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Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Vayera 3

Here we finish the destruction of Sodom (Bereshis 19:26–38), covering Lot's wife, Lot and his daughters in the cave, and the birth of Moav and Ammon. Then we follow Avraham south to Gerar, where Avimelech takes Sarah (Bereshis 20:1–18). Two themes keep returning. The first is that people are judged by what is in their heart, whether it is Lot's wife's greed, the daughters' pure intentions, Lot's lust or Avimelech's half-innocence. The second is Avraham's chesed, an overflowing kindness. It makes him move to find people to help, forgive and pray for the man who took his wife, and leave town so that man won't be embarrassed.

The pesukim

Bereshis 19:26

וַתַּבֵּ֥ט אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ מֵאַחֲרָ֑יו וַתְּהִ֖י נְצִ֥יב מֶֽלַח׃

[Lot's] wife looked behind him, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Lot's wife looked behind him and was turned into a pillar of salt. Her name was Irith. The angel had warned the family not to look back at Sodom. According to Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer she looked back for an innocent reason: she hoped to see her two married daughters following her out. Even so, she had gone against the angel's command. Targum Yonasan and Bereishis Rabbah explain why the punishment was salt in particular. When Lot hosted the angels he asked her for a little salt, and she argued with him because she didn't want guests. So she was punished measure for measure: the woman who fought over salt became salt.
Bereshis 19:27

וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֥ם אַבְרָהָ֖ם בַּבֹּ֑קֶר אֶ֨ל־הַמָּק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁר־עָ֥מַד שָׁ֖ם אֶת־פְּנֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃

Abraham woke up early in the morning, [hurrying back] to the place where he had stood before God.

Avraham got up early in the morning and hurried back to the place where he had stood before Hashem. To "stand" before Hashem means to pray, so this is where Avraham instituted Shacharis, the morning prayer (Berachos 26b). Because he went back to the exact same spot, we also learn that a person should have a fixed place to pray (Berachos 6b).
Bereshis 19:28–29

וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ף עַל־פְּנֵ֤י סְדֹם֙ וַעֲמֹרָ֔ה וְעַֽל־כׇּל־פְּנֵ֖י אֶ֣רֶץ הַכִּכָּ֑ר וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה עָלָה֙ קִיטֹ֣ר הָאָ֔רֶץ כְּקִיטֹ֖ר הַכִּבְשָֽׁן׃

He stared at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole area of the plain, and all he saw was heavy smoke rising from the earth, like the smoke of a lime kiln."

וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁחֵ֤ת אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־עָרֵ֣י הַכִּכָּ֔ר וַיִּזְכֹּ֥ר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיְשַׁלַּ֤ח אֶת־לוֹט֙ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַהֲפֵכָ֔ה בַּהֲפֹךְ֙ אֶת־הֶ֣עָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־יָשַׁ֥ב בָּהֵ֖ן לֽוֹט׃

When God had destroyed the cities of the plain, God had remembered Abraham. Thus, when He overturned the cities in which Lot lived, He allowed Lot to escape the upheaval.

Avraham looked toward Sodom and Amorah and saw only heavy smoke rising like the smoke of a lime kiln. When Hashem destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Avraham and let Lot escape. Lot was saved only in Avraham's merit.
Bereshis 19:30

וַיַּ֩עַל֩ ל֨וֹט מִצּ֜וֹעַר וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב בָּהָ֗ר וּשְׁתֵּ֤י בְנֹתָיו֙ עִמּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י יָרֵ֖א לָשֶׁ֣בֶת בְּצ֑וֹעַר וַיֵּ֙שֶׁב֙ בַּמְּעָרָ֔ה ה֖וּא וּשְׁתֵּ֥י בְנֹתָֽיו׃

Lot went up from Tzoar, and settled in the hills together with his two daughters, since he was afraid to remain in Tzoar. He lived in a cave alone with his two daughters.

Lot left Tzoar and settled with his two daughters in a cave in the hills. He had begged the angels to let him go to Tzoar, and they spared the city for his sake. But it was too close to Sodom, and after seeing that catastrophe he was terrified. He and his daughters, all that was left of his family, ran to the mountains and hid.
Bereshis 19:31–32

וַתֹּ֧אמֶר הַבְּכִירָ֛ה אֶל־הַצְּעִירָ֖ה אָבִ֣ינוּ זָקֵ֑ן וְאִ֨ישׁ אֵ֤ין בָּאָ֙רֶץ֙ לָב֣וֹא עָלֵ֔ינוּ כְּדֶ֖רֶךְ כׇּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

The older girl said to the younger, "Our father is growing old, and there is no other man left in the world to marry us in a normal manner.

לְכָ֨ה נַשְׁקֶ֧ה אֶת־אָבִ֛ינוּ יַ֖יִן וְנִשְׁכְּבָ֣ה עִמּ֑וֹ וּנְחַיֶּ֥ה מֵאָבִ֖ינוּ זָֽרַע׃

Come, let's get our father drunk with wine, and sleep with him. We will then survive through children from our father."

The older daughter told the younger that their father was getting old and no man was left in the world, so they would get him drunk and have children from him. They had seen Sodom in flames. The Yefeh To'ar says they took it for a fire destroying the whole world, as the Flood had. The Ramban adds that they had seen Tzoar survive, but hiding in the cave they assumed it too was gone. The Ramban explains that they saw it as their job to keep the human race going. They knew their father would never agree while sober, so they planned to get him drunk. Rashi explains why they mention that he is old: if he died, humanity would end with him, so it had to happen that very night.
Bereshis 19:33–35

וַתַּשְׁקֶ֧יןָ אֶת־אֲבִיהֶ֛ן יַ֖יִן בַּלַּ֣יְלָה ה֑וּא וַתָּבֹ֤א הַבְּכִירָה֙ וַתִּשְׁכַּ֣ב אֶת־אָבִ֔יהָ וְלֹֽא־יָדַ֥ע בְּשִׁכְבָ֖הּ וּבְקוּׄמָֽהּ׃

That night, they got their father drunk with wine, and the older girl went and slept with her father. He was not aware that she had lain down or gotten up.

וַֽיְהִי֙ מִֽמׇּחֳרָ֔ת וַתֹּ֤אמֶר הַבְּכִירָה֙ אֶל־הַצְּעִירָ֔ה הֵן־שָׁכַ֥בְתִּי אֶ֖מֶשׁ אֶת־אָבִ֑י נַשְׁקֶ֨נּוּ יַ֜יִן גַּם־הַלַּ֗יְלָה וּבֹ֙אִי֙ שִׁכְבִ֣י עִמּ֔וֹ וּנְחַיֶּ֥ה מֵאָבִ֖ינוּ זָֽרַע׃

The next day, the older girl said to the younger, "Last night it was I who slept with my father. Tonight, let's get him drunk with wine again. You go sleep with him, and we will survive through children from our father."

וַתַּשְׁקֶ֜יןָ גַּ֣ם בַּלַּ֧יְלָה הַה֛וּא אֶת־אֲבִיהֶ֖ן יָ֑יִן וַתָּ֤קׇם הַצְּעִירָה֙ וַתִּשְׁכַּ֣ב עִמּ֔וֹ וְלֹֽא־יָדַ֥ע בְּשִׁכְבָ֖הּ וּבְקֻמָֽהּ׃

That night, they again made their father drunk with wine. The younger girl got up and she slept with him. He was not aware that she had lain down or gotten up.

On two nights in a row the daughters gave Lot wine. First the older one lay with him and then the younger, and both times the verse says he didn't know when she lay down or when she got up. There is a dot over the word uvkumah ("when she got up") on the first night. The Talmud (Nazir 23a) learns from it that Lot really did know when she got up. That morning he understood what had happened. He should have been extremely careful not to get drunk again, yet he drank again the second night and was drawn into the same sin.
Bereshis 19:36–38

וַֽתַּהֲרֶ֛יןָ שְׁתֵּ֥י בְנֽוֹת־ל֖וֹט מֵאֲבִיהֶֽן׃

Lot's two daughters became pregnant from their father.

וַתֵּ֤לֶד הַבְּכִירָה֙ בֵּ֔ן וַתִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ מוֹאָ֑ב ה֥וּא אֲבִֽי־מוֹאָ֖ב עַד־הַיּֽוֹם׃

The older girl had a son, and she named him Moab. He is the ancestor of[the nation] Moab that exists today.

וְהַצְּעִירָ֤ה גַם־הִוא֙ יָ֣לְדָה בֵּ֔ן וַתִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ בֶּן־עַמִּ֑י ה֛וּא אֲבִ֥י בְנֵֽי־עַמּ֖וֹן עַד־הַיּֽוֹם׃

The younger girl also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ami. He is the ancestor of the people of Ammon who exist today.

Both daughters became pregnant from their father. The older named her son Moav, ancestor of the Moabites, and the younger named hers Ben-Ami, ancestor of the people of Ammon (today's Amman, in Jordan). The Me'am Loez says the pregnancies themselves show their motives were pure. A woman who sinned out of desire or for money would prevent a pregnancy or end it, but these daughters carried and raised the children. The names point the same way: Moav means "from the father." They accepted the embarrassment of announcing where their children came from, which shows they acted out of a sincere wish to keep humanity alive.
Bereshis 20:1

וַיִּסַּ֨ע מִשָּׁ֤ם אַבְרָהָם֙ אַ֣רְצָה הַנֶּ֔גֶב וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב בֵּין־קָדֵ֖שׁ וּבֵ֣ין שׁ֑וּר וַיָּ֖גׇר בִּגְרָֽר׃

Abraham migrated from there to the land of the Negev, and he settled between Kadesh and Shur. He would often visit Gerar.

Avraham moved to the Negev, settled between Kadesh and Shur, and often visited Gerar. After Sodom was destroyed, travelers stopped passing near Chevron, and Avraham couldn't live without guests to look after. So he moved to where there would be people to help. Negev comes from the word for "dry". Following the Sifsei Kohen, he went to a place that was dry both physically and spiritually, where people had no pity on the poor, so that he could teach them to give.
Bereshis 20:2

וַיֹּ֧אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֛ם אֶל־שָׂרָ֥ה אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ אֲחֹ֣תִי הִ֑וא וַיִּשְׁלַ֗ח אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ גְּרָ֔ר וַיִּקַּ֖ח אֶת־שָׂרָֽה׃

[There] he announced that his wife Sarah was his sister, and Abimelekh, king of Gerar, sent messengers and took Sarah.

In Gerar Avraham announced that Sarah was his sister, and Avimelech, king of Gerar, had her taken to his palace. Rashi points out a difference from Egypt. There Avraham asked Sarah, "Please say you are my sister." Here he didn't need to ask her, because she already knew what to do, so he simply announced it to everyone. Sarah knew that miracles don't happen every day, so she agreed to take every precaution, so that no one would kill Avraham in order to take her. According to the Ramban, she was ninety but her youth had returned along with the promise of a child, which is why word of her beauty spread.
Bereshis 20:3

וַיָּבֹ֧א אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶל־אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ בַּחֲל֣וֹם הַלָּ֑יְלָה וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֗וֹ הִנְּךָ֥ מֵת֙ עַל־הָאִשָּׁ֣ה אֲשֶׁר־לָקַ֔חְתָּ וְהִ֖וא בְּעֻ֥לַת בָּֽעַל׃

God came to Abimelekh in a dream that night. "You will die because of the woman you took," He said. "She is already married."

Hashem came to Avimelech in a dream that night and told him he would die because of the woman he had taken, since she was married. The Sefer HaYashar describes an angel standing over him with a drawn sword. Bereishis Rabbah adds that even if Sarah had not been married, he would deserve to die for holding against her will a woman greater than Avraham himself.
Bereshis 20:4–5

וַאֲבִימֶ֕לֶךְ לֹ֥א קָרַ֖ב אֵלֶ֑יהָ וַיֹּאמַ֕ר אֲדֹנָ֕י הֲג֥וֹי גַּם־צַדִּ֖יק תַּהֲרֹֽג׃

Abimelekh had not come near her. He said, "0 Lord, will You even kill an innocent nation?

הֲלֹ֨א ה֤וּא אָֽמַר־לִי֙ אֲחֹ֣תִי הִ֔וא וְהִֽיא־גַם־הִ֥וא אָֽמְרָ֖ה אָחִ֣י ה֑וּא בְּתׇם־לְבָבִ֛י וּבְנִקְיֹ֥ן כַּפַּ֖י עָשִׂ֥יתִי זֹֽאת׃

Didn't [her husband] tell me that she was his sister? She also claimed that he was her brother. If I did something, it was with an innocent heart and clean hands."

Avimelech had not come near her. He asked, "Will You kill a nation even if it is innocent? Didn't he tell me she was his sister?" Rashi, quoting Bereishis Rabbah, explains that he had always wondered whether the generations of the Flood and of the Tower of Bavel were destroyed without cause, and now he was asking the same thing about himself. But look closely at what he says: "Didn't HE say to me." Sarah herself had told him she was married, and he avoided admitting it. He leaned on Avraham's words, and on the fact that all of Avraham's people, even the shepherds, called her his sister. From that he told himself she was probably just turning him down.
Bereshis 20:6

וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ אֵלָ֨יו הָֽאֱלֹהִ֜ים בַּחֲלֹ֗ם גַּ֣ם אָנֹכִ֤י יָדַ֙עְתִּי֙ כִּ֤י בְתׇם־לְבָבְךָ֙ עָשִׂ֣יתָ זֹּ֔את וָאֶחְשֹׂ֧ךְ גַּם־אָנֹכִ֛י אֽוֹתְךָ֖ מֵחֲטוֹ־לִ֑י עַל־כֵּ֥ן לֹא־נְתַתִּ֖יךָ לִנְגֹּ֥עַ אֵלֶֽיהָ׃

God said to him in the dream, "I also realize that you have done this with an innocent heart. That is why I prevented you from sinning against Me, not giving you an opportunity to touch her.

Hashem answered that He knew Avimelech had acted with an innocent heart, and that is why He had stopped him from touching her. In other words, Avimelech shouldn't boast about his self-control. Hashem had sent the illnesses that made it impossible for him to touch her, and if he had been well he would have gone ahead. Still, Avimelech was at fault. Before doing anything he should have waited a few days and looked into the matter, and he didn't.
Bereshis 20:7

וְעַתָּ֗ה הָשֵׁ֤ב אֵֽשֶׁת־הָאִישׁ֙ כִּֽי־נָבִ֣יא ה֔וּא וְיִתְפַּלֵּ֥ל בַּֽעַדְךָ֖ וֶֽחְיֵ֑ה וְאִם־אֵֽינְךָ֣ מֵשִׁ֔יב דַּ֚ע כִּי־מ֣וֹת תָּמ֔וּת אַתָּ֖ה וְכׇל־אֲשֶׁר־לָֽךְ׃

Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet. He will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not return [her], you can be sure that you will die—you and all that is yours."

Hashem told him to return the man's wife, because Avraham is a prophet and will pray for him so that he lives. If he didn't return her, he and everyone with him would die. The word "return" implies that something was stolen. Avimelech was therefore liable to death on two counts: for taking her by force, which is a form of robbery, one of the seven universal laws that carry the death penalty (the Maharimat, Rabbi Yosef of Trani); and because she was a married woman. "He is a prophet" answered Avimelech's fear that Avraham wouldn't believe him and would curse him. A prophet would know nothing had happened, and when people saw Avraham praying for him they would know he had done nothing wrong.
Bereshis 20:8

וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם אֲבִימֶ֜לֶךְ בַּבֹּ֗קֶר וַיִּקְרָא֙ לְכׇל־עֲבָדָ֔יו וַיְדַבֵּ֛ר אֶת־כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה בְּאׇזְנֵיהֶ֑ם וַיִּֽירְא֥וּ הָאֲנָשִׁ֖ים מְאֹֽד׃

Abimelekh got up early in the morning, and he summoned all his servants. He discreetly repeated all these words to them, and the men were very frightened.

Avimelech got up early, quietly told his servants everything, and they were terrified. Bereishis Rabbah explains that they could still see the smoke rising from Sodom, and they were afraid Avraham would call down the same destroying angels on them. Hashem had promised in the dream that all would be well, but the Talmud (Brachos 55a) teaches that just as there is no wheat without straw, there is no dream without some meaningless parts. They feared the reassuring part was that kind of empty fantasy.
Bereshis 20:9–10

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֲבִימֶ֜לֶךְ לְאַבְרָהָ֗ם וַיֹּ֨אמֶר ל֜וֹ מֶֽה־עָשִׂ֤יתָ לָּ֙נוּ֙ וּמֶֽה־חָטָ֣אתִי לָ֔ךְ כִּֽי־הֵבֵ֧אתָ עָלַ֛י וְעַל־מַמְלַכְתִּ֖י חֲטָאָ֣ה גְדֹלָ֑ה מַעֲשִׂים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יֵֽעָשׂ֔וּ עָשִׂ֖יתָ עִמָּדִֽי׃

Abimelekh summoned Abraham and said to him, "How could you do this to us? What terrible thing did I do to you that you brought such great guilt upon me and my people? The thing you did to me is simply not done!"

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֑ם מָ֣ה רָאִ֔יתָ כִּ֥י עָשִׂ֖יתָ אֶת־הַדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּֽה׃

Abimelekh then asked Abraham, "What did you see to make you do such a thing?"

Avimelech confronted Avraham: what had they done to deserve such great guilt, and why had he done something that is simply not done? The Yefeh To'ar explains that Gerar had never suffered anything like this, with mouths, eyes, ears and every opening of the body sealed shut. The Kesef Mezukak explains Avimelech's argument: if they were good people, they would not have harmed Sarah even knowing she was his wife. And if they were bad people, calling her his sister wouldn't have protected her. Either way, why lie?
Bereshis 20:11

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם כִּ֣י אָמַ֗רְתִּי רַ֚ק אֵין־יִרְאַ֣ת אֱלֹהִ֔ים בַּמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וַהֲרָג֖וּנִי עַל־דְּבַ֥ר אִשְׁתִּֽי׃

Abraham replied, "I realized that the one thing missing here is the fear of God. I could be killed because of my wife.

Avraham answered that he saw there was no fear of God in the place, and he might be killed because of his wife. Rashi explains how he knew. When a stranger arrives in a decent town, people ask whether he has food and a place to stay. Here the first question was about the beautiful woman with him and whether she was his sister. A place where that is the first question has no fear of God. The Kesef Mezukak adds that Avraham assumed they wouldn't take a married woman, so he guarded against both dangers at once. So they wouldn't kill him to take her, he said she was his sister. So they wouldn't take her, he said she was married to someone else whose husband wasn't with them.
Bereshis 20:12–13

וְגַם־אׇמְנָ֗ה אֲחֹתִ֤י בַת־אָבִי֙ הִ֔וא אַ֖ךְ לֹ֣א בַת־אִמִּ֑י וַתְּהִי־לִ֖י לְאִשָּֽׁה׃

In any case, she really is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. She [later] became my wife.

וַיְהִ֞י כַּאֲשֶׁ֧ר הִתְע֣וּ אֹתִ֗י אֱלֹהִים֮ מִבֵּ֣ית אָבִי֒ וָאֹמַ֣ר לָ֔הּ זֶ֣ה חַסְדֵּ֔ךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּעֲשִׂ֖י עִמָּדִ֑י אֶ֤ל כׇּל־הַמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָב֣וֹא שָׁ֔מָּה אִמְרִי־לִ֖י אָחִ֥י הֽוּא׃

When God made me wander from my father's house, I asked her to do me a favor. Wherever we came, she was to say that I was her brother.

Avraham added that she really was his sister, the daughter of his father though not of his mother. Since leaving his father's house he had asked her to call him her brother wherever they went. He didn't want to be thought a liar. Gentiles of that time could marry a half-sister on the father's side but not on the mother's side. In fact Sarah was his niece, the daughter of his father's son. Since a grandchild can be called a child, she could be called his father's daughter, and so Avraham had technically told the truth.
Bereshis 20:14–18

וַיִּקַּ֨ח אֲבִימֶ֜לֶךְ צֹ֣אן וּבָקָ֗ר וַעֲבָדִים֙ וּשְׁפָחֹ֔ת וַיִּתֵּ֖ן לְאַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיָּ֣שֶׁב ל֔וֹ אֵ֖ת שָׂרָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃

Abimelekh took sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves, and he gave [them] to Abraham. He [also] returned [Abraham's] wife Sarah to him.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְ הִנֵּ֥ה אַרְצִ֖י לְפָנֶ֑יךָ בַּטּ֥וֹב בְּעֵינֶ֖יךָ שֵֽׁב׃

Abimelekh said, "My whole land is before you. Settle wherever you see fit."

וּלְשָׂרָ֣ה אָמַ֗ר הִנֵּ֨ה נָתַ֜תִּי אֶ֤לֶף כֶּ֙סֶף֙ לְאָחִ֔יךְ הִנֵּ֤ה הוּא־לָךְ֙ כְּס֣וּת עֵינַ֔יִם לְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתָּ֑ךְ וְאֵ֥ת כֹּ֖ל וְנֹכָֽחַת׃

To Sarah he said, "I am giving your 'brother' a thousand pieces of silver. Let it be compensation for you and all who are with you for all that has been done. You can stand up tall."

וַיִּתְפַּלֵּ֥ל אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיִּרְפָּ֨א אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־אֲבִימֶ֧לֶךְ וְאֶת־אִשְׁתּ֛וֹ וְאַמְהֹתָ֖יו וַיֵּלֵֽדוּ׃

Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelekh, as well as his wife and slavegirls, so that they were able to have children.

כִּֽי־עָצֹ֤ר עָצַר֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה בְּעַ֥ד כׇּל־רֶ֖חֶם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבִימֶ֑לֶךְ עַל־דְּבַ֥ר שָׂרָ֖ה אֵ֥שֶׁת אַבְרָהָֽם׃

God had previously sealed up every womb in Abimelekh's house, because of Abraham's wife Sarah.

Avimelech gave Avraham sheep, cattle and servants, returned Sarah, and invited him to settle anywhere in his land. He told Sarah he was giving her "brother" a thousand pieces of silver as a "covering of the eyes" for all that had happened. Avraham prayed, and Hashem healed Avimelech, his wife and his maidservants so they could have children again. Usually a man whose wife was taken hates the one who took her and curses him day and night. Avraham, a man of chesed, forgave Avimelech completely and prayed for him as though he had never tried to harm him.

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

  • Charity is the salt that preserves your money: give, and what's left lasts.
  • Pick a regular spot to pray. It cuts down on distractions and keeps you humble.
  • Real kindness doesn't wait for someone to show up in need; it goes out looking for people to help, the way Avraham moved to find guests.
  • Someone who loves sin finds sin coming his way, so the moment you see a trap (as Lot did the first morning), guard yourself from it.
  • Forgive fully, and go further: protect even the person who wronged you from embarrassment.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

Other reasons Lot's wife became salt

  • The Ramban teaches that looking at something evil can bring its harm onto you. Looking at the plague of Sodom could pull the onlooker into the plague itself.
  • That is the reason the Torah later separates someone with tzara'as (the skin affliction often translated "leprosy") from the camp: just seeing the affliction can harm others.
  • Sodom itself was turned into brimstone and salt. When Lot's wife looked, she was swept into the very punishment she was looking at.
  • Rabbeinu Bachya suggests that she simply died of fright at what she saw.
  • The Talmud (Kesubos 66b) calls charity "salt." Salt preserves, and giving charity preserves the rest of a person's money. Lot's wife had no charity in her and didn't want guests, so she became a pillar of salt.
  • According to Targum Yerushalmi, and Rashi as well (Menachos), the pillar stands until the resurrection of the dead. It never wears away, summer or winter.

"Behind him", not "behind her": she looked past Lot's death

  • The verse should have said she looked me'achareha, "behind her." Instead it says me'acharav, "behind him", meaning behind Lot.
  • The Kli Yakar reads "behind Lot" as "beyond Lot": she was looking past her husband's death.
  • As Sodom burned, she wasn't regretting her sins or the sins of the city she had been part of. She was thinking about the property being lost and what she would inherit after Lot died.
  • She had never preserved her wealth with charity, and she had stopped Lot from hosting guests. Now, at the moment of judgment, all she could think about was money, and that sealed her sentence.

Why Sodom was wiped out like no other place

  • The Ramban explains that Sodom was in the Land of Israel. The Holy Land itself demands that the people living on it live by true values.
  • Outside the land, Hashem punishes the wicked. Inside it, the land itself takes revenge and spits out its inhabitants, so everything in Sodom had to be consumed.
  • The Abarbanel draws the lesson: the land keeps that holiness. A trip to Israel should be for real spiritual reasons, to awaken the heart to repent, not for partying.
  • There is a second reason the whole city was destroyed (Tzeror HaMor). Sodom's evil wasn't a matter of desire. It was cold, calculated policy, like the Nazis' and unlike, say, Spartans who simply came in and killed.
  • In Sodom, anyone who came to the city, whether man, woman or child, was to be abused, robbed and left to starve. That was law, not passion, and it is what brought Hashem's anger on them.

Four kinds of people (Avos 5:10)

  • "What's mine is mine and what's yours is yours": the average person, who respects his own things and leaves other people's alone. The Mishnah adds that some say this is the trait of Sodom.
  • "What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine": the foolish person, who isn't ashamed to help himself to other people's things.
  • "What's mine is yours and what's yours is yours": the saint, who takes nothing from anyone and wants others to benefit from what is his.
  • "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine": the wicked person, who won't let anyone touch his things but treats everyone else's as his own.

The trait of Sodom in Jewish law: dividing a field

  • Two brothers or partners divide a field. One of them wants the half that borders his other land, to keep it all in one piece. Jewish law gives him that half, and the court can force the other partner to agree (Choshen Mishpat 174).
  • The other loses nothing and his partner gains. Refusing someone a benefit when it costs you nothing is the trait of Sodom, and as a rule the courts can force a person not to act with it.

Praying in a fixed place, and the three daily prayers

  • Praying in the same spot means your surroundings are familiar, so there is less to distract you.
  • Moving from place to place to pray also shows a lack of humility, as if to say "I can concentrate anywhere."
  • The three daily prayers correspond to the three Avos: Avraham to Shacharis, Yitzchak, who prayed in the field, to Mincha, and Yaakov, who prayed at night, to Maariv.
  • The Talmud in Brachos stresses the importance of each of the three prayers.
  • Mincha is short, but it falls in the middle of the workday. Stopping work to pray it is a real chance to refocus.

Where the wine came from, and two views of the daughters

  • They fled with nothing, so where did they get wine? The Yefeh To'ar explains that Sodom's vineyards produced so much wine that people's cellars couldn't hold it, so they stored it in cool caves nearby. Rashi says Hashem placed the wine in the cave by a miracle.
  • Bereishis Rabbah says the daughters acted from the highest motives, and so they earned having Mashiach descend from them. Ruth came from Moav, King David descends from Ruth, and Mashiach descends from David.
  • The Yefeh To'ar takes the opposite view: the daughters were driven by desire. Hashem gave them the miraculous wine to show how far divine reward reaches. If Hashem makes miracles even for people acting against His will, how much more will He do so for those who do His will.

Moav, "from my father": no one is born without a father

  • Normally someone in this situation would do anything to hide it. Instead the older daughter named her son Moav, "from my father," announcing it to every future generation.
  • One message of that name is that no human being is born without a father, and the Torah makes sure this line is recorded with a human father.
  • This answers the Christian belief in a messiah born without a father. Mashiach must come from King David, and lineage passes through the father, so someone with no father has no lineage from David and cannot be Mashiach.

What the verse teaches about Lot himself

  • The verse adds that the daughters became pregnant "from their father," which we already knew. The extra words confirm that these children had a real human father.
  • The Yefeh To'ar says the extra words show how far Lot had sunk. He loved sin so much that this terrible sin was arranged for him.
  • Someone who likes sinning finds that sins come his way, and someone who doesn't like sinning finds that they stay away.

Mercy versus kindness: why Avraham had to move

  • Avraham is chesed, loving-kindness, and Sarah is gevurah, strength and judgment. That is why it is Sarah who later sends Hagar and Yishmael away. Earlier, when Sarah complained about Hagar, Avraham told her, "Do with her as you see fit" (16:6).
  • After the disaster at Sodom, travelers avoided the area, the way people stay away from the site of a nuclear accident, so no guests passed by Avraham's tent.
  • Mercy is reacting to someone in need: I see a poor person, I feel for him, and I help. Kindness doesn't wait for a need to appear. It is an overflowing desire to give.
  • A man who was only merciful would accept that no one was coming. Because Avraham uprooted himself to find people to help, we can see how much his kindness overflowed.
  • Hashem didn't command this move. The Kesef Mezukak explains that Avraham saw his wealth kept growing even with no guests to spend on. He concluded that Hashem couldn't simply want him rich, and must want him to use the wealth for the poor.

Seek out good deeds: tzitzis, and Avraham

  • Doing good only when the chance comes along is easy, and refusing makes a person wicked. To rise above the average, go looking for good deeds (Yafeh Toar).
  • For example, tzitzis are only required on a four-cornered garment, and our jackets don't have four corners. Still, one should wear a tallis and a small four-cornered garment to keep the mitzvah. If everyone relied on the exemption, no one would keep it.
  • So with Avraham. Once travelers stopped passing his house, eating without guests would have been no sin. But he couldn't bear to see his storehouses full and no one to serve, so he moved.

After Sodom, Avraham goes to fix a dry place

  • This point isn't in the Me'am Loez, but notice the timing. The move to a place with no pity for the poor comes right after Sodom, whose sin was exactly that: no pity on the poor or on travelers.
  • Avraham's efforts to turn Sodom around had failed. Unlike Noach, who didn't go out to change his generation, Avraham went to another region so that the same thing wouldn't happen again.
  • He went to the dry south to make sure its people would not become spiritually dried up.

The second reason for leaving: rumors about Lot

  • Bereishis Rabbah says the story of Lot and his daughters became known. Avraham and Lot looked exactly alike (Kesef Mezukak), and Avraham didn't want people pointing at him as the man who had done that.
  • To get away from the rumors he left Chevron, where he had lived for 25 years (Sefer HaYashar), and moved further from Lot.

What happened in Avimelech's palace

  • Sarah cried and prayed all night, and an angel came and calmed her.
  • She told Avimelech, as she had told Pharaoh, that she was married. He still didn't let her go, and that is what made him deserve punishment.
  • Bereishis Rabbah describes the plagues. Every bodily opening of the people in the palace closed up. They were struck with ra'atan, the same terrible skin disease that struck Pharaoh. Women in labor couldn't deliver. Even the hens stopped laying eggs until Sarah was released (Bava Kamma 92a).

The warrior and the dwarf

  • Hashem told Avimelech not to boast that he hadn't sinned with Sarah. He was like a warrior on a powerful horse who comes upon a dwarf on the road and reins the horse in rather than trample him. The dwarf thanks the warrior, not the horse.
  • Had Avimelech been able to open his eyes, he would have been driven by lust for her. Hashem kept him from coming near her, since she was too great a saint to be defiled (Bereishis Rabbah 52:7, where the parable has a baby on the ground).

Why taking Sarah was a capital crime for a non-Jew

  • For a Jew, betrothal makes a woman married, and adultery with her carries death. For a non-Jew, betrothal doesn't make her married until her husband brings her into his house, so relations with her alone aren't capital.
  • That is only if he seduces her. If he takes her by force he is liable to death, because rape is a kind of robbery, and robbery is one of the seven universal laws that carry death (Maharimat).

Why Avraham prayed for Avimelech but not for Pharaoh

  • The Torah never says Avraham prayed for Pharaoh, but he did pray for Avimelech.
  • The Knesses HaGedolah explains the difference. Pharaoh never asked anyone. He heard a rumor that she was Avraham's sister and had her taken.
  • Avimelech asked everyone around Avraham whether she was his sister or his wife, trying to make sure she wasn't married. Since he didn't start out with bad intent, Avraham prayed for his healing.

Readings of "a covering of the eyes"

  • According to the Yefeh To'ar, Avimelech was making a joke: "Your brother does good business. He cashed in in Egypt and now he's cashing in here. Your God does miracles for you, but don't expect them every day."
  • He also teased Sarah: in all these years Avraham never gave her a precious stone, while Avimelech kept her one night and treated her like a queen. Then he admitted that his pitch was pointless, because she would never trade Avraham for anything.
  • The Ramban and Bereishis Rabbah continue the conversation. He told her to ask Avraham for the money and dress in fine clothes and jewels, so that people's eyes would be caught by the finery instead of her beauty.
  • Bereishis Rabbah says the honor itself was the covering. When people saw a king send her off with such honor, they would understand that Hashem had protected her, and no one would dare come near her.
  • Another reading is a curse: "You hid the truth from my eyes, so may you have a child whose eyes are covered." Later Yitzchak does go blind (Bava Kamma 93a).
  • Targum Yonasan reads it as a compliment: simply having seen her in his palace was worth all the money in the world.

Why Avraham left Gerar anyway

  • Pharaoh sent Avraham away. Avimelech told him, "My land is before you," and invited him to stay. The Toldos Yitzchak explains that with the wounds of Sodom still fresh, the people of Gerar were terrified of being destroyed over Sarah, and wanted Avraham's merit to protect them.
  • The Yefeh To'ar says Avraham chose not to stay so that Avimelech wouldn't be embarrassed. Every time they met, Avimelech would remember taking Sarah and what Hashem did to him for it.
  • This man had tried to take Avraham's wife, and still Avraham's kindness reached as far as protecting him from embarrassment.
  • Rashi, quoting Bereishis Rabbah, says Avraham lived among the Philistines for 26 years. He lived in their other cities rather than in Gerar, the capital where Avimelech lived, so they wouldn't keep running into each other.
Review questions
  1. Why does the verse say Lot's wife looked "behind him" rather than "behind her", and what does the Kli Yakar learn from it?
  2. According to the Ramban, why was Sodom destroyed more completely than other wicked places?
  3. What does the dot over the word uvkumah teach about Lot?
  4. What is the difference between mercy and kindness, and how does Avraham's move to the Negev show his kindness?
  5. When Avimelech says "Didn't he tell me she was his sister?", what is he avoiding?
  6. Why did Avraham pray for Avimelech but not for Pharaoh?
Sources
  • Me'am Loez — the running commentary; the pregnancies and names as proof of the daughters' pure intent
  • Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer — Lot's wife looked back for her married daughters
  • Targum Yonasan — the salt argument; "covering of the eyes" as a compliment
  • Bereishis Rabbah — salt, the daughters' merit and Mashiach, rumors about Lot, the plagues in Avimelech's palace, the servants' fear, the 26 years among the Philistines
  • Ramban — looking at evil brings its harm; the Holy Land spits out the wicked; the daughters preserving humanity; Sarah's restored youth
  • Rabbeinu Bachya — Lot's wife died of fright
  • Kli Yakar — "behind him": she looked past Lot's death to her inheritance
  • Rashi — the wine placed by a miracle; "please say" in Egypt versus an announcement in Gerar; Avimelech's question about the Flood; how Avraham saw there was no fear of God
  • Mishnah (Avos 5:10) — the four kinds of people, and the trait of Sodom
  • Talmud (Berachos 26b and 6b, Kesubos 66b, Nazir 23a, Berachos 55a, Bava Kamma 92a and 93a) — Shacharis and a fixed place; charity as salt; the dot over uvkumah; no dream without nonsense; the hens; the eye-covering curse
  • Yefeh To'ar — the daughters driven by desire; how low Lot had sunk; Avimelech's complaint and his joke; Avraham leaving so Avimelech wouldn't be embarrassed
  • Sifsei Kohen — Negev as a land dry of charity
  • Sefer HaYashar — the angel with the drawn sword
  • Knesses HaGedolah — why Avraham prayed for Avimelech but not for Pharaoh
  • Targum Yerushalmi — the pillar standing until the resurrection
  • Abarbanel — the lesson for visitors to the Holy Land
  • Tzeror HaMor — Sodom's cruelty as cold policy
  • Kesef Mezukak — Avraham's growing wealth; Avraham and Lot alike; Avimelech's argument; Avraham's two answers
  • Toldos Yitzchak — why Avimelech wanted Avraham to stay
  • Maharimat (Rabbi Yosef of Trani) — taking a woman by force as robbery, a capital crime under the seven universal laws