Post by Rabbi Neil on Nov 11, 2022 21:50:09 GMT
“The sun came out upon the earth and Lot came to Tzo’ar. The Eternal God caused brimstone and fire to rain down upon Sodom and Gomorrah from the Eternal from heaven. God turned over these cities and the entire plain, and all the inhabitant of the cities, and the vegetation of the ground.” (Gen. 19:23-25) Why does this happen? Earlier in this week’s Torah portion of Vayera, we learn that “the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and their sin has become very grave.” What is this cry of Sodom and Gomorrah? Ibn Ezra, the 12th century commentator, says that it is “either the cry of its blasphemy or the cry of those victimized by its violence.” It’s a fascinating commentary since when Lot tries to protect his male-presenting angelic guests from sexual violence by the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, he offers up his daughters instead and they remain totally silent in the face of the violence that he believes is appropriate to be forced upon them. Or, rather, they are recorded as being totally silent, so perhaps Lot or Torah does not even hear their very real cry of protestation. Ramban, the 13th century commentator, says of the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah that “this is the cry of the oppressed, crying out and begging for help from the arm of their wickedness.” Rashi returns to the idea of “her cry” and says that this is specifically the cry of the country, which is a feminine noun.
What is the connection between hearing and not hearing the cry, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? To explore this, it helps to look at the word for “cry” – za’akah. It appears a number of times in the Bible. For example, in Nehemiah (5:6), the people’s crying out is due to over taxation and having to sell their children to slavery, and later (9:9) it is used to remind us of the cry of the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt when that cry was heard at the Sea of Reeds. In Jeremiah, it is used of the cry of people whose homes are suddenly invaded (18:22). Job asks the earth never to cover over his blood so that his own cry may never be laid to rest (16:18). Just as in Nehemiah, the Book of Proverbs specifically relates this particular cry to the poor, saying (21:13) that whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered. Ezekiel uses this word (27:28) for the cry of sailors in a heavy storm. In all cases, it seems to be a cry of despair, and in almost all cases, it is a cry in the face of apparent injustice. The cry is often ignored by other human beings and only heard by God, although sometimes, as in the Book of Job, it seems that even God does not hear it. It is, at the very least, the cry of victims – whether the victims of illness, economic insecurity, war, or environmental disaster.
This leads us back to Sodom and Gomorrah, particularly as the COP27 talks take place right now in Egypt. Who are the victims of Sodom and Gomorrah whose cries are not heard? Not all commentaries follow Rashi’s reading of “her cry” meaning the cry of the country. Midrash (GenR 49:6) shares a disturbing story told by Rabbi Levi, who talks of two girls who went down to draw water from the well. One said to her friend, Why are you pale? The other said, All the food is gone from our house and we are ready to die. What did the other do? She filled the jug with flour and exchanged it for her own. Each took the one of the other. When the inhabitants of Sodom found out about it, they took the girl who had shared the food and burned her. In response, the Holy Blessed One said, Even if I wanted to keep silent, the requirement of justice for a certain girl will not allow me to keep silent for it is not written, 'In accord with their cry', but, 'according to her cry', referring in particular to that girl.” Similarly in Talmud (Sanhedrin 109b), we learn of a young woman who would take bread out to the poor people in a pitcher so that the other residents of Sodom would not see that she was doing it. However, when her deeds were revealed, the city’s residents smeared her with honey and positioned her on the wall of the city where a swarm of bees came and killed her. Why is there a local decree against selfless behavior and why are there examples of women who ignore that decree? Patriarchy is not just enforced by physical power, although strongly militaristic societies do tend to be deeply patriarchal. And to be clear, I am not critiquing those who serve in the military, especially not today, on Veterans’ Day, because fighting for freedom is unfortunately necessary in almost every generation. I do critique a society, though, that spends $800 billion on military spending while only spending $3.6 billion on homelessness and only $1.3 billion on welfare. The fact that the military has overwhelmingly been a male domain reinforces how it has for most of human history been used to ensure male dominance in all aspects of society through force over women who do not have the ability to resist. Midrash even assumes this patriarchal powerful male / weak female model in one critique of Lot (Midrash Tanchuma, B’reishit 36) which says that “it is the custom of the world that a man is prepared to kill or be killed in order to protect his wife and daughters, yet Lot is willing to give his daughters over to sexual abuse!” Patriarchy is also very strongly enforced by economics, by who has the power to buy and sell, by who shapes the market. Patriarchal economic models tend to be like those of Sodom and Gomorrah, favoring the rich and abusing the poor. I used to look at the society of Sodom and Gomorrah in Rabbinic commentary and thought it was a caricature – an unrealistic exaggeration of economic, political and judicial injustice. Over time, though, I came to learn that our society is almost identical to the one presented in those commentaries. Punishing women who give to the poor? We only have to look at 78-year old Norma Thornton from Bullhead City in Arizona who was arrested earlier this year for feeding homeless people in a public park. Punishing women unfairly in courts of law? We only have to look at Pieper Lewis who was given a 20-year sentence for killing the man whom police was trafficked for sex aged 15 and who killed the man who forced himself upon her just like the rapists of Sodom, and whom the courts insist must pay $150,000 to her dead rapist’s estate. These are two of the innumerable examples of women who know the law of the land is wrong, who know that it doesn’t protect the vulnerable, who stood up and acted in the face of injustice and violence, and who were punished for it.
Worldwide, millions of women lift up their individual voices in the face of systemic violence against them, particularly economic violence, and we, like Lot, do not even hear the cries of these women. So, when our leaders gather for environmental conferences and say how important it is to cut fossil fuel emissions, even though despite decades of similar pledges fossil fuels emissions continue to increase, we know that what they’re looking to do is simply maintain the patriarchal economic system from which they benefit and tweak it around the edges. Were they to really hear the cries of these women, they would have to dismantle much of the palpably unjust global economic system that is the direct cause of climate change. But they don’t want to hear those cries, they want to suggest a quick fix instead, just like Lot, who tries to sacrifice his unnamed daughters in a quick fix so that he might continue to exist in the violent patriarchal system of Sodom and Gomorrah. He, like the global leaders who assemble to pledge to make society more just, merely throws voiceless women to the violent hordes so they can continue to lap the cream off the top. Even now, when they recognize the urgency of the task and start talking about how we are out of time, even now they still suggest quick fixes such as electric cars and hydrogen power in a conference sponsored by one of the largest global polluters, instead of discussing how the World Bank has forced countless so-called developing countries into savage debt through which the only way out is by selling off their precious natural resources for exploitation on a global market.
Only now, when it’s already too late, do they realize that, just like Sodom and Gomorrah, as a result of their actions, our entire society is about to be overturned. What must it have been like in those final moments in Sodom and Gomorrah? I reckon a lot like today – with people recognizing the damage they had caused, but still not wanting to do anything substantive to change society because social momentum was already way too strong, because they were too invested in a life of privilege and of robbing the poor. I bet they begged for forgiveness, made powerful speeches, and then grabbed whatever riches they could while they still could.
As they flee from Sodom, Lot’s wife is told not to look back but she does and turns into a pillar of salt. Robbed of the dignity of her name, robbed of any sense of agency, the only time she does act is to look back, and then she is robbed of her life. Why does she look back? A number of traditional … male… commentators blame her and provide bizarre midrashic explanations on how she failed to serve salt at a meal. But those Rabbis don’t see her as a real person with feelings. Maybe she looked back because she knew of all the innocent women who were about to be swept up in the destruction that was caused by the men. Maybe her last look was one of mourning, of despair. Maybe she heard the cry of every victim of Sodom and Gomorrah, and turned to see them in their final moments. Maybe she herself cried out but her cry was ignored.
“God turned over these cities and the entire plain, and all the inhabitant of the cities, and the vegetation of the ground.” That will happen again, unless we stop looking back, unless we hear the cries of the global victims of military, social and economic violence today and fundamentally re-envision our society. May this week’s Torah portion serve as a warning to us all and empower us to hear and to raise up the cries of those who demand social change, justice for all, and a new way of being before it is too late. May such be God’s will, and let us say, Amen.