Pirkei Avot teaches that the world depends on citing sources[i], so I will risk referential embarrassment by admitting that I’ve queried Microsoft’s AI tool, Copilot; it mentioned a view among many “that biblical figures should be treated with reverence and beyond reproach.” Our sages upheld “reverence” for some, but not “beyond reproach.” Our Patriarch, Abram/Abraham, set an example in questioning God’s justice concerning the fate of Sodom and Gomorah[ii]. I cannot claim Abraham’s status as a revered personage, but I will follow his example by questioning actions of revered figures.
After receiving God’s blessing, “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you…. I will bless those who bless you… I will curse him who curses you…”[iii] Abraham twice allowed his wife, Sarai/Sarah, to be taken into a king’s harem[iv]. He did this out of fear, but shouldn’t God’s blessing have made such fear unnecessary? Especially at the second occurrence, which seems to have happened after Abraham and his followers defeated the combined armies of four kings.[v] Medieval commentator Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (Ramban/Nachmanides) wrote: “Know that Abraham our father created a great sin by bringing his righteous wife to a stumbling block of sin on account of his fear…. He should have trusted that God would save him and his wife….”[vi]
And there is the Akeidah, the binding of Isaac, at which Abraham failed to question God[vii], despite having learned that he could do so prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorah.
Jacob exhibits un-stellar conduct several times beyond his dubious acquisitions of the birthright[viii] and his father’s blessing[ix].
- When Rachel bemoaned her infertility, Jacob responded angrily[x]. Nachmanides cites B’reishit Rabbah: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob, ‘Is this the way to answer a woman who is oppressed by her barrenness?’”[xi]
- Jacob feared for his life and family as he returned to Canaan and approached Esau[xii]. As above, is this fear justified after receipt of a promise of Divine protection?[xiii] Modern scholar Nehama Leibowitz cites several commentators who disapprove of Jacob’s self-abasement and attempt to “buy off” Esau[xiv].
- Jacob’s rebuke to Simon and Levi, after they slaughtered all the men of Shechem to avenge the rape of their sister Dina, was not concerned with the practice of justice.[xv]
- Jacob wasn’t a great father. His favoritism of Joseph reverberates through the last four weekly readings of B’reishit. He should have learned better from his father’s favoring of Esau[xvi].
- Jacob’s reaction to his sons’ first shopping trip to Egypt, and the news that Simon was imprisoned there and Benjamin’s presence would be required for future purchases, seems self-centered: “It is always me that you bereave: Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you would take away Benjamin. These things always happen to me!”[xvii] Rashi infers that Jacob accuses his other sons of killing Simon or selling him into slavery[xviii]. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz adds these words to Jacob’s: “It is true that you too are affected by these misfortunes, but you are unable to share my grief fully, as these troubles fall chiefly upon me, their father.[xix]”
Other revered figures, including Moses and King David, “star” in tales of Biblical bad behavior. Unlike many other faiths, Judaism does not claim perfection or godly status for its heroes and heroines. I prefer to think we revere these individuals as examples of the heights to which flawed humans can ascend.
Dr. Laurence Boxer is a retired Professor of Mathematics and Computer and Information Sciences at Niagara University and is Emeritus Adjunct Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at UB. He has been for many years the chair of the Ritual Committee, and webmaster, at Temple Beth Tzedek.
[i] Pirkei Avot 6:6 (toward the end of this long verse)
[ii] B’reishit (Genesis) 18:23-33
[iii] B’reishit 12:2-3
[iv] B’reishit 12:15, 20:2
[v] B’reishit 14
[vi] Rabbi Charles B. Chavel, ed., Ramban Nachmanides Commentary on the Torah, Shiloh Publishing House, Brooklyn, 1999, p. 173
[vii] B’reishit 22
[viii] B’reishit 25:31-34
[ix] B’reishit 27:1-29
[x] B’reishit 30:1-2
[xi] Rabbi Chavel, op. cit., pp. 366-367; also see https://www.sefaria.org/Bereshit_Rabbah.71.7?lang=bi (viewed 12/5/2025)
[xii] B’reishit 32-33
[xiii] B’reishit 28:13-15
[xiv] Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Bereshit , 3rd Revised Edition, Alpha Press, Jerusalem, 1976, pp. 346-347
[xv] B’reishit 34:30-31
[xvi] B’reishit 25:28
[xvii] B’reishit 42:36
[xviii] https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.42.36?lang=bi&with=Rashi&lang2=en (viewed 12/4/2025)
[xix] Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz,The Steinsaltz Humash, Koren Publishers, Jerusalem, 2018, p. 234
