"But Abraham Stood Yet Before the Lord"
Argues against Maimonides' reading of Genesis 18 as an entirely internal prophetic vision, showing through recurring textual cues that God remains an active, present participant throughout Abraham's hosting of the three visitors, the annunciation to Sarah, and the negotiation over Sodom, and drawing out the lesson that the palpable presence of the shechina can be evoked through moral action, not only through prayer and study.
Spero challenges Maimonides’ view that Genesis 18 unfolds entirely within a prophetic dream-vision, arguing that recurring textual signals — God’s continued presence as Abraham greets the three visitors, God’s aside about Sarah’s laughter, and the extended negotiation over Sodom’s fate — indicate God remains an active participant in ordinary reality throughout the chapter, not merely its opening verse. Surveying Abraham’s hospitality, the annunciation to Sarah, and his plea for Sodom, Spero concludes that all three episodes involve moral action, and proposes that the palpable presence of the shechina, “normal mysticism,” can be evoked not only through sacred activities like prayer and Torah study but through the realization of moral values such as justice, righteousness, and kindness.
Shubert Spero was ordained at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. He has a B.S. from CCNY, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. He is the Irving Stone Professor of Jewish Thought at Bar Ilan University. He is the author of Morality, Halakha and the Jewish Tradition, God in All Seasons, and Holocaust and Return to Zion: A Study in Jewish Philosophy of History.
Cite this article
Shubert Spero. ""But Abraham Stood Yet Before the Lord"." Jewish Bible Quarterly 36, no. 1 (January – March 2008): 13–15.
Shubert Spero. ""But Abraham Stood Yet Before the Lord"." Jewish Bible Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 1, 2008, pp. 13–15.