The Sin of Sodom

Perhaps I'm being presumptuous, but I assume that most are familiar with the scandalous biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is the story in Genesis about the notoriously sinful town that had fire and brimstone rained upon it. The story left such an impression that from the city’s name, we derive many words used today. If you ask most people what the people in Sodom did that was so bad, they’ve collectively concluded that sexual deviation was the cause of the divine wrath. Many religious organizations even use this passage to support their campaigns against homosexuality and other cultures that don't conform with the 'norm'. This blog entry is to introduce another view on the matter, the way classic Jewish texts view Sodom and what the fatal sin actually was.

I was surprised to learn that the sin of Sodom was not that they were promiscuous, but rather that the inhabitants lacked any compassion for one another, they lived by the motto "what is yours is yours and what's mine is mine". This means to say that each person lived only for themselves. I'll mind my business and go about my life…and you do the same. We won't bother each other and all is well. What implications does this philosophical approach have? Growing up in the US, we are practically taught that this is an appropriate ideology for the sake of self-preservation, maintenance of our economic standing, keeping a competitive edge over another person. I dare say, it’s the very foundation of capitalism.

The people of Sodom were said to have had all the riches in the world. They ate well, they had material goods, and their land was a fertile. However they didn't share with each other. This middot (Hebrew word for 'personality trait') is not unique to the people of this ancient village, remote and lost in the distant past of biblical stories. Unfortunately, people exhibit this mentality today. Rashi, a French Commentator famous for his simple yet meaningful explanations, provides a precise definition of someone who exhibits the trait of Sodom as "they enjoy, but never lack". Meaning that a person doesn't go out of their way ever, even if doing so wouldn't cause them any loss. They don't want to see any others benefiting. To fully illustrate the concept here's an example, if you're out of town and your neighbor asks to use your driveway because their mother is in town and needs somewhere to park, and you say no, even though you lose absolutely nothing, this is Middot S’dom.

Acting with Middot S’dom was viewed and treated as a grave sin. It was even outlawed in ancient Israel during the times when the Rabbinical courts (Beit Din) had jurisdiction over the land. This means that a court could legally enforce a person to be a decent human being. If the plaintiff could prove that the defendant would suffer no loss at all for them parking in their driveway while they were away on vacation, then the courts could coerce the neighbor to allow it. Crazy right? The republicans in the United States would have a field day on this one!!! Even today in Israel, people can chose to have their case heard and litigated before either the secular courts or the Jewish court system. In the Jewish courts, Middot S’dom is still and enforceable standard.

But what does this mean to us? Think about it. Sometimes we do other people favors and are so quick to congratulate ourselves for being nice, for being moral, for doing a ‘mitzvot”. Nevertheless, according to Jewish law most of our acts of kindness are not truly acts of kindness, the are merely being a decent nice person and as we just learned, being nice is only the minimum requirement, merely complying with the law.

Acting with kindness is on a whole other level. Acting with kindness is when we go above and beyond. When we benefit not at all, and perhaps loose a little (not always financially, but perhaps in effort or time). This only happens when acts of kindness are rooted in absolutely no self gain, instead they are grounded in genuinely caring for another. Kindness is highly regarded in Jewish thought. The word in Hebrew for kindness is chesid and its one of the three pillars the world is build on. What qualifies as being chesid is elaborated on quite a bit in the Talmud. An example of ‘kindness’ being expounded upon is in last book of the Mishna (the oral tradition) which is called Ethics of Our Fathers. Ethics is a beautiful collection of good advice and parables to live by. In Chapter 5. Verse 13 it states:

There are four traits which differentiate people:

He who says, "What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours"--this is the common type

He who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine"--he is an ignorant man.

He who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is yours own"--he is chassid

And he who says, "What is yours is mine, and what is mine is mine"--he is a wicked man

The first of the four is often called the type of Sodom because this is the character trait that ultimately leads to Sodom’s destruction. Imagine living in a world were a favor was never given, a hand was never offered, it is said that a traveler coming through Sodom would die of starvation. In our daily lives, familial relations, business transactions, in intimacy, in general…. How are we? Do we act warmly, welcomingly, are we generous with our time, thoughtful in our listening, openhanded in our efforts, considerate, compassionate….or are we just scraping by being decent? According this mishna, being polite, civilized, and courteous don’t really make the cut.

Somewhere down the line I learned that acting like a decent human being is the ultimate and we should strive for it, but perhaps we should set our markers just a little bit higher, a little higher than the letter of the law, to be kind human beings, to be Chassids.