In the Midst of the City

A few Inspirational People can Change an Entire City. A few good deeds, nay, even one, can save the world and bring Moshiach!

Bleeding Heart?

Abraham, the first Jew—it is recorded in this week’s parsha—distinguishes himself in yet another way.

When G-d tells him about His plans to destroy the wicked city of Sodom, Abraham pleads for them. The inhabitants of Sodom were total strangers and were indeed guilty of some of the most heinous crimes. Yet Abraham implores G-d to abort His plan for their annihilation.

This action of Abraham might elicit a sense of admiration by some for his concern for all people, but might also “turn people off” to his “bleeding heart” attitude towards the perpetrators of the cruelest acts, while apparently showing insensitivity for their victims.

Asking for Two Things

Upon closer examination, Abraham was not asking G-d to let the criminals get away with it. He was concerned that G-d do an injustice and allow the innocent to die with the guilty. In Abraham’s words: “Will you also destroy the righteous with the wicked.”

However, Abraham follows up that reasonable argument based on justice with a second perplexing one:

“Perhaps there are fifty righteous men in the midst of the city. Will you still destroy it, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who are in it?”

Abraham then reverts to his original argument when he says:

“It would be profane for You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, equating the innocent and the guilty… Would the Judge of the entire earth not perform justice?”

Rashi explains that Abraham was, in fact, asking G-d for two things. First, he demanded that G-d not do an injustice by destroying the righteous. Second, he challenged G-d to spare even the wicked for the sake of the righteous.

This however brings us back to our original question: Why did Abraham care so much for those who deserved to be punished for their unspeakable cruelty?

A few Inspirational People can Change an Entire City

The answer seems to be provided by the Torah itself when it quotes Abraham:

“Perhaps there are fifty righteous men in the midst of the city.” Why did he add the words “in the midst (of the city)?”

When Abraham spoke of righteous people “in the midst of the city” he was referring to people who were intimately involved with the people of the community and had the capacity of exercising a measure of influence over them. Thus, Abraham argued, there is no good reason to destroy the wicked people; eventually they will all change for the good because of the influence of the relatively righteous people.

Indeed, Abraham’s mission to the world was to be the one who would change the direction of the entire world. Abraham started a monotheistic and moralistic revolution in a world steeped in paganism and hedonism. How then could G-d—who entrusted Abraham with this mission—not appreciate the value of sparing even the wicked, when the righteous could serve as a positive influence over them.

Looking for Someone who Carea

One can also find an additional insight implicit in Abraham’s reference to the righteous being “in the midst” of the city. Abraham knew that there were no genuinely righteous people in Sodom. How then could he speak of fifty, when he knew that there probably was not even one truly righteous person? Even his nephew Lot, who was eventually spared, was hardly a paragon of virtue. He was spared because of Abraham, and that, by comparison with the others, he was a saint.

Abraham thus was trying to find some redeeming quality possessed by some of the Sodomites. Perhaps, Abraham wondered, there were fifty people, whose righteousness was that they were “in the midst of the city,” i.e., they took the concerns of the city seriously.

Perhaps these civic minded individuals would be regarded as being relatively righteous. The fact that they had this spark of goodness embedded in them; that they would situate themselves “in the midst of the city” to take care of the community’s needs, demonstrated that they were salvageable. This would prove that they were not entirely evil, and that they would, in turn—with some help from people like Abraham—be able to turn things around for the entire community.

G-d response was that, in fact, there was not even a vestige of goodness in this community. It had so degenerated that there was not even a redeeming quality to be found in Sodom, and as such their fate would be sealed.

Abraham’s Legacy

Abraham’s legacy to us is to look for the good wherever it exists and cultivate it so that it can affect others.

Abraham’s approach is echoed in the way Maimonides describes how we are to view ourselves and the entire world:

Imagine that all of our deeds are placed on a scale which is evenly balanced between good and evil. Even one minute, apparently insignificant act of goodness and kindness, can tip the scales in our favor and in the favor of the entire world. One good deed can literally save humanity by virtue of its ripple effect.

This powerful message is rooted in Abraham’s plea for the people of Sodom. Even one redeeming act of goodness, he felt, could spread and affect the entire community.

The Power of One Good Deed

Alas that did not exist in Sodom, but it certainly exists today as we are poised to enter into the Messianic Age.

Now, more than ever, every G-dly act should be encouraged and appreciated for its ability to turn the tide and bring us over the top. This will remove the destructive forces of exile—that are analogous to the destruction of Sodom—and usher in an age of ultimate righteousness, kindness and G-dliness through Moshiach, who is characterized in Biblical and Talmudic literature as being one who is imbued with a sense of justice and compassion for all.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayeira by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.