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Monday, October 26, 2026

Vayera 2

Bereshis 18:22 through 19:25. Avraham stands before Hashem and pleads for Sodom, bargaining from fifty righteous people down to ten. Then the two angels reach Sodom, Lot takes them in, the mob attacks his house, and Lot escapes to Tzoar before fire and brimstone overturn the cities. Two ideas keep coming back. The first is Avraham's boldness for other people: he argues with reasons, he puts his own merits on the line, and he prays even for the wicked. The second is the contrast between Avraham's open hospitality and Lot's, which is real but hidden, fearful and has its values out of order. It ends with how Sodom's punishment matched its crimes, measure for measure.

The pesukim

Bereshis 18:22–23

וַיִּפְנ֤וּ מִשָּׁם֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ סְדֹ֑מָה וְאַ֨בְרָהָ֔ם עוֹדֶ֥נּוּ עֹמֵ֖ד לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃

The men turned from where they were, and headed toward Sodom. Abraham was still standing before God.

וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַאַ֣ף תִּסְפֶּ֔ה צַדִּ֖יק עִם־רָשָֽׁע׃

He came forward and said, "Will You actually wipe out the innocent together with the guilty?

The men head toward Sodom while Avraham is still standing before Hashem, and Avraham "comes forward" and asks, "Will You wipe out the innocent together with the guilty?" Hashem had come to visit him and waited while he saw to his guests, so Avraham was already standing there. "Came forward" (vayigash) therefore means he came forward in prayer. He argues first, then begs, and finally simply prays. He makes three arguments. First, Hashem swore to Noach never to destroy the world again, and if pure justice is applied with no mercy, the world can never survive: if Hashem scrutinized all of man's deeds, He would have to return the universe to the chaos before creation. Second, a human king destroys in anger without telling innocent from guilty, but Hashem is fully in control and merciful. Third, will the merit of the righteous simply be thrown away? This teaches that prayer is not only asking: like Avraham, a person can come before Hashem with real, reasoned arguments.
Bereshis 18:24–25

אוּלַ֥י יֵ֛שׁ חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים צַדִּיקִ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֑יר הַאַ֤ף תִּסְפֶּה֙ וְלֹא־תִשָּׂ֣א לַמָּק֔וֹם לְמַ֛עַן חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים הַצַּדִּיקִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃

Suppose there are fifty innocent people in the city. Would You still destroy it, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty good people inside it?

חָלִ֨לָה לְּךָ֜ מֵעֲשֹׂ֣ת ׀ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה לְהָמִ֤ית צַדִּיק֙ עִם־רָשָׁ֔ע וְהָיָ֥ה כַצַּדִּ֖יק כָּרָשָׁ֑ע חָלִ֣לָה לָּ֔ךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט֙ כׇּל־הָאָ֔רֶץ לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מִשְׁפָּֽט׃

It would be sacrilege even to ascribe such an act to Youto kill the innocent with the guilty, letting the righteous and the wicked fare alike. It would be sacrilege to ascribe this to You! Shall the whole world's Judge not act justly?"

Avraham asks: suppose there are fifty innocent people in the city, will You not spare the place for their sake? Far be it from You, "shall the Judge of all the earth not act justly?" Notice that the Torah separates "the city" from "the place." The city means the major cities, and the place means the whole region with its surrounding villages. Avraham understood that Hashem was judging the whole area as one. Weighing the region's good against its bad troubled him: deeds are weighed, not counted, and one evil act can outweigh many good ones, so the righteous could be outweighed and die with the wicked though they never sinned. Even fifty righteous should save the whole city. And even if Hashem only counts people, He should at least judge each person on his own. Fifty means ten righteous people in each of the five cities, enough to cancel the decree.
Bereshis 18:26

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֔ה אִם־אֶמְצָ֥א בִסְדֹ֛ם חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים צַדִּיקִ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֑יר וְנָשָׂ֥אתִי לְכׇל־הַמָּק֖וֹם בַּעֲבוּרָֽם׃

God said, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the entire area for their sake."

Hashem answers that if He finds fifty innocent people in Sodom, He will spare the whole area for their sake. Hashem is telling Avraham: you always look for the good in everyone, and in the ten generations since Noach you are the only one I have spoken with, so I cherish your words. But the argument does not hold, because there are not fifty. The Torah hints at this in the spelling. Tzaddikim (righteous people) is normally written with two yuds, but here it is missing one. Even the better people of Sodom were caught up in its corruption and injustice.
Bereshis 18:27–28

וַיַּ֥עַן אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הִנֵּה־נָ֤א הוֹאַ֙לְתִּי֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אֶל־אֲדֹנָ֔י וְאָנֹכִ֖י עָפָ֥ר וָאֵֽפֶר׃

Abraham spoke up and said, "I have already said too much before my Lord! I am mere dust and ashes!

א֠וּלַ֠י יַחְסְר֞וּן חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים הַצַּדִּיקִם֙ חֲמִשָּׁ֔ה הֲתַשְׁחִ֥ית בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֖ה אֶת־כׇּל־הָעִ֑יר וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית אִם־אֶמְצָ֣א שָׁ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֖ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃

But suppose that there are five missing from the fifty innocent? Will You destroy the entire city because of the five?" "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there," replied God.

Avraham says he is only dust and ashes and is speaking boldly to save his fellow human beings. Then he asks: what if the fifty are "lacking five"? Why not simply say forty-five? The Kli Chemdah explains that the wording carries two requests. Avraham had begun with fifty righteous "within the city": people active in the city, teaching others and trying to improve them. Now he asked that even the righteous who are good only for themselves should count, and if not, that forty-five of those who correct others should be enough. Hashem answered "if I find forty-five there," without "within the city": He granted both, counting even the righteous who stay at home and don't care about others.
Bereshis 18:29–30

וַיֹּ֨סֶף ע֜וֹד לְדַבֵּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם אַרְבָּעִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֔ה בַּעֲב֖וּר הָאַרְבָּעִֽים׃

[Abraham] persisted and said, "Suppose there are forty there?" "I will not act for the sake of the forty."

וַ֠יֹּ֠אמֶר אַל־נָ֞א יִ֤חַר לַֽאדֹנָי֙ וַאֲדַבֵּ֔רָה אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם שְׁלֹשִׁ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֔ה אִם־אֶמְצָ֥א שָׁ֖ם שְׁלֹשִֽׁים׃

"Let not my Lord be angry, but I [must] speak up. What if there are thirty there?" "I will not act if I find thirty there."

Avraham keeps going, to forty and then to thirty, asking Hashem not to be angry, and each time Hashem agrees. Why does he keep pushing? In earlier times a king hearing a capital case used a water clock: water dripped out of a vessel, and when it ran out the defense was over. If the king had the vessel refilled, it meant he wanted to hear more defense. Every time Hashem answered and agreed, Avraham understood that Hashem was refilling the clock and wanted him to keep defending the cities, so he kept going.
Bereshis 18:31–32

וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנֵּֽה־נָ֤א הוֹאַ֙לְתִּי֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אֶל־אֲדֹנָ֔י אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם עֶשְׂרִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית בַּעֲב֖וּר הָֽעֶשְׂרִֽים׃

"I have already spoken too much now before my Lord! But what if twenty are found there?" "I will not destroy for the sake of the twenty."

וַ֠יֹּ֠אמֶר אַל־נָ֞א יִ֤חַר לַֽאדֹנָי֙ וַאֲדַבְּרָ֣ה אַךְ־הַפַּ֔עַם אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם עֲשָׂרָ֑ה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית בַּעֲב֖וּר הָעֲשָׂרָֽה׃

"Let my Lord not become angry, but I will speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there?" "I will not destroy for the sake of the ten."

Avraham asks about twenty, then speaks "just once more" and asks about ten, and Hashem says He will not destroy for the sake of the ten. The full sequence is 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10, and Avraham stops at ten. Bereishis Rabbah explains that he knew fewer than ten cannot save a city. He learned it from Noach: eight people were in the ark (Noach, his wife, his three sons and their wives), and those eight could not save anyone else.
Bereshis 18:33

וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר כִּלָּ֔ה לְדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וְאַבְרָהָ֖ם שָׁ֥ב לִמְקֹמֽוֹ׃

When He finished speaking with Abraham, God left [him]. Abraham then returned home.

When Hashem finishes speaking with Avraham, He leaves, and Avraham "returns to his place." Avraham had argued and prayed all day, from the morning with his guests until evening. When he saw the Shechinah (Hashem's presence) leave, he understood there was nothing more he could do. Rabbeinu Bachya says that "returning to his place" means returning to his usual work of hosting strangers. Having stood up for the five cities, he went straight back to his next avodah (service of Hashem).
Bereshis 19:1

וַ֠יָּבֹ֠אוּ שְׁנֵ֨י הַמַּלְאָכִ֤ים סְדֹ֙מָה֙ בָּעֶ֔רֶב וְל֖וֹט יֹשֵׁ֣ב בְּשַֽׁעַר־סְדֹ֑ם וַיַּרְא־לוֹט֙ וַיָּ֣קׇם לִקְרָאתָ֔ם וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ אַפַּ֖יִם אָֽרְצָה׃

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, while Lot was sitting at the city gate. Lot saw them and got up to greet them, bowing with his face to the ground.

The two angels reach Sodom in the evening while Lot is sitting at the city gate, and Lot gets up and bows to greet them. These angels fly from one end of the world to the other in moments, so why did they arrive only in the evening after leaving Avraham in the morning? Gavriel, who held the authority to destroy Sodom, saw Avraham standing and praying. He waited to see whether Avraham could annul the decree. Only when Avraham's day of prayer ended without success did the angels come to Sodom.
Bereshis 19:2

וַיֹּ֜אמֶר הִנֶּ֣ה נָּא־אֲדֹנַ֗י ס֣וּרוּ נָ֠א אֶל־בֵּ֨ית עַבְדְּכֶ֤ם וְלִ֙ינוּ֙ וְרַחֲצ֣וּ רַגְלֵיכֶ֔ם וְהִשְׁכַּמְתֶּ֖ם וַהֲלַכְתֶּ֣ם לְדַרְכְּכֶ֑ם וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ לֹּ֔א כִּ֥י בָרְח֖וֹב נָלִֽין׃

He said, "Please, my lords, turn aside to my house. Spend the night, bathe your feet, and then continue on your way early in the morning." "No," they replied, "we will spend the night in the square."

Lot asks them to turn aside to his house, spend the night, wash their feet and leave early in the morning, but they say they will sleep in the town square. Lot had learned hospitality from his uncle Avraham and ran out to greet them. But in Sodom he had to do it secretly, at night. That is why he said spend the night first and then wash your feet: if the guests left with clean feet, people would suspect they had slept in his house, so he wanted their feet to stay dusty, as if they had slept in the street.
Bereshis 19:3

וַיִּפְצַר־בָּ֣ם מְאֹ֔ד וַיָּסֻ֣רוּ אֵלָ֔יו וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אֶל־בֵּית֑וֹ וַיַּ֤עַשׂ לָהֶם֙ מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה וּמַצּ֥וֹת אָפָ֖ה וַיֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃

[Lot] kept urging them until they finally turned aside to him and came to his house. He made a feast for them and baked matzah, and they ate.

Lot keeps urging them until they come to his house, where he makes a feast and bakes matzah. He made it look as if they were arguing over a business deal, so that anyone watching would see nothing kind going on, while in fact he was persuading them to come in. The angels did not accept right away, unlike with Avraham, because the Talmud (Bava Metzia 87a) teaches that an important person invited by an ordinary person may wait until he is urged.
Bereshis 19:4–5

טֶ֘רֶם֮ יִשְׁכָּ֒בוּ֒ וְאַנְשֵׁ֨י הָעִ֜יר אַנְשֵׁ֤י סְדֹם֙ נָסַ֣בּוּ עַל־הַבַּ֔יִת מִנַּ֖עַר וְעַד־זָקֵ֑ן כׇּל־הָעָ֖ם מִקָּצֶֽה׃

They had not yet gone to bed when the townspeople, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house-young and old alike—all the people from every quarter.

וַיִּקְרְא֤וּ אֶל־לוֹט֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ ל֔וֹ אַיֵּ֧ה הָאֲנָשִׁ֛ים אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֥אוּ אֵלֶ֖יךָ הַלָּ֑יְלָה הוֹצִיאֵ֣ם אֵלֵ֔ינוּ וְנֵדְעָ֖ה אֹתָֽם׃

They called out to Lot and said, "Where are the strangers who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know them!"

Before they go to bed, the men of Sodom, young and old, from every quarter, surround the house and demand that Lot bring out the strangers "so that we may know them." To "know," as with Adam and Chava, means intimacy. The mob wanted to rape the guests, which is where the word sodomy comes from. This shows a further level of Sodom's evil: forbidding guests was not enough, they wanted to abuse them. The angels said to Lot: look at the people you live among. These people deserve destruction without mercy.
Bereshis 19:6–8

וַיֵּצֵ֧א אֲלֵהֶ֛ם ל֖וֹט הַפֶּ֑תְחָה וְהַדֶּ֖לֶת סָגַ֥ר אַחֲרָֽיו׃

Lot went out to them in front of the entrance, shutting the door behind him.

וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אַל־נָ֥א אַחַ֖י תָּרֵֽעוּ׃

He said, "My brothers, don't do such an evil thing!

הִנֵּה־נָ֨א לִ֜י שְׁתֵּ֣י בָנ֗וֹת אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־יָדְעוּ֙ אִ֔ישׁ אוֹצִֽיאָה־נָּ֤א אֶתְהֶן֙ אֲלֵיכֶ֔ם וַעֲשׂ֣וּ לָהֶ֔ן כַּטּ֖וֹב בְּעֵינֵיכֶ֑ם רַ֠ק לָֽאֲנָשִׁ֤ים הָאֵל֙ אַל־תַּעֲשׂ֣וּ דָבָ֔ר כִּֽי־עַל־כֵּ֥ן בָּ֖אוּ בְּצֵ֥ל קֹרָתִֽי׃

I have two daughters who have never known a man. I will bring them out to you. Do as you please with them. But don't do anything to these men. After all, they have come under my roar! "

Lot goes out, shuts the door behind him, and offers the mob his two daughters who have never known a man, if only they leave his guests alone, since the guests have come under his roof. These two daughters were betrothed. In the Torah, betrothal (kiddushin) makes a woman legally married and forbidden to anyone else, even though she has not yet lived with her husband. So Lot was offering not only virgin daughters but women legally married, and the commentators read his offer in two ways.
Bereshis 19:9

וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ ׀ גֶּשׁ־הָ֗לְאָה וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ הָאֶחָ֤ד בָּֽא־לָגוּר֙ וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֣ט שָׁפ֔וֹט עַתָּ֕ה נָרַ֥ע לְךָ֖ מֵהֶ֑ם וַיִּפְצְר֨וּ בָאִ֤ישׁ בְּלוֹט֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַֽיִּגְּשׁ֖וּ לִשְׁבֹּ֥ר הַדָּֽלֶת׃

"Get out of the way!" they shouted. They were saying, "This one man came here as an immigrant, and now all of a sudden, he has set himself up as a judge! We'll give it to you worse than to th em. They pushed against Lot very much, and tried to break down the door.

The mob shouts at Lot to get out of the way: this man came here as an immigrant and now he has made himself a judge, so they will treat him worse than the guests. They push hard against Lot and try to break down the door. Now they turn on Lot himself, the outsider who became a judge. Bereishis Rabbah describes how they enforced their ancient covenant against hosting guests: they threw grappling hooks onto his roof to pull it down and used a heavy beam to batter the door.
Bereshis 19:10–11

וַיִּשְׁלְח֤וּ הָֽאֲנָשִׁים֙ אֶת־יָדָ֔ם וַיָּבִ֧יאוּ אֶת־ל֛וֹט אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם הַבָּ֑יְתָה וְאֶת־הַדֶּ֖לֶת סָגָֽרוּ׃

The strangers [inside] reached out and pulled Lot to them into the house, closing the door.

וְֽאֶת־הָאֲנָשִׁ֞ים אֲשֶׁר־פֶּ֣תַח הַבַּ֗יִת הִכּוּ֙ בַּסַּנְוֵרִ֔ים מִקָּטֹ֖ן וְעַד־גָּד֑וֹל וַיִּלְא֖וּ לִמְצֹ֥א הַפָּֽתַח׃

They struck the men who were standing at the entrance with blindness-young and old alike—and [the Sodomites] tried in vain to find the door.

The men inside pull Lot back into the house and shut the door, and they strike the people at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wear themselves out trying to find the door. The angels struck them with cataracts, blinding them completely, and they stumbled over one another, totally disoriented.
Bereshis 19:12–14

וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ הָאֲנָשִׁ֜ים אֶל־ל֗וֹט עֹ֚ד מִֽי־לְךָ֣ פֹ֔ה חָתָן֙ וּבָנֶ֣יךָ וּבְנֹתֶ֔יךָ וְכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־לְךָ֖ בָּעִ֑יר הוֹצֵ֖א מִן־הַמָּקֽוֹם׃

The strangers said to Lot, "Who else do you have here? A son-in-law? Your own sons? Your daughters? If you have anyone in the city, get them out of the area.

כִּֽי־מַשְׁחִתִ֣ים אֲנַ֔חְנוּ אֶת־הַמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה כִּֽי־גָדְלָ֤ה צַעֲקָתָם֙ אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה וַיְשַׁלְּחֵ֥נוּ יְהֹוָ֖ה לְשַׁחֲתָֽהּ׃

We are about to destroy this place, for [the people's] outcry is great before God. God has sent us to destroy it."

וַיֵּצֵ֨א ל֜וֹט וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר ׀ אֶל־חֲתָנָ֣יו ׀ לֹקְחֵ֣י בְנֹתָ֗יו וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ ק֤וּמוּ צְּאוּ֙ מִן־הַמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה כִּֽי־מַשְׁחִ֥ית יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶת־הָעִ֑יר וַיְהִ֥י כִמְצַחֵ֖ק בְּעֵינֵ֥י חֲתָנָֽיו׃

Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were betrothed" to his daughters. He said, "Get moving! Get out of this area! God is about to destroy the city!" To his sons-in-law, it was all a big joke.

The angels tell Lot to take his sons-in-law, sons, daughters and anyone else he has out of the city, because they have been sent to destroy it. Lot warns his sons-in-law that "God is about to destroy the city," but they think he is joking. The Bris Shalom explains that they were not simply mocking him. The Talmud (Bava Kamma 60a) teaches that once the destroyer is given permission, he does not distinguish between good and bad, and had they heard that angels would destroy the city, they would have run. But Lot said God would destroy it, and they reasoned that Hashem does distinguish. If they were wicked, running would not help them, and if they were not, Hashem would save them where they were. So they laughed, but the destruction really was carried out by angels, and they died with the city.
Bereshis 19:15–16

וּכְמוֹ֙ הַשַּׁ֣חַר עָלָ֔ה וַיָּאִ֥יצוּ הַמַּלְאָכִ֖ים בְּל֣וֹט לֵאמֹ֑ר קוּם֩ קַ֨ח אֶֽת־אִשְׁתְּךָ֜ וְאֶת־שְׁתֵּ֤י בְנֹתֶ֙יךָ֙ הַנִּמְצָאֹ֔ת פֶּן־תִּסָּפֶ֖ה בַּעֲוֺ֥ן הָעִֽיר׃

As dawn was breaking, the two angels hurried Lot. "Get moving!" they said. "Take your wife and two daughters who are here! You don't want to be swept away because of the city's sin!"

וַֽיִּתְמַהְמָ֓הּ ׀ וַיַּחֲזִ֨יקוּ הָאֲנָשִׁ֜ים בְּיָד֣וֹ וּבְיַד־אִשְׁתּ֗וֹ וּבְיַד֙ שְׁתֵּ֣י בְנֹתָ֔יו בְּחֶמְלַ֥ת יְהֹוָ֖ה עָלָ֑יו וַיֹּצִאֻ֥הוּ וַיַּנִּחֻ֖הוּ מִח֥וּץ לָעִֽיר׃

He hesitated. The strangers grabbed him, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand, leading them out, and left them on the outskirts of the city. God had shown pity on [Lot].

At dawn the angels press Lot to take his wife and two daughters and go, but he hesitates, so they grab all four by the hand and leave them outside the city, because Hashem had pity on him. Lot hesitated because he was frozen by indecision, analysis paralysis. He was so attached to his possessions that he could not decide what to take. The angel Michael, or Gavriel according to some, finally took him, his wife and his daughters and put them outside the city.
Bereshis 19:17

וַיְהִי֩ כְהוֹצִיאָ֨ם אֹתָ֜ם הַח֗וּצָה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הִמָּלֵ֣ט עַל־נַפְשֶׁ֔ךָ אַל־תַּבִּ֣יט אַחֲרֶ֔יךָ וְאַֽל־תַּעֲמֹ֖ד בְּכׇל־הַכִּכָּ֑ר הָהָ֥רָה הִמָּלֵ֖ט פֶּן־תִּסָּפֶֽה׃

When [the angel] had led them out, he said, "Run for your life! Do not look back! Do not stop anywhere in the valley! Flee to the hills, so that you not be swept away!"

Once outside, the angel tells Lot to run for his life, not to look back or stop anywhere in the plain, and to flee to the hills. Rashi explains that he must not look back because he is no saint, and is not worthy of seeing his neighbors destroyed. Lot was being saved in Avraham's merit, not because he deserved to watch others fall.
Bereshis 19:18–19

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹט אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אַל־נָ֖א אֲדֹנָֽי׃

Lot said to them, "0 God, no!

הִנֵּה־נָ֠א מָצָ֨א עַבְדְּךָ֣ חֵן֮ בְּעֵינֶ֒יךָ֒ וַתַּגְדֵּ֣ל חַסְדְּךָ֗ אֲשֶׁ֤ר עָשִׂ֙יתָ֙ עִמָּדִ֔י לְהַחֲי֖וֹת אֶת־נַפְשִׁ֑י וְאָנֹכִ֗י לֹ֤א אוּכַל֙ לְהִמָּלֵ֣ט הָהָ֔רָה פֶּן־תִּדְבָּקַ֥נִי הָרָעָ֖ה וָמַֽתִּי׃

I have found favor in your eyes, and you have been very kind in saving my life! But I cannot reach the hills to escape. The evil will overtake me and I will die!

Lot answers that he has found favor in their eyes, but he cannot reach the hills: evil will overtake him and he will die. "The hills" meant Avraham's home, so why would Lot refuse to go to Avraham? The Yefeh To'ar gives two answers. In Sodom, compared to everyone else, Lot looked very righteous, but next to Avraham, now even greater after his bris (circumcision), Lot would look wicked and might be swept away with Sodom. Also, Sodom is one of the lowest cities on earth, and Lot feared that living in the hills would harm his health.
Bereshis 19:20

הִנֵּה־נָ֠א הָעִ֨יר הַזֹּ֧את קְרֹבָ֛ה לָנ֥וּס שָׁ֖מָּה וְהִ֣וא מִצְעָ֑ר אִמָּלְטָ֨ה נָּ֜א שָׁ֗מָּה הֲלֹ֥א מִצְעָ֛ר הִ֖וא וּתְחִ֥י נַפְשִֽׁי׃

Please, there is a city here close enough for refuge. It is insignificant! I will flee there-isn't it insignificant?-and I will survive."

Lot asks to flee instead to a nearby city that is "insignificant" (mitzar), so that he will survive. That city, Tzoar, was one of the five cities meant to be destroyed. It was insignificant because it was young, founded only after the dispersion at the Tower of Bavel. It had only fifty-one years of sin, not enough weight for destruction.
Bereshis 19:21–22

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו הִנֵּה֙ נָשָׂ֣אתִי פָנֶ֔יךָ גַּ֖ם לַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה לְבִלְתִּ֛י הׇפְכִּ֥י אֶת־הָעִ֖יר אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּֽרְתָּ׃

[The angel] replied to him, "I will also give you special consideration in this matter. I will not overturn the city you mentioned.

מַהֵר֙ הִמָּלֵ֣ט שָׁ֔מָּה כִּ֣י לֹ֤א אוּכַל֙ לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת דָּבָ֔ר עַד־בֹּאֲךָ֖ שָׁ֑מָּה עַל־כֵּ֛ן קָרָ֥א שֵׁם־הָעִ֖יר צֽוֹעַר׃

But hurry! Run there! I can do nothing until you get there." The city was henceforth known as Tzoar (Insignificant).

The angel grants Lot this as well and promises not to overturn the city he named, but tells him to hurry, because nothing can be done until he arrives, and so the city was called Tzoar. The angel did Lot this favor as a reward: Lot was hospitable and honored the angel when he saw him coming, so the angel spared a city for his sake.
Bereshis 19:23–25

הַשֶּׁ֖מֶשׁ יָצָ֣א עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְל֖וֹט בָּ֥א צֹֽעֲרָה׃

The sun had risen by the time that Lot arrived in Tzoar.

וַֽיהֹוָ֗ה הִמְטִ֧יר עַל־סְדֹ֛ם וְעַל־עֲמֹרָ֖ה גׇּפְרִ֣ית וָאֵ֑שׁ מֵאֵ֥ת יְהֹוָ֖ה מִן־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃

God made sulphur and fire rain down on Sodom and Gomorrah-it came from God, out of the sky.

וַֽיַּהֲפֹךְ֙ אֶת־הֶעָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔ל וְאֵ֖ת כׇּל־הַכִּכָּ֑ר וְאֵת֙ כׇּל־יֹשְׁבֵ֣י הֶעָרִ֔ים וְצֶ֖מַח הָאֲדָמָֽה׃

He overturned these cities along with the entire plain, [destroying] everyone who lived in the cities and [all] that was growing from the ground.

The sun has risen by the time Lot reaches Tzoar. Hashem rains sulfur and fire on Sodom and Amorah from the sky and overturns those cities, the whole plain, everyone living there and everything growing from the ground. Lot covered the great distance from Sodom to Tzoar between dawn and sunrise only because an angel carried him there in Avraham's merit. The Torah records all of this about Sodom so that people will never copy its ways.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

  • When you pray, you may reason with Hashem as Avraham did, not only ask.
  • A community protects itself by having at least ten people devoted to Torah learning full time.
  • When you have done everything you can for others, go straight back to your own avodah, as Avraham returned to hosting guests.
  • Keep your values in order: devotion to one good thing must not overturn your other priorities, as it did for Lot.
  • Get up early to pray: it weakens the urge that makes sleep sweet and catches the hours of mercy.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

Why anyone lived in Sodom: it was the Miami of its day

  • Sodom was cruel to visitors: guests were starved, tortured and killed. Yet it was the best place to live in terms of money, beautiful houses and every comfort, like Miami or any big rich city.
  • To live there you had to beat the system. You survived the entry, avoided being stretched or cut on the infamous bed, and then took on the city's own hatred of guests.
  • Lot made it in, and on the very day of this story he became the chief judge of Sodom. Businessmen like Eliezer went there too and had their own strategies for surviving the city.

Why another mass destruction would undermine faith in justice

  • Avraham warned that destroying the righteous with the wicked would make people call Hashem a murderer of the innocent, and that the Judge of all the earth would seem not to act justly.
  • After the Flood and the dispersion at the Tower of Bavel, people were already saying there is no judge and no justice. Another destruction like that would give them one more excuse not to believe that Hashem runs the world.
  • So Avraham pleaded with Hashem that even if the righteous could not save everyone, He should at least judge each person on his own.

Avraham puts his own merits on the line

  • According to the Yefeh To'ar, when Avraham offered to join any city that had only nine and be its tenth, he was offering his own merits to save Sodom.
  • He named two of them. He went gladly into Nimrod's furnace to sanctify Hashem's name, and he risked his life against the four kings to rescue Lot, fulfilling the mitzvah of ransoming captives.
  • Just as he once endangered himself to save Lot, here he endangers himself by speaking so boldly to Hashem, all to save other people.

Hashem's oath to Noach covers the world, not individuals

  • Hashem's answer, with the Talmud (Shevuos 36a): the oath after the Flood is that "all flesh" will never again be cut off by a flood, the whole earth, but Hashem will still punish individuals who sin.
  • The Maharimat adds that not a day passes without a flood. A sinner's child dying, his goods lost in a flood or at sea, or stolen: each punishment counts as a "flood."
  • Hashem judges each person by his deeds. He only promised not to wipe out the whole world at once.

Hashem gives more than Avraham asked for

  • There is a small difference between Avraham's request and Hashem's answer. Avraham asked that fifty righteous people even in one city be spread out in the count, as if there were ten in each city, to save the five major cities.
  • Hashem answered that for fifty in Sodom He would spare "the entire place": not only the five cities but all the surrounding villages too.
  • The five cities were Sodom, Amorah, Admah, Tzevoyim and Tzoar.

Why the numbers went 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10

  • If ten per city saves a city, forty should save four cities and thirty three, so why keep asking? Rabbeinu Bachya explains that the power of the righteous is not a simple ratio. Forty righteous people affect the public far more than thirty do, so Avraham could not assume that fewer people would save proportionally fewer cities.
  • Another approach: Avraham was lowering the number needed in each city. Fifty is ten each, then nine, eight, six, four, and finally two in each city.
  • The Talmud (Chullin 92a) teaches that forty-five righteous people in every generation sustain the world, thirty in one place and fifteen in another, one group in the Holy Land and one outside it, without saying which is which. The Azney Yehoshua builds the whole sequence on this. Fifty is ten for each city. Forty-five is nine each with Avraham counted as the tenth, and Hashem answered that forty-five are enough for the whole world without him. Forty, with Avraham's merit counted in each city, makes nine each, forty-five again. Thirty asks whether the Holy Land's group is enough, and Sodom is in the Holy Land. He asked twenty rather than fifteen so as not to drop more than ten at a time. Ten is two each plus Avraham, three each, fifteen in all.

Why Avraham stopped at ten, and the ten who protect a city

  • From Noach's eight, who could not save their world, Avraham knew that fewer than ten cannot save a city.
  • Why not ask about nine? Perhaps because with nine Avraham knew Hashem would already count him as the tenth, and eight had already failed in Noach's time.
  • The Me'am Loez draws a practical lesson: ten righteous people protect a city. So every Jewish community should make sure it has at least ten people learning Torah full time. That is why many cities set up a kollel, and its learners protect the city.
  • A student added that the Gemara (Megillah 5a) defines a large city as one with ten batlanim, people free from work to attend to the community.

Why they are "men" with Avraham and "angels" with Lot

  • With Avraham the Torah calls them men, and in Sodom it calls them angels. The Yefeh To'ar's first answer: with Avraham the Shechinah was present, and next to Hashem's greatness even angels look like ordinary men.
  • His second answer: Avraham was greater than the angels. Angels have no free will and no urges to overcome, while Avraham was a human being with human instincts who overcame them. It would not be fitting to call them angels next to him.
  • Rabbeinu Bachya says it more technically: while an angel is carrying out a mission he is called a man, and once he returns from it he is called an angel again.
  • A student brought another explanation from the Stone Chumash: Avraham was so used to angels that they were like ordinary men to him, while to Lot they were awesome. Similarly, Hagar was used to angels in Avraham's house and was only surprised to meet them in the desert. As for Lot, he did not realize they were angels and took them for prophets.

Lot's first day as chief judge

  • The city gate was where the judges sat, so Lot "sitting at the gate" means he was the chief judge of Sodom.
  • The word for sitting, yoshev, is normally spelled yud-vav-shin-beis, but here it is missing the vav. It reads like yashav, "he had just sat down."
  • This shows that Lot was appointed chief judge that very day.

Hospitality in hiding

  • The Zohar describes Lot's fear as he told the guests: the people here hate strangers, and as chief judge he was trying to improve them, but they did not listen and he lived in fear.
  • They had already burned one of Lot's daughters to death for feeding a poor man. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 109b) also tells of a young woman who secretly brought bread to the poor; they smeared her with honey and the hornets devoured her.
  • So Lot told the guests not to walk straight to his house with him, because people would see. He kept their feet dusty, and he made the invitation look like a business argument.
  • The angels at first said he need not endanger himself and they would sleep in the town square. The Imrei Noam says they meant they would go back and sleep at Avraham's house.

Two meanings of Lot's matzah

  • First reading: that night was Pesach (Rashi on 19:3). Yitzchak, promised for "this time next year," was born on Pesach (Rabbi Yehoshua in Rosh Hashanah 11a). Lot knew the secret that freedom is reached through matzah.
  • Second reading: matzah can also mean a quarrel. Bereishis Rabbah says Lot asked his wife for salt for the guests' meal, and she refused, saying they should sleep outside rather than bring lice into the house that she would have to clean.
  • So Lot did not put them in the main house but in an attached shed. "He baked matzah" means there was a quarrel over the salt.

Lot's night with the angels

  • Bereishis Rabbah says the angels asked Lot about the city. He said that every city has good and bad, but here most are bad.
  • In truth everyone was bad. Lot said "most" so they would not ask why he lived in a place where everyone was evil.
  • When they told him the city would be destroyed, he argued with them all night, taking them for prophets. To calm him they agreed to delay the sentence, which is why the mob found them still awake.

Two ways to read Lot's offer of his daughters

  • The Yefeh To'ar says Lot was not really offering his daughters. He was sending a message: even being with my betrothed daughters, which is forbidden, would not be as terrible as what you want to do.
  • Rabbeinu Bachya says the offer shows how low Lot's moral standards were. His values were mixed up, so he would hand over his betrothed daughters to protect his guests, when a father should risk his life for his daughters' honor.
  • The lesson: people can become so devoted to one value that they lose sight of priorities.

Why Lot was saved

  • According to Bereishis Rabbah, Lot also delayed out of worry for his married daughters. The angels told him not to wait for them: if they stay, waiting for them would mean dying with them.
  • Rashi brings that the angel told Lot he also deserved destruction, because he had taken part in the people's deeds.
  • He was saved for two reasons: the merit of his uncle Avraham, and because in Egypt, when Avraham said Sarah was his sister, Lot did not reveal that she was his wife.

Don't look back: sins written on the forehead

  • The Zohar says a person's sins are marked on his forehead. When the destroyer sent by Hashem sees a person's face, he reads the sins there and destroys that person too.
  • That is why Noach was told to stay hidden inside the teivah (the ark): so that the destroyer would not see his face.
  • It is another reason Lot could not look back. Once you face the destroyer, you become part of the destruction. It is like jiu-jitsu: lock eyes with someone between rounds and now you have to roll with him.

Should we hate the wicked, or pray for their sins to end?

  • Tehillim says, "Those who love Hashem hate evil." But the Talmud (Berachos 10a) brings how Beruriah, the wife of Rabbi Meir, read the verse "yitamu chata'im min ha'aretz" ("may sins cease from the earth").
  • It does not say chot'im, sinners, but chata'im, sins. We are not praying for the wicked to be wiped out but for their sins to end.
  • Then the verse continues, "and the wicked will be no more": once they stop sinning, there are no wicked people left.
  • Avraham prayed the same way. He did not pray only for the righteous to be saved but that in their merit everyone would be saved.

What happened to Tzoar's people

  • The Yefeh To'ar says none of Tzoar's people were harmed, as a reward for Lot's hospitality to the angel. But Lot had to hurry: as long as he was still in the area, the angel could do nothing to the cities.
  • The Kli Chemdah's view is that Tzoar's inhabitants were in fact burned and only the city itself survived.
  • That would fit what comes next, when Lot and his daughters are alone and believe no one is left.

Why the destruction came between dawn and sunrise

  • The Yefeh To'ar, and Rashi as well, explain that some people in Sodom worshipped the sun and some the moon. If the destruction came by day, the moon worshippers would say the moon would have saved them, and if by night, the sun worshippers would say the same about the sun.
  • So Hashem destroyed Sodom while the sun was rising and the moon was still out, leaving no one any excuse in his last moments.
  • Another answer: the start of the day is a time of mercy. In the first three hours there is a special evil urge that makes sleep sweet. Someone who gets up early and prays harms that urge greatly. Someone who gets up later finds his account already examined, and his prayer can be rejected.
  • Hashem destroyed Sodom in the very hours of mercy to show that evil people can turn mercy itself into judgment.

Six punishments, measure for measure

  • Six things happened in these verses. Boiling rain fell and burned people, as in the Flood. The rain came first as ordinary rain, a warning to repent, and when they kept rebelling it turned to fire and brimstone. An angel stretched out his hand, some say his little finger, and overturned the cities, which stood on a mountain. The ground and everything growing on it became harmful. Clouds passing over Sodom produce harmful rain that burns the soil, so nothing can grow there. And, as the Talmud in Sanhedrin brings, the people of Sodom, wicked in life, have no share in the World to Come and will not rise at the resurrection.
  • The Zohar shows that Hashem punishes measure for measure. They would not give food to strangers or beggars, so Hashem gives them nothing in the future, not even resurrection.
  • They refused charity, which is life to the poor, so Hashem refused them life in both worlds. They closed their roads to strangers, so the gates of heaven are closed to them.
Review questions
  1. Why does Avraham ask about fifty "lacking five" instead of simply asking about forty-five, and how does Hashem's answer cover both meanings?
  2. What does the water clock in capital cases explain about why Avraham kept lowering the number?
  3. Why did Avraham stop at ten, and what practical lesson does the Me'am Loez draw from it?
  4. What does the missing vav in "yoshev" teach about Lot at the city gate?
  5. Why did Lot's sons-in-law laugh at his warning, and why was their reasoning mistaken?
  6. Give two reasons why Sodom was destroyed between dawn and sunrise.
Sources
  • Yefeh To'ar: Avraham offering his own merits; why "men" next to Avraham; Lot's offer as a message; why Lot refused the hills; Tzoar's people spared; the sun and moon worshippers
  • Rabbeinu Bachya: the power of the righteous is not a simple ratio; Avraham returning to hosting guests; an angel on a mission is called a man; Lot's values mixed up
  • Bereishis Rabbah: stopping at ten because Noach's eight could not save their world; the quarrel over salt; Lot's report on the city; the mob's hooks and beam; Lot's married daughters
  • Zohar: Lot's fear in Sodom; sins marked on the forehead; Sodom's punishment measure for measure
  • Me'am Loez: ten full-time learners protect a city
  • Talmud, Shevuos 36a: the oath after the Flood is about "all flesh," the whole world
  • Talmud, Chullin 92a: forty-five righteous people sustain the world in every generation
  • Talmud, Bava Metzia 87a: an important guest may wait to be urged
  • Talmud, Bava Kamma 60a: the destroyer does not distinguish between good and bad
  • Talmud, Berachos 10a (Beruriah): pray for sins to cease, not sinners
  • Talmud, Sanhedrin: the people of Sodom have no share in the World to Come
  • Rashi: Lot saved by Avraham's merit and his silence in Egypt; the sun and moon worshippers
  • Imrei Noam: "the town square" meaning Avraham's house
  • Maharimat: not a day passes without a flood
  • Maharik: Hashem gives more than Avraham asked
  • Kli Chemdah: fifty "lacking five"; Tzoar's inhabitants burned, the city spared
  • Azney Yehoshua: the sequence 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10
  • Bris Shalom: why the sons-in-law laughed
  • Rashi on 19:3: the night was Pesach
  • Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 11a: Yitzchak born on Pesach
  • Talmud, Sanhedrin 109b: the young woman and the honey
  • Talmud, Megillah 5a: a large city has ten batlanim