Mayim Hayim – Vaeira 5767

In chapter 18 of Sefer Bereshith, Avraham Avinu is told and understands that Hashem will check out what’s going on in Sodom. If these places are as evil as reports suggest, then they will be destroyed. Avraham says in verse 23, “ha’afh tispeh tzaddik ‘im rasha’?…” Will you, Hashem cause the righteous to perish together with the evildoer? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city…will you not relent and forgive the city because of these fifty tzaddikim?
We all know the dialogue that begins at this point, where Avraham bargains with God, reducing his request each time, by five and then by ten. Avraham stops at ten. In the end, Hashem promises Avraham that, “If there are ten, then I will not destroy the city” (verse 32).
The first thing to note is that Avraham Avinu’s whole complaint, which is sometimes misunderstood, is not regarding the rasha’im (evildoers), but really regarding the tzaddikim (righteous ones). In other words, if it were clear to Avraham that there were no tzaddikim in Sodom, then he would apparently have no complaint – there would be nothing to discuss. If everyone is truly evil, then destroying them is the just and correct thing to do. Avraham assumed that there must have been some good people left.
He therefore had a problem: How could you, Hashem, who is El Ne’eman – The Faithful God – kill the tzaddikim with the rasha’? (v. 24). This would be a distortion of justice, that the righteous be swept away with the evil-doers. But he understood that rasha’im do deserve such a fate. “Will the Judge of all the earth not do justice?”
This whole complaint fits in nicely with what it says earlier in verse 19, where the Torah explains why Hashem finds it necessary to inform Avraham of what he intends to do. “Because I know that Avraham will educate his children, his household after him – they will follow the way of Hashem to do tzedakah and mishpat” ( charity and justice). We see from this that Avraham’s whole essence is doing tzedakah and mishpat.
“Charity” is not really an appropriate or exact term for tzedakah. In English, charity is something you do voluntarily, because you want to. It’s not related to justice. In Hebrew, giving to the needy is called tzedakah, obviously from the root tzedek, which means what is right – what is just and required – not just doing someone a favor.
There surely must be some righteous people in Sodom, so how can You tell me that You’re going to destroy the whole city? He is bothered exactly because of his dedication to tzedakah and mishpat. Avraham’s approach here is not one of chesed, unnecessary activity beyond the call of duty. He’s not trying to get them off the hook. What bothers him is the impending injustice of what will happen to the righteous ones. He knows that Hashem wants justice in the world – where’s the justice in what He’s planning to do?
As we know, Hashem’s response is that if there are even ten tzaddikim, then He will let everyone off the hook. Even a few righteous people can merit to save the masses. (We see in Chazal that righteous people have an expiatory effect on their generation.)
In Sefer Devarim, however, we see something very different. In verse 13:13, we find the discussion of the ‘ir hanidahath, the wayward city. “If you will hear regarding one of your towns in the Land that Hashem gives you, there are certain evildoers amongst you who enticed and incited the people of their town, saying ‘let’s go worship gods that you haven’t known’“. If this charge is found to be true, then the whole city is to be destroyed.”You shall go and battle against that city and kill them by the sword. Destroy it and everything in it. Gather all of its belongings to the city square and burn it all with fire. The city should never be rebuilt.”
There is a very simple Question that we should ask ourselves. How many citizens actually practice idolatry in the case of the ir hanidahath? A minority – a majority – all of them? The Rambam (Laws of Idolatry, 4:2) says that there has to be at least two inciters, and that a majority of the city dwellers have to be involved. But, a large minority may not be involved, and they may even have tried to stop the others and therefore be considered tzaddikim.
What happens to the property of these tzaddikim? We saw already that everything is destroyed. The Rambam continues in halachah 12 (17 in some editions), saying that the property of those tzaddikim who were not part of the majority of idol worshippers is also destroyed, because by living in such a place, their property is forfeited. We see from this that if such a thing happens where you live, and you’ve done as much as you can to stop it but to no avail, then you should take your things and get out of there. You may personally be saved on the merit of your attempt, but you may end up with nothing left.
Furthermore, we see something very different from the Sodom incident. Avraham doesn’t attempt to save the city on the basis of 49% tzaddikim, or even 2%, but rather for a mere fifty, and in the end ten tzaddikim. Regarding the wayward city, why do we not say that we should save the city because 49%, or even 2% of the people did not transgress? We see that different rules apply. Why?
Apparently, this has something to do with the fact that Kol Yisrael ‘arevim zeh l’zeh – all Jews are responsible for each other. This concept appears in many places in the Talmud, such as Shavuoth 39a. Each Jew has some responsibility for what their fellow Jews do, or do not do. The Sodomites, on the other hand, were not Jews, so this rule did not apply. In contrast, if evil is being done amongst the Jews and one does nothing, then that is a very serious thing – one will be considered included in the sin of the place. Kol Yisrael ‘arevim zeh l’zeh – so great is the responsibility of one Jew for another that in the case of the ir hanidahath if the city’s inhabitants do not cease and desist from committing the grave sin of avodah zarah after one has done his utmost to dissuade them from sinning then he is expected to move elsewhere. Non-Jews are not responsible on this level for what his fellow does.
This is surprising – a new kind of justice that applies only to the Jewish People, and only in the Land of Israel for that matter. For a city of Jews in Russia or Morroco, this would not apply.
Jews are commanded to establish a society based on the Torah. If a Jew could do something to stop others, by rebuke for example, but did not, then he will be encompassed by their punishment.
This has quite a lot to do exactly with what is going on now regarding the mitza’ad habushah, this shameful parade. Not only are these sick and unfortunate people behaving in a way that is completely forbidden, but they are proud of it, calling the march a “march of pride”. Furthermore, it is not enough for them to trangress privately; they insist on parading their sins in the city center, the very site of the wayward city’s destruction.
Any person who realizes the seriousness of such a situation whereby people want to proudly flaunt their disregard for what the Torah says must act. Many religious Christians and Moslems, and even people who consider themselves not religious at all, understand that such a thing is and always has been detrimental and destructive to human society. So at least we Jews, who are arevim zeh l’zeh must take a stand and protest.
May Hashem give us the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and distance ourselves and others from wrongfulness and embrace righteousness. And may He give those individuals with deviant tendencies the insight to recognize the mistake of their culturally induced lifestyle, and seek help to return to life and love as the Creator meant it to be.