Our ancestor Abraham certainly did. We find him in a tense back-and-forth with God in Genesis, pleading for the city of Sodom.

It's a story we all know. God's about to destroy Sodom because of its wickedness. But Abraham, ever the compassionate one, steps in, attempting to negotiate with God to spare the city if even a small number of righteous people can be found within its walls. "What if there are fifty righteous people?" he asks. God agrees to spare the city for the sake of those fifty.

But Abraham doesn't stop there. He presses on, lowering the number bit by bit. Forty-five? Forty? Thirty? Twenty? Ten? God, each time, agrees to spare the city if that number of righteous individuals can be found.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives deeper into this negotiation. In Bereshit Rabbah 49, the rabbis explore Abraham’s persistence and God’s patience.

"Perhaps the fifty righteous people will lack five; will You destroy the entire city for the five? He said: I will not destroy, if I find there forty-five," the verse states. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba offers a fascinating insight. He suggests that Abraham initially wanted to jump directly from fifty all the way down to five righteous people! He interprets the verse to mean: "Perhaps the fifty righteous people will be lacking, so that there will be only five."

Imagine that! Cutting straight to the chase. But, according to Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, God responds with a gentle, "Back up."

Essentially, God is saying: "Slow down, Abraham. Lower your request in smaller steps.”

Rabbi Levi offers a beautiful analogy to illustrate this. He compares it to a clepsydra, a water clock. These clocks, similar to hourglasses, used water instead of sand to measure time. They were even used in courts to limit the time a lawyer had to plead their case! As long as the water flowed, the advocate could speak. And if the judge wanted to give the advocate more time, what would they do? They would add more water!

Rabbi Levi explains that God is, in essence, saying to Abraham, "Go on with your pleas, just use smaller increments."

God, in this view, isn't annoyed by Abraham's persistence. He's actually inviting it! He's saying, "Keep pleading, keep engaging, but do it thoughtfully, step by step."

What does this teach us? Maybe it's about the power of persistence. Maybe it’s about the importance of incremental change. Or perhaps it's about understanding that even when we’re bargaining with the Divine, the process matters. The conversation, the engagement, the heartfelt plea – all of that has value in itself. It's not just about getting the answer we want, but about the journey of seeking it. We are invited to earnestly and persistently seek justice and mercy in our world.

So, the next time you find yourself negotiating with the universe, remember Abraham, remember the water clock, and remember that even the smallest increments of hope can make a difference.