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The Sin of Sodom and its Impact on Creation | My Jewish Learning
Commentary on Parashat Vayera, Genesis 18:1 - 22:24
Two cosmic catastrophes unfold in the book of Genesis. The first,
the flood, in which God brings waters down from the Heavens to destroy almost all life. The second, the utter devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah, in which an area previously known as a fertile and lush “garden of Hashem” (
Genesis 13:10) becomes a desolate land “that cannot be sown, nor sprout, and no grass shall rise up upon it, like the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah…which God overturned in His anger, and His wrath” (
Deuteronomy 29:22).
One of the connections we see between these two events is the word the
employs in both cases,
lihashcheet–to destroy. When God relates to Noah that He will bring the flood He says, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with robbery through them; and, behold, I am about to
destroy (
mashcheetam) them from the earth” (
Genesis 6:13).
In the case of Sodom we see the same word applied, “…when God
destroyed (
beshachet) the cities of the plain…” (
Gen. 19:29). The Torah did not elaborate on the sin of Sodom, but the underpinnings are expressed later
in the prophecy of Ezekiel: “Behold this was the sin of Sodom…She and her daughters had pride, excess bread, and peaceful serenity, but she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy” (16:49).
What Did They Do?
The prophet’s description combined with what the Torah reveals to us gives us the following picture: the people of Sodom insisted on preserving their high quality of living to such an extent that they established a principle not to let the poor and
homeless reside in their city. Consequently when a destitute person would come seeking help, they would revoke his right to any welfare–public or private! By doing this they figured they would preserve an elite upper class community who would monopolize the profits that the bountiful land offers without having to distribute any revenues to a “lower class” of people.
An opinion in the
Mishnah in
5:10 further strengthens this picture of moral depravity when it defines the Sodomite as one who says, “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours.” The
decries a man who wishes to remove himself from the social responsibility of welfare by closing himself and his wealth from others, even if he makes the claim that he is not taking away from anyone else.
Interestingly, the Sages of the
did not merely draw attention to the relationship between the economic injustices of the generation of the flood and the social depravity of Sodom. The Torah narrative concerning Sodom reveals something deeper. “They called out to
Lot, ‘Where are the men that came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them!'” (
Gen. 19:5) Indeed, the men demanded to relate to Lot’s male guests sexually. According to the
in
Genesis Rabbah 28:8, the destruction caused by the flood also shared a similar cause:
“Rabbi Azariyah said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua son of Simon, every creature had been corrupted in the generation of the flood. The dog would mate with the wolf, the hen with the peacock. For it is written, ‘All flesh was corrupted.’ ‘All mankind was corrupted’ is not written, rather ‘All flesh was corrupted.’ (Thereby coming to include all flesh, both human and animal.) Rabbi Luliyani son of Tavrin said in the name of Rabbi Isaac, ‘Even the land became corrupt as they would sow wheat and the land would sprout degenerate wheat.'”
Sins Against the Environment
Until now, we have dealt with sins between people and God (
sexual immorality) and between people and society (robbery, excluding the poor) — yet our Torah portion even makes references to sins between man and his environment. The Torah again uses the verb
hashchata in relation to the wanton destruction of fruit trees: “When you besiege a city to seize it, do not
destroy (
tashchit) its trees by swinging an axe against them, for from it you will eat, and you shall not cut it down; is the tree of the field a man that it should enter the siege before you?” (
Deut. 20:19)
A final example: the same Hebrew verb
hishchit is used in regards to the widely accepted Law delineated in the
Book of Mitzvot not to destroy any part of our world. Under the above-stated commandment not to destroy fruit trees in a siege, comes a further negative commandment where we are forbidden to waste.
For example, we must not tear or burn clothing or break or discard dishes for no reason. About all of these issues or any other issues of wanton destruction, the Sages of blessed memory said in the Talmud, “And he has transgressed the sin of being a wasteful man” (The Book of Mitzvot #529).
