Pay Now - or Pay Later

This week, the Sedra spotlight shifts from one imposing personality to another, as Noach moves to the sidelines and Avraham steps to center stage. But is there a connection between these two outstanding figures? Interestingly, their paths actually crossed, at least in theory: Avraham was 58 years old when Noach died! So, theoretically, they might have met, or at least they knew of one another.

There is a fascinating common denominator at work here. In our Parsha, Avraham makes a decision to part ways with his nephew Lot. Now, Lot was never a candidate for tzadik-of-the-year, but Avraham was committed to caring for him. So what was it that suddenly made Avraham decide to split with Lot? As part of his strong sense of honesty & integrity, Avraham muzzled his animals as they passed through other's fields. But Lot's shepherds did not. When questioned why not, they had a ready rationalization from Lot: "G-d promised this land to Avraham & his family, and I am his rightful heir. So technically, I'm at least part owner of whatever grows here. Thus I'm really only taking that which is destined to be mine!"

Avraham thought long & hard about this: He could accept lapses of honesty & the occasional misdeed - after all, no one is perfect. But when that shadiness is wrapped in a cloak of fair play, it turns justice on its head & is simply too devious, too dangerous to be around. And so Avraham reluctantly decides he cannot share a community with these people. He parts from Lot, who ultimately will lose all of his ill-gotten wealth.

This devotion to moral correctness may have been a legacy left to Avraham by Noach. For Noach confronted this very same malicious mentality in his own day. The generation of the Flood thought they had it figured out: If they steal just a little bit at a time, in amounts too small to be prosecuted, they could get away scot-free with their theft! But it was precisely this combination of crime and cleverness which Hashem despises, and so He decided that such a generation must be replaced.

The lesson for us is that while you may be able to outwit the law, you can never outsmart the Lawgiver. Pay up now - or youll surely pay up later.