In the Torah portion of Vayera (Genesis 18:1 - 22:24 ) we read about the destruction of Sedom (Sodom), something that has been widely misinterpreted by Christian sources to the point that the very name of the city has made it into Greek, Latin, and English to refer to prohibited sexual practices. But the Jewish take is very different. This was published in our Dvar Torah series back in 2014 but I am republishing because of its contemporary relevance. Details below the fold.
While Christian commenters emphasize sexual improprieties when they discuss Sedom, Jewish sources emphasize far different kinds of immorality. Consider this mishnah in the fifth chapter of Avot:
ה,ט [י] ארבע מידות באדם: האומר שלי שלי, ושלך שלך--זו מידה בינונית; ויש אומרין, זו מידת סדום. שלי שלך, ושלך שלי--עם הארץ. שלי שלך, ושלך שלך--חסיד. שלך שלי, ושלי שלי--רשע. There are four types of people: One who says, "What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine" is a boor. One who says "What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours" -- this is a median characteristic; others say that this is the character of a Sodomite. One who says, "What is mine is yours, and what is yours is yours" is a chassid (pious person). And one who says "What is mine is mine, and what is yours is mine" is wicked.
(Hebrew from here; English translation from here.) A Sodomite -- and just as in Christianity, in Judaism the term is highly pejoritive -- is someone who thinks that what is mine is mine and what is yours is yours? But isn't that the entire basis of modern civilization? Judaism does not agree, and that is one reason why Jews have been such a threat to the Standing Order for millenia. Economic justice is something Jews are commanded to fight for! The fact is that the destruction of Sedom is considered by Jewish sources to be completely justified, and that the justification has little if anything to do with sex. The real reasons include lack of hospitality to strangers, greed, robbery, and an unjust judicial system. I've read most of the Jewish biblical commentaries, and the entire Babylonian Talmud, and I have never found a single Jewish source that identifies the primary sins of Sedom as being sexual. I will now share these sections from Chapter 11 of Tractate Sanhedrin in the Babylonian Talmud, part of the famous Perek Chelek that discusses who may or may or not have a share in the World to Come. The original Hebrew and Aramaic can be found here -- go to Sanhedrin 109a. The English translation is from here. First we have a description of the ways that the people of Sedom commit sins: "with their bodies" -- which does refer to sexual impropriety -- and "with their money", which refers to greed, theft, robbery, and lack of charity.
THE MEN OF SODOM HAVE NO PORTION IN THE WORLD TO COME etc. Our Rabbis taught: The men of Sodom have no portion in the future world, as it is written, But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly wicked — in this world, and sinners — in respect of the world to come. Rab Judah said: [They were] wicked — with their bodies [i.e., immoral] and sinners — with their money [i.e.. uncharitable]. 'Wicked — with their bodies,' as it is written, How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? 'And sinners — with their money,' as it is written, and it be sin unto thee. 'Before the Lord' refers to blasphemy; 'exceedingly' — that they intentionally sinned. A Tanna taught: Wicked — with their money; and sinners — with their bodies 'Wicked — with their. money,' as it is written, And thine eye be wicked against thy poor brother; 'and sinners — with their bodies,' as it is written, and I will sin against God. Before the Lord — this refers to blasphemy. Exceedingly — this refers to bloodshed, as it is written, Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood exceedingly.
Blasphemy here would refer to deliberately renouncing God's commandments for a just society. Bloodshed in rabbinic literature generally refers to deliberate homicide. We now see that the Rabbis consider the "mine is mine" attitude to be the source of their evil:
Our Rabbis taught: The men of Sodom waxed haughty only on account of the good which the Holy One, blessed be He, had lavished upon them. What is written concerning them? — As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it it is burned up as it were with fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lions passed by it. They said: Since there cometh forth bread out of [our] earth, and it hath the dust of gold, why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth. Come, let us abolish the practice of travelling in our land, as it is written, The flood breaketh out from the inhabitants,' they are forgotten of the foot; they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
The parallel to the treatment of immigrants in America and other countries is clear: failing to care for those who are not part of your society is being condemned as the actions of Sodomites! Sedom was a place where Might made Right. Rich and poor lost out to the thugs:
Raba gave the following exposition: What is meant by the verse, How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: ye are all as a bowing wall, and as a tottering fence? This teaches that they used to cast [envious] eyes at wealthy men, place them by a leaning wall, thrust it upon them, then go and take their wealth. Raba expounded: What is meant by the verse, In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light? This teaches that they used to cast [envious] eyes at wealthy men, and entrust balsamum into their keeping, which they placed in their storerooms. In the evening they would come and smell it out like dogs, as it is written, They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Then they would go, burrow in, and steal the money, [and as for their victim —] They cause him to go naked without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. They lead away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed them. And he [the victim] shall be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. R. Jose taught this in Sepphoris. That night [after his lecture] three hundred [houses] were broken into in Sepphoris. So they came and harassed him. Said they to him, 'Thou hast shown a way to thieves!' He replied, 'Could I have known that thieves would come?' When R. Jose died, the gutters of Sepphoris ran with blood.
Most of these sins are pretty obvious; removing landmarks is specifically condemned twice in Deuteronomy; it refers to changing boundary stones as a way of stealing land. More examples of robbery appear in the next paragraph:
[Reverting to the misdeeds of the Sodomites] they ruled: He who has [only] one ox must tend [all the oxen of the town] for one day; but he who has none must tend [them] two days. Now a certain orphan, the son of a widow, was given oxen to tend. He went and killed then' and [then] said to them [the Sodomites], 'He who has an ox, let him take one hide; he who has none, let him take two hides.' 'What is the meaning of this?' they exclaimed. Said he, 'The final usage [i.e., the disposal of the ox when dead] must be as the initial one; just as the initial usage is that he who possesses one ox must tend for one day, and he who has none must tend two days; so should be the final usage: he who has one ox should take one hide, and he who has none should take two.' [Likewise, they ruled,] He who crosses with the ferry must pay one zuz [for the privilege], but he who does not, [entering by another way] must give two. If one had rows of bricks every person came and took one, saying, 'I have taken only one.' If one spread out garlic or onions [to dry them], every person came and took one, saying, 'I have taken only one.'
We sometimes err by treating property crimes as not severe. From shoplifter to stock swindler, the Torah disagrees. The unjust judicial system is condemned next. There is a rabbinic tradition that Lot, Abraham's nephew, had been named a judge in Sedom just before the destruction, and that Lot was the only judge who was unwilling to be bribed -- and that that sealed Lot's doom. For as long as judges could be bribed it was possible to negate the unjust legal system if you were sufficiently wealthy. But Lot was incorruptible. But since Lot was law-abiding, he was committed to enforcing the law without prejudice -- including all the unjust laws mentioned above.
There were four judges in Sodom, [named] Shakrai, Shakurai, Zayyafi, and Mazle Dina.
Now, if a man assaulted his neighbour's wife and bruised her, they would say [to the husband], 'Give her to him, that she may become pregnant for thee.' If one cut off the ear of his neighbour's ass, they would order, 'Give it to him until it grows again.' If one wounded his neighbour they would say to him [the victim], 'Give him a fee for bleeding thee.' He who crossed over with the ferry had to pay four zuzim, whilst he who crossed through the water had to pay eight. On one occasion, a certain fuller happened to come there. Said they to him, 'Give us four zuzim [for the use of the ferry].' But, protested he, 'I crossed through the water!' 'If so,' said they, 'thou must give eight zuzim for passing through the water.' He refused to give it, so they assaulted him. He went before the judge, who ordered, 'Give them a fee for bleeding and eight zuzim for crossing through the water.
Lot was not the only person from the household of Abraham to go to Sedom:
Now Eliezer, Abraham's servant, happened to be there, and was attacked. When he went before the judge, he said, 'Give them a fee for bleeding thee.' Thereupon he took a stone and smote the judge. 'What is this!' he exclaimed. He replied, 'The fee that thou owest me give to this man [who attacked me], whilst my money will remain in statu quo.' Now, they had beds upon which travellers slept. If he [the guest] was too long, they shortened him [by lopping off his feet]; if too short, they stretched him out. Eliezer, Abraham's servant, happened to go there. Said they to him, 'Arise and sleep on this bed!' He replied, 'I have vowed since the day of my mother's death not to sleep in a bed.' If a poor man happened to come there, every resident gave him a denar, upon which he wrote his name, but no bread was given him. When he died, each came and took back his. They made this agreement amongst themselves: whoever invites a man [a stranger] to a feast shall be stripped of his garment. Now, a banquet was in progress, when Eliezer chanced there, but they gave him no bread. Wishing to dine, he went and sat down at the end of them all. Said they to him, 'Who invited thee here?' He replied to the one sitting near him, 'Thou didst invite me.' The latter said to himself, 'Peradventure they will hear that I invited him, and strip me of my garments!' So he took up his raiment and fled without. Thus he [Eliezer] did to all, until they had all gone; whereupon he consumed the entire repast.
Eliezer survived through cleverness! The last story is the most poignant:
A certain maiden gave some bread to a poor man, [hiding it] in a pitcher. On the matter becoming known, they daubed her with honey and placed her on the parapet of the wall, and the bees came and consumed her. Thus it is written, And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, because it is great: whereon Rab Judah commented in Rab's name: On account of the maiden [ribah].
Sedom was destroyed because a women who fed a homeless man was murdered for that act -- and in a particularly horrifying way. I invite all to look at our society and see how those who care for those who are less well off are derided as bleeding hearts, and those who call for economic fairness are attacked for their supposed ignorance of how Markets Are Supposed To Work. The true Torah philosophy is that none of our property is really ours. Everything belongs to God and we are entrusted with it as long as we take care of it, following God's rules. "Mine is mine and yours is yours" is actually a denial of God's sovereignty. For that, Sedom was destroyed.
That was the end of the original diary. I am horrified that the US has a Sodomite President and a Sodomite government.
This must not stand.