(23) Avraham came forward and said, "Will you sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? (24) What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? (25) Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that the innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You. Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly? (Bereshit 18: 23-25)
Thus begins the Jewish obsession with moral duty, even in the face of God’s determination. What exactly is Avraham arguing before God? Rashi understands this "coming forward" to mean both to "draw near to do battle" and "to draw near to pray," but he is silent on the content of Avraham’s speech. The commentators have suggested that the biblical passage actually contains a contradiction. When Avraham prayed before God in verse 23 he was asking that God not kill the innocent along with the guilty (or closer to the Hebrew, the righteous along with the evil). Yet, in verse 24, Avraham argues for saving the whole city because of the righteous. Finally, in verse 25 he reverts to his initial prayer.
In Divrei David, a supercommentary on Rashi, David ben Samuel Halevi suggests that what Avraham is saying to God "is just that You should not destroy the innocent with the wicked and this really does not require a prayer. My prayer is directed at saving the guilty because of the innocent. However, if my prayer is not accepted, at the very least, You cannot kill the righteous with the wicked because that is not just."
This reading of the text suggests an important role for the righteous in the world. The world, despite the evils that may exist in it may be saved by the actions of only a few. Despite the overwhelming qualities of a place or the lack of a moral compass in society, a small group of individuals can spread light and alter the course of events.
This lesson is of particular importance because we live at a time when the sheer size of world and its inhabitants make changing the course of events feel almost impossible. How can I stand up to the powers that be when they are so large and strong? The power and influence of deep social structures or governments has the ability to force us into cynical mode of thinking that says we as individuals have very little ability to positively affect the larger course of events. In fact, parashat va’year teaches us just the opposite! An entire place may be saved specifically because of the actions and moral fiber of a very few. Our actions do have the ability to alter the course of world in a positive way. In this sense, the apparent contradiction of Avraham’s prayer before God draws attention this small but powerful principle.