Thank you for your article. It was thoughtful and well-articulated. I’d like to offer a deeper layer from traditional Jewish sources, as someone who has studied the Hebrew Bible and its commentaries in the original language for many years.
According to the Midrash (Sanhedrin 109b), Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed not merely because of individual wrongdoing, but because they created a society that outlawed kindness. The Midrash describes how a young girl was executed for giving bread to a poor person. That moment—the cry of a victim punished for compassion—is the “outcry” that rose up to Heaven.
This understanding is core to Jewish tradition.
Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 11th-century France), the most widely studied Torah commentator, emphasizes that Sodom’s sin was rooted in institutional cruelty. In his commentary on Genesis 18:20, he writes that the city’s outcry was the result of systemic injustice and the suffering of those punished for doing good.
Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 13th-century Spain), both a philosopher and a mystic, adds that the people of Sodom had wealth and security—but refused to share it. Worse, they built laws to prevent acts of generosity, punishing those who helped strangers. He sees this as the ultimate perversion: using law to destroy mercy.
Later Hasidic voices, including the Lubavitcher Rebbe, expand on this further. They teach that the true danger of Sodom wasn’t impulsive sin, but a society where empathy itself became illegal. Where the vulnerable were seen as threats. Where compassion was suppressed in the name of order.
In the Jewish view, Sodom represents the collapse that comes when a society loses its soul—not through private failure, but through deliberate moral inversion.
Thank you again for your contribution. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Beautifully done. I just listened and imagined as you read. I could see it burn.
And, thank you Mr Paull, for your contribution.
This story has always intrigued me, espec the part of Lot's wife. So, was she showing she was going to be missing what had been there?
Thank you!
That’s exactly how many interpret it.
The issue wasn’t just that she “looked” back.
It was why she looked back.
Jesus Himself refers to her in Luke 17:32:
“Remember Lot’s wife.”
It’s a warning—about not turning back to the world when God is calling you out of it.
Lot’s wife lingered, not just physically, but in spirit.
She hesitated.
She looked back—longing, possibly grieving the life she was leaving behind.
That backward glance exposed a divided heart.
Appreciate you taking the time! Fascinating
No problem at all🙏🏼
Thank you for your article. It was thoughtful and well-articulated. I’d like to offer a deeper layer from traditional Jewish sources, as someone who has studied the Hebrew Bible and its commentaries in the original language for many years.
According to the Midrash (Sanhedrin 109b), Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed not merely because of individual wrongdoing, but because they created a society that outlawed kindness. The Midrash describes how a young girl was executed for giving bread to a poor person. That moment—the cry of a victim punished for compassion—is the “outcry” that rose up to Heaven.
This understanding is core to Jewish tradition.
Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 11th-century France), the most widely studied Torah commentator, emphasizes that Sodom’s sin was rooted in institutional cruelty. In his commentary on Genesis 18:20, he writes that the city’s outcry was the result of systemic injustice and the suffering of those punished for doing good.
Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 13th-century Spain), both a philosopher and a mystic, adds that the people of Sodom had wealth and security—but refused to share it. Worse, they built laws to prevent acts of generosity, punishing those who helped strangers. He sees this as the ultimate perversion: using law to destroy mercy.
Later Hasidic voices, including the Lubavitcher Rebbe, expand on this further. They teach that the true danger of Sodom wasn’t impulsive sin, but a society where empathy itself became illegal. Where the vulnerable were seen as threats. Where compassion was suppressed in the name of order.
In the Jewish view, Sodom represents the collapse that comes when a society loses its soul—not through private failure, but through deliberate moral inversion.
Thank you again for your contribution. I look forward to reading more of your work.
—Mark E. Paull
Thanks for the extra information!
Thank you for that insight! Very helpful