בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
בְּרוּךֶ אַתֶה חֲוָיָה שְׁכִינּוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדַשְׁתַנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיהֶ וְצִוְתָנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ אֱלֹהָתֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קֵרְבָתְנוּ לַעֲבוֹדָתָהּ וְצִוְתָנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
Blessings for learning and studying Torah
Berakhot 11b:
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Nonbinary Hebrew Project:
B’rucheh ateh Khavayah Shekhinu ruach ha’olam asher kidash’tanu b’mitzvotei’he v’tziv’tanu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Feminine God Language:
Brukhah at Ya Elohateinu ruach ha’olam asher keir’vat’nu la’avodatah v’tziv’tavnu la’asok b’divrei Torah
וַ֠יֹּ֠אמֶר אַל־נָ֞א יִ֤חַר לַֽאדני וַאֲדַבְּרָ֣ה אַךְ־הַפַּ֔עַם אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם עֲשָׂרָ֑ה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית בַּעֲב֖וּר הָעֲשָׂרָֽה׃ וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ יהוה כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר כִּלָּ֔ה לְדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וְאַבְרָהָ֖ם שָׁ֥ב לִמְקֹמֽוֹ׃
And he said, “Let not my lord be angry if I speak but this last time: What if ten should be found there?” “I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten.” Having finished speaking to Abraham, יהוה departed; and Abraham returned to his place.
וילך יהוה כאשר כלה וגו'. פי' סמוך לגמר דברי תשובתו לאברהם לא אשחית בעבור העשרה הלך יהוה ולא נתן לו מקום להתפלל על פחות משיעור זה לצד שכבר אמר אברהם ואדברה אך הפעם ולא יוסיף דבר עוד בדבר הזה או לצד שיודע יהוה כי לא תהיה הגנה בפחות מעשרה והגם שמצינו להרשב"י (זהר ח"א פ"ב.) שאמר וצדיק יסוד עולם, אפשר שזה יהיה כשיהיה צדיק מופלא, ואפשר שאם היה אברהם בקרבה של סדום היה ממלט כל העיר:
וילך יהוה כאשר כלה לדבר. When G'd completed speaking with Abraham He left. The Torah reports that G'd did not even give Abraham a chance to plead further on behalf of a lesser number of righteous people. After all, Abraham said that he had used his final plea. Although the Zohar 1,82 suggests that the righteous is the foundation of the earth, i.e. that a single righteous person could save the rest of the world, this may apply only to an outstanding צדיק. Perhaps if Abraham had lived in Sodom, his presence could have sufficed to save the town.
וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֥ם אַבְרָהָ֖ם בַּבֹּ֑קֶר אֶ֨ל־הַמָּק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁר־עָ֥מַד שָׁ֖ם אֶת־פְּנֵ֥י יהוה׃ וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ף עַל־פְּנֵ֤י סְדֹם֙ וַעֲמֹרָ֔ה וְעַֽל־כׇּל־פְּנֵ֖י אֶ֣רֶץ הַכִּכָּ֑ר וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה עָלָה֙ קִיטֹ֣ר הָאָ֔רֶץ כְּקִיטֹ֖ר הַכִּבְשָֽׁן׃
Next morning, Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood before יהוה, and, looking down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln.
וישקף על פני סדם לדעת אם נמצאו שם עשרה שיהיו ניצולים.
וישקף על פני סדום, “he looked down in the direction of Sodom” to see if 10 just people had been found that were deserving of being saved.
וירא והנה עלה קיטור הארץ. ובכן ראה שאין עוד להתפלל עליהם:
קיטור הארץ, when he saw the smoke he realised that it was too late to pray on behalf of these people.
וַיְהִ֗י אַחַר֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה וְהָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים נִסָּ֖ה אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃ וַיֹּ֡אמֶר קַח־נָ֠א אֶת־בִּנְךָ֨ אֶת־יְחִֽידְךָ֤ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַ֙בְתָּ֙ אֶת־יִצְחָ֔ק וְלֶ֨ךְ־לְךָ֔ אֶל־אֶ֖רֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּ֑ה וְהַעֲלֵ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה עַ֚ל אַחַ֣ד הֶֽהָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֹמַ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ׃ וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם אַבְרָהָ֜ם בַּבֹּ֗קֶר וַֽיַּחֲבֹשׁ֙ אֶת־חֲמֹר֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֞ח אֶת־שְׁנֵ֤י נְעָרָיו֙ אִתּ֔וֹ וְאֵ֖ת יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֑וֹ וַיְבַקַּע֙ עֲצֵ֣י עֹלָ֔ה וַיָּ֣קׇם וַיֵּ֔לֶךְ אֶל־הַמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר־אָֽמַר־ל֥וֹ הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֗י וַיִּשָּׂ֨א אַבְרָהָ֧ם אֶת־עֵינָ֛יו וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הַמָּק֖וֹם מֵרָחֹֽק׃
Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test, saying to him, “Abraham.” He answered, “Here I am.” “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.” So early next morning, Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place from afar.
וירא את המקום. רָאָה עָנָן קָשׁוּר עַל הָהָר:
וירא את המקום AND HE SAW THE PLACE — He saw a cloud lowering over the mountain (Genesis Rabbah 56:1).
The next logical question, however, is if G-d knew what was in Avraham’s heart, which invited him to protest, then is it not even more cruel that Sodom and Gomorroh are still destroyed in the end save Lot, his wife and daughters? There are at least two lessons worthy of being gleaned here: 1) Protest for justice is a form of devotion that calls G-d near rather than pushes G-d away. As inheritors of this story, we learn that G-d has a responsibility to judge in favor of protecting and preserving life even with imperfect humanity in the mix, and we have a responsibility to hold G-d to that promise. That is our prerogative as faithful believers. And 2) The answer to our requests and prayers is not always ‘yes’, but that doesn’t diminish the requirement to pray and to imagine and build toward a different reality.
I would like to offer a different interpretation of this Rashi, or of this image. What Avraham understood upon seeing the cloud was the essential cloudiness of his relationship with God. He "saw" that the charge of the Akeidah--with all of its horror and confusion--was precisely about reckoning with unclarity, with paradox, with absurdity, with a God who contradicts and undermines Godself, with promises that seem broken, covenants that seem shattered. Avraham came to understand at this moment that to approach God, to have an ongoing and live spiritual life, would require a difficult (and maybe continuous) encounter with cloudiness. As would be said of Moshe at Sinai generations later, in Exodus 20:18: