In parshas Vayeira the Torah continues to teach us about the life and times of Avraham Avinu.   We learn of the bikur cholim Hashem did in visiting Avraham when he was healing from his bris milah (18:1 with Rashi), the hachnasas orchim Avraham did in welcoming the guests to his tent, serving them delicacies and waiting upon them (18:2-8), the promise that Sarah would have a son ‘at this time next year’ (v.10), and the tefilos of Avraham on behalf of the cities of Sodom and Amorah and the cities of the plain (18:23-33).  We learn of Sarah being taken by Avimelech (chapter 20), the birth of Yitzchak (chapter 21), the sending away of Hagar and Yishmael (ibid), the Akeidas Yitzchak (chapter 22), and the birth of Rivka (22:23).

While there is so much to learn from each of these narratives, let us focus on four words in the parsha: seemingly innocent words that actually come to teach us an entire life lesson.  When the angels left the tent of Avraham and journeyed to Sodom, in order to destroy Sodom and rescue Lot from the impending destruction, the pasuk tells us: 

וַ֠יָּבֹ֠אוּ שְׁנֵ֨י הַמַּלְאָכִ֤ים סְדֹ֙מָה֙ בָּעֶ֔רֶב וְל֖וֹט יֹשֵׁ֣ב בְּשַֽׁעַר־סְדֹ֑ם וַיַּרְא־לוֹט֙ וַיָּ֣קׇם לִקְרָאתָ֔ם וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ אַפַּ֖יִם אָֽרְצָה, and the two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gates of Sodom, and Lot saw them and he got up to greet them and he bowed down with his face to the ground (19:1).

Why do we need to know where Lot was sitting when the angels arrived in Sodom?  Rashi (quoting Midrash Bereishis Rabbah) explains that sitting in the gates of Sodom means: אוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם מִנּוּהוּ שׁוֹפֵט עֲלֵיהֶם, that very day the people of Sodom appointed Lot as judge over them.  

The gates of the cities in Biblical times was where all important happenings in the city occurred (see, for example, Rus chapter 4).  It was also where the courts and judges sat to determine the important matters for the city.  It is very telling that Lot was appointed the Supreme Court Justice of Sodom.  He was no longer a stranger in the city, no longer a newcomer.  Lot was now the head of Sodom and in charge of the city!

How did this happen?  How did the nephew of Avraham Avinu, who witnessed the welcoming nature and kindnesses of Avraham, become the head of a city that was רָעִים וְחַטָּאִים לַה’ מְאֹד, wicked and sinful to Hashem very much (Bereishis 13:13)?  On these words, both Rashi and Onkelos explain that the people of Sodom were wicked and sinful with their bodies and their money.  How did Lot go from being the nephew of Avraham, the master of chessed and believer in One G-d, to the chief justice of a city so depraved, it was slated for Divine annihilation?

Rabbi Shmuel Goldin points us to two previous instances (both in last week’s parsha, Lech Lecha) where the Torah tells us about Lot and his proximity to Sodom.  The first time the Torah narrates about Lot and Sodom, the verse says: וַיֶּאֱהַל עַד-סְדֹם, and Lot tented until Sodom (13:12).  The next time we are told about Lot and his proximity to Sodom, the verse says: וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב בִּסְדֹם (14:12), and he (Lot) was dwelling in Sodom.  And finally, in our parsha, we are told: וְל֖וֹט יֹשֵׁ֣ב בְּשַֽׁעַר־סְדֹ֑ם, and Lot was sitting in the gates of Sodom.  Lot was now running the city, he was the CEO, the Supreme Court Justice, the man of Sodom, the buck stops there.  

Rabbi Goldin (Unlocking the Torah Text, Bereishit, p.84-87) notes that in a subtle, but powerful, fashion, the Torah is teaching us a very important life lesson.  When choosing to part from Avraham and go live in the city of Sodom, Lot believed he could just reside at the border of Sodom and remain unaffected by the wickedness of the people.  “I will just tent until Sodom,” Lot thought.  The cities of the plain were very beautiful, and there Lot wanted to reside.  But he believed that he would remain untainted by their evil.  Hence, the Torah tells us: וַיֶּאֱהַל עַד-סְדֹם, and Lot tented until Sodom.

However, one who resides in proximity to evil will absolutely be affected.  One cannot associate with wickedness and remain immune to its influence.  Once Lot lived for a period of time at the border of Sodom, he was drawn into the city, and affected by the ways of the people there.  Hence, the Torah tells us: וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב בִּסְדֹם, Lot went from the border to dwelling within the city.  

And finally, once he left the periphery, and moved into the city, the allure of the City of Sin overtaking his good intentions, he was no longer immune to the spiritual dangers that lay within.  His transformation is complete, and when we meet him in this week’s parsha, the Torah tells us: וְל֖וֹט יֹשֵׁ֣ב בְּשַֽׁעַר־סְדֹ֑ם, and Lot was sitting in the gates of Sodom.

From tenting at the border, to moving in to the city, to running the show, Lot’s descent into evil teaches us that one cannot befriend evil and expect to remain immune to its dangers and vices.  Not for naught do the sages strongly caution us: הַרְחֵק מִשָּׁכֵן רָע, וְאַל תִּתְחַבֵּר לָרָשָׁע, stay far away from an evil neighbor and do not befriend a wicked person (Mishnah Avos 1:7).  The yetzer harah within man is crafty and strong, and once evil is admitted to the confines of one’s heart and soul, the descent is steep and frightening.

Rabbi Goldin writes that, “Lot’s story remains a cautionary tale concerning the effects of external environment in our lives.  We must be ever aware of the world that surrounds us, and we must actively reject those elements of our surroundings that are incompatible with our own [Torah] standards.  Through such vigilance, we will escape Lot’s fate” (Unlocking the Torah Text, Bereishit, p.87).  

Many (if not most) of the elements in the world, culture and society around us are spiritually dangerous, morally corrupt, and physically perverse.  We must cling to a life of Torah, mitzvos, and ahavas Yisrael in order to save ourselves from the dangers of the yetzer harah.  One who associates, runs after, and clings to the evils in society will become affected, while one who clings to G-d and His Torah will merit eternal life and length of days, וְאַתֶּם הַדְּבֵקִים, בַּה’ אֱלֹקִיכֶם--חַיִּים כֻּלְּכֶם, הַיּוֹם (Devarim 4:4).  

May we be spiritually strong, intellectually wise, and morally pure so that we will choose life, so that we may live, וּבָחַרְתָּ, בַּחַיִּים--לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה, אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ, us and our children after us (ibid., 30:19). 

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום