After Sodom's destruction, Abraham journeyed on. He left the ruined plain behind and moved — not fleeing, not grieving, just continuing. Job had the language for this: "The mountain falls away and the rock is moved from its place" (Job 14:18). The world that Abraham had known, the world in which Sodom and the surrounding cities existed, had literally crumbled. And he walked forward into the next chapter.
The rabbis read Abraham's departure as a moral statement about his own scruples. He had been living near Sodom — not in it, not of it, but near enough to see. He explained himself: he had stayed because travelers needed hospitality on the roads, and he provided it. But Sodom had been generous to no one. "The hand of the poor and needy found nothing there" (Ezekiel 16:49). The very hospitality Abraham offered was an implicit rebuke to the city that refused it. When Sodom was gone, the rebuke had nowhere to land.
So Abraham went to Gerar. He started over in a new place, with the same tent opening that faced every direction, the same table set for strangers. The mountain had fallen. The rock had moved. He was already building the next place where someone could stop and be fed. This is what the rabbis admired most in Abraham: not the dramatic moments — the binding of Isaac, the argument with God — but the quiet continuity. He did not stop being Abraham after catastrophe. He never stopped being Abraham at all.
Chapter 24: Writings [1] A Psalm of David. The Lord says to my lord: "Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." (Psalm 110:1) "Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power" (Exodus 15:6). Everywhere you find the right hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is a symbol of protection for Israel. This can be compared to a king's son who had a protector. Whenever the prince conducted business, he spoke through the protector. Eventually, the king appointed the protector as an official, and he conducted business for his own son. The prince said to his father, "Allow me to conduct my own business." The father replied, "I cannot take away your protector, but I will release him to you, and then you may conduct your own business." Similarly, the protector of Israel is the right hand of the Holy One, blessed be He. When God was supposedly angry with Israel, He turned His back to them, as it is said, "He has withdrawn His right hand" (Lamentations 2:3). When Israel asked for God's help in winning a judgment, He restored His right hand to its place and said to them, "This is how I will act, as it is said, 'The Lord says to my lord: "Sit at My right hand" (Psalm 110:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, says, The Lord said, "In the beginning, the Torah was seated at my right hand, as it is written 'From His right hand went a fiery law for them.'" (Deuteronomy 33:2) (Legends of the Jews 1:1:2), and Abraham performed it out of his love for Me, as it is said, 'Because I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment' (Genesis 18:19). The Torah remained in its place, as it is said, 'Sit at My right hand.' Alternatively, righteousness rests on My right hand, as it is said, 'Your right hand is full of righteousness' (Psalm 48:11), and Abraham performed it out of his love for Me, as it is said, 'For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice' (Genesis 18:19). Therefore, let righteousness return to its place, as it is said, 'Sit at My right hand; the Lord will extend Your mighty scepter from Zion' (Psalm 110:2)."
