This first reference denotes the geographical territory of the descendants of the sons of Noach.
We are going to play a game.
I will read out a slogan devised by a council or city and see if you can guess which area I am referring to:
- 'The County of Opportunity' (Hertfordshire)
- 'Putting the Community First' (Barnet)
- 'Building a Better Borough' (Brent)
- ' Home of the Derby' (Epsom)
- 'Inspiring Capital' (Edinburgh)
- 'It's not quite heaven, but it's better than Devon'/ (Cornwall - also 'where we sell proper pastys' and other witty examples.)
- 'Surrey welcomes you to....Surrey'
'Public relations' is key in being able to sell a location to people, who might wish to either visit an area or live there.
Let's look at how the Torah 'sells' Sodom to anyone who wished to live there (a few choice verses)....
(12) Abram remained in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sodom. (13) Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked sinners against the LORD.
(20) Then the LORD said, “The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave!
(9) Their partiality in judgment accuses them; They avow their sins like Sodom, They do not conceal them. Woe to them! For ill Have they served themselves.
The Bible doesn't popularise Sodom, even in later books.
It's not bad enough that it was destroyed, along with Amora (Gemorrah), but the Prophets continuously use the city as a benchmark for what is considered to be The byword for "evil and immoral behaviour".
In modern (and ancient) English, the city even lends its name to an immoral act (that I won't mention here), which is directly derived from the Bible.
So why is Avraham Avinu praying for this cesspit to be saved?
What is going on here? Doesn't he believe the PR?!
Our Rabbis tell us that the Patriarchs were each endowed with a unique personal attribute - a middah.
Avrahams's was Midat Hachessed - a deep and genuine level of kindness towards all fellow human beings
Yitzchak's was Gevurah - bravery (as witnessed in his response to the Akeida) and Yaakov's was Middat Haemet - truth.
Coming back to Avraham, whilst Gd gave him 10 tests (ending with the Akeida), he never flinched from his beliefs and wish to show kindness to anyone - from the way he treated the Angels who visited him at the start of the parasha, to his humanity towards Hagar, despite Sarah's wish to drive her away.
Avraham was a true mensch. He lived and breathed chessed, hence his wish to try to do his best to save the people in a city, who frankly, didn't deserve to be rescued.
On Wednesday (13th November), we marked 'Annual World Kindness Day'.
The official website is called "Random Acts of Kindness" and the movement's slogan is "Making kindness the norm".
Ideas to promote the day include:
- Sending an encouraging email to someone you know
- Complimenting drivers on how well they parked their cars
- Finding out something new about a co-worker
- Wheeling out your neighbour's bins
- Using energy efficient lightbulbs
- Avoid jumping to conclusions
At times, when we switch on the TV, radio, computer or even read a newspaper, we get a sense that there is so much evil out there, that kindness seems to be have eclipsed by the darkness of human nature.
The city of Sodom where Lot chose to live, surrounding himself with a society that was thoroughly immoral, did not deserve any sort of reprieve - yet Avraham did everything he could to obtain this - and Gd, who had declared his intention to destroy the city, listened and even agreed to pardon those who were unpardonable - because there was one good man whose kindness, whose chessed could have tipped the balance.
Had he succeeded, had Sodom possessed 10 good men, then the PR it received could have been upgraded and rebranded and the English language would have had to find another word to describe the immoral act.
Many years later, the evil people in a city called Nineveh found themselves in a similar situation and yet, with teshuvah, with repentence, they managed to avoid such a fate. Avraham's chessed shows us that, when there is good in the world, it can bring light to even the most overcast night.
With chessed, there is always hope.
The middot that we learned from Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov have been inculcated into our collective psyche and although the wonderful idea of "Word Kindness Day" is a panacea to a difficult world situation - we can, if we wish, make each day a 'world kindness' one.
Our fellow citizens look to us to set the example and if we show kindness, courage and honesty in the way we portray ourselves - could we ever create a better slogan for the Jewish people?
Shabbat Shalom.