Rabbi 360

It was already two weeks ago in our Torah reading cycle, but I can not get the story of Sodom and Gomorrah out of my head.

In Genesis 18 we read how God says, “the outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave!” (v. 20) and vows to destroy them. But, feeling obligated because of the covenant, God informs Abraham of the plans. Abraham then proceeds to confront God, arguing that if innocent people be found within the cities, they should be spared. God agrees, but we learn that the cities were eventually destroyed.

And the reason this story sticks with me is because it seems clear to me that we are currently living in Sodom.

Now the “sin of Sodom” is not explicit in the text of the Torah and yet because of popular—and non-Jewish—interpretations of the story, there is an assumption that the sin has to do with sexuality. This is a story that has unfortunately become a source for homophobia in popular discourse.

But Jewish tradition is pretty explicit that the sin of Sodom is not about sexuality but about economic injustice and policies of exclusion: “The Sages taught, The people of Sodom became haughty and sinned due only to the excessive goodness that the Holy Blessed One bestowed upon them.” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 109a-b). In other words, it was the wealth of the people that led them to sin because they wanted to preserve their own power and affluence at the expense of the poor.

To illustrate that idea, the rabbis in this Talmud passage tell stories:

“When a poor person would happen to come to Sodom, each and every person would give him a dinar, and the name of the giver was written on each dinar. And they would not give or sell him bread, so that he could not spend the money and would die of hunger. When he would die, each and every person would come and take his dinar.” (ibid.) The people of Sodom would offer funds, but make it impossible for those funds to be used. Thus they devalued the lives of others and any “assistance” they offered the poor was only for show and lacked substance.

“And when there was anyone who would cast garlic or onions to dry, each and every one of the people of Sodom would come and take one and say to him: I took only one garlic or onion, and they would do this until none remained.” (ibid.) The people of Sodom would winnow away at a person’s possessions, with each deduction seemingly inconsequential, but adding up to maintaining a person in poverty, the proverbial “death of a thousand cuts.”

“And they instituted an ordinance: One who crossed the river on a ferry gives four dinars, and one who crossed the river in the water gives eight dinars.” (ibid.) They would impose fines and fees which disproportionately impacted those with the fewest resources.

Other midrashic texts continue to affirm this point. In Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer 25:5, we read “Rabbi Nathaniel said: The people of Sodom had no consideration for the honor of their Owner by not distributing food to the wayfarer and the stranger, but they even fenced in all the trees on top above their fruit so that they should not be seized.” Not only would they not provide aid as needed, but made it difficult for people to be able to work to meet their own needs.

And, in the classic Jewish ethical text Pirke Avot: “There are four types of character in human beings: One that says: ‘mine is mine, and yours is yours’: this is a commonplace type; and some say this is a Sodom-type of character.” (5:10) Why is this like Sodom when it seems to be a common approach of to each their own? Because it promotes extreme individualism that overlooks any obligation to one another.

So yes, we are living in Sodom. The government during this past shut down refused to use reserves to pay food assistance, even doubling down by going to court to affirm the right to not have to pay. Health care subsidies are deliberately left to expire, raising the cost of health insurance for many. The minimum wage is not livable and is not raised despite the emphasis on work. The wealth gap continues to grow, privileging the few at the expense of the many. Our system punishes people for having less and makes it expensive to survive and thrive.

We are living in Sodom. Our tradition teaches the sin of Sodom was not only neglect of but violence towards those in need, and it was this sin that brought about the destruction of the society.

The harm we do to each other will ultimately harm us all.