through my portion, about the many adventures of Abraham, it occurred to me
that the tests he faced were very similar to the tests of characters in my
favorite musicals.
According to commentators, Abraham went
through ten trials. Here is the list
that Rambam created:
1) Abraham’s exile from his family and
homeland.
2) The famine in Canaan that sent him to
Egypt.
3) The corruption in Egypt that resulted in
the kidnapping of Sarah.
4) The war with the four kings.
5) His marriage to Hagar in order to have a
child.
6) His circumcision
7) Sarah was kidnapped again, this time by
Avimelech
8) Driving away Hagar after she had given
birth.
9) Abandoning his son Ishmael.
10) The binding of his other son, Isaac on
the altar.
So let me explain how some of these trials relate to Broadway
shows.
First: EXILE
According to the Midrash, Abraham was exiled
from his homeland in order to hide from King Nimrod, who wanted to kill him. This reminds me of Simba in “The Lion King,”
who had to run away from his evil uncle Scar and his homeland in order to stay
alive. While in exile, Abraham had to
learn two things:
1)
how to survive, much as Simba does, by learning how not to be
burdened by the past, or as Timon and Pumbaa would say, “Hakuna Matata.” And...
2) he needed to gain the courage to
return home.
Another trial was to learn how and when to sacrifice.
When Abraham and Sarah went down to Egypt and
he almost had to give up Sarah to Pharaoh, much like in “Hamilton,” when Angelica
gives up Alexander to her sister.
Later on, Abraham also was willing to
sacrifice his son Isaac, in the same way that Hamilton was willing to see his
son Philip die in a dual for the father’s honor.
Another trial for Abraham was when he married
Hagar in order to have a son with her, and then he left her. He took advantage of her and used her,
similar to how Jafar used Aladdin to get the lamp in the musical “Aladdin.”
Abraham also learns the importance of
alliances in his war with the four kings.
In the musical, “Wicked,” Glinda and Elphaba both had to learn to make
friends with the right people. In the
beginning, for Glinda it was the Wizard and for Elphaba it was the flying monkeys. But in the end, they realized that the best
alliance they had was with each other.
Another test for
Abraham was his circumcision, which he did himself, an act that demonstrated
his loyalty to God.
In the musical, “Dear Evan Hansen,” Evan
Hansen fell from a tree to see if anyone would notice – but no one did, and all
he got from it was a broken arm. But the
difference is, while they both caused themselves pain because they thought they
needed to, Abraham did it for a higher purpose, while Evan Hansen did it for
himself.
This wasn’t exactly a test, but after the
circumcision, God paid a visit to Abraham, much like we visit people who are
sick. It’s an important mitzvah. The
Talmud states that when you pay a visit to someone who is in pain, it reduces the
pain by 1/60th. Mary Poppins had another solution: a spoonful of sugar.
Although it isn’t officially counted as a
test, Abraham pleaded with God not to harm the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, so
that goof people would not be hurt for sake of the bad.
In the musical “Into the Woods,” the Giant
chases Jack down the beanstalk without regard to the safety of the other people
on the ground. And back to “Hamilton,” King
George threatens to kill his subjects’ friends and family, “to remind them
of his love.” Even though they were
innocent.
Finally, Abraham’s last trial was to bind
Isaac. Even though he was following what
he thought were God’s orders, he learned that sometimes blind obedience is not
the best thing.
The same thing happens in “Anastasia,” where a
Russian official is ordered to kill Anya, who claims to be the princess
Anastasia. In the end he realizes that
killing her would be wrong, so he reports back that she was never
Anastasia. With Abraham, in the end, God
makes it clear that he never wanted Isaac to be killed.
So what’s the most important lesson to learn
from all this? The Torah is the
inspiration for all Broadway shows and it’s important to take your kids to lots
of them!
Just kidding!
For my mitzvah project “Read to Grow,” I
collected over 500 books to distribute to kids who can’t afford them. They will be sent to hospitals and other
places to cheer up the kids there, just like a spoonful of sugar!
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