One of my favorite roads in Israel, is the scenic Route 1 in the area between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Within a matter of minutes, one leaves the built-up rolling hills and mountains of Jerusalem and descends into the sandy and rocky peaks of the Judean desert.
The difference in the landscape is stark and dramatic, as the often lush greenery of Jerusalem recedes into the back mirror and is replaced by the barren, rocky and sandy hills of the Judean desert. An occasional deer or ibex will be seen running up a rocky cleft, and here and there a piece of greenery will appear in a Wadi, reminding us that even here there is the potential for life.
As one drives a little further, one reaches the Dead Sea at one of the lowest points on earth, an amazing wonder in of itself. Then as you go to the right and down Route 90 (not to be confused with the Masspike), one passes sites such as Ein Gedi, Qumran and Masada as you drive up and down the cliffs along the Dead Sea. A warning to watch out for falling boulders is posted every few hundred meters, and the massive rocks and boulders that are scattered everywhere, are a testimony to the many times this has actually happened.
Driving a little further south, one approaches an area known as Mount Sodom, an area that takes you back in history to the dramatic story of the destruction of Sodom which we read about in this week's Torah Portion. There are also of course several rock and salt pillar formations which people claim to be Lot's wife which also make you wonder about the location and its past.
As one drives up and own these roads and contemplates the messages of history, one can't help but reflect on all of the events that have unfolded on this little stretch of land over the last few thousand years. Each mountain and rock contain another episode from our past, and indeed countless stories and teachings in the Torah and during the times of the Temple, happened in these very spots.
Abraham & Sodom
What indeed was the difference between the evil city of Sodom and Abraham the Jewish patriarch who argued and prayed so hard to G-d. for this city to be saved and given another chance?
The Talmud in Sanhedrin explains, that the people of Sodom were fearful of having to share their wealth with others and as a result they became cruel to strangers and to poor people to ensure that they would never have to do so. Travelers were tortured and mutilated, and the poor were allowed and caused to die of hunger. The Talmud even quotes a tradition that states that the people of Sodom would help poor people by giving a coin that had the name of the giver on the coin. At the same time, they made sure that no one would sell food to the poor people who would then die of hunger. At that point, all the residents of Sodom would go and take back their coin to do the same for the next unlucky pauper.
The Talmud tells us that the straw that broke the camel’s back, was when a girl was discovered to have given food to a poor person and enabled the pauper to stay alive. For this ‘crime’ the girl was killed in a very brutal manner that defied every iota of humanity.
On the other end of the spectrum was Abraham who lived a life of helping others and taking care of strangers, travelers and the poor. Even when G-d comes to Abraham to inform him of the impending destruction of Sodom, Abraham begins to argue and beg G-d to please somehow give these evil people of Sodom another chance.
Sodom represented selfishness to the ultimate degree and a callous sense of cruelty to others.
Abraham represented kindness to the ultimate degree and a driving desire and ethic to be kind and caring to others, no matter how different they were, or how wrong he thought they were.
Back to the Judean Desert…
As I think back to the dry empty parched hills of Sodom, in a certain sense they remind me of the futility of the way of life of Sodom. For indeed cruelty and lack of kindness and empathy has no endurance and is not a place where life itself can grow and flourish.
Eventually at the end of each trip, I would turn and head back towards Jerusalem. As I approached and would begin the drive up the hills of Jerusalem, the barren hills of the Judean Desert would recede into the distance. This time in their place, the now twinkling evening lights of Jerusalem were providing a reminder of the lush life that is in abundance just a few miles away from the desert below.
Indeed, Jerusalem the city of Abraham, is a city that represents the kindness and care to others that Abraham embodied and passed on to us. Perhaps the flourishing greenery and vibrant city just a few miles away from the desolate sands of Sodom, is a reminder, that it is the values and behavior of Abraham that have an eternal dynamic rhythm and are the ones that will continue to make a mark on humanity on our journey ahead.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Yisroel