PARSHA PERSPECTIVES PARSHAS NOACH BY THE BAIS HAVAAD

Burying the Hatchet In this week’s Parsha, Rashi (11:28) makes reference to the well-known Midrash that states that when Avraham Avinu was young, he took a hatchet and smashed his father’s idols. For that act of defiance, King Nimrod sentenced Avraham to be thrown into a flaming furnace. What are we to learn from Avraham Avinu’s zealotry? Are we to model our behavior after our patriarch, smashing and destroying all that threatens morality and holiness? Are we allowed to destroy an immodest billboard, or the headquarters of a missionary group? Furthermore, if such actions are permissible, does the Torah go further and in any way obligate us to do so? It seems that we can divide the question into several parts. Firstly, are we allowed to protect ourselves from being damaged by someone else’s object by destroying or damaging it first? If we are, in fact, allowed to do so, may we protect ourselves from potential spiritual damage in a similar way? Furthermore, presuming that acting in the above manner is permitted, does this extend to potential damage to others, as well, when we ourselves aren’t exposed to the said risk?