It is understandable that, in Torah portions containing key events such as the founding covenants of our nation and God’s command for Yitzchak to be sacrificed, characters peripheral to the primary Patriarchal plot will struggle to hold the attention of most readers. One such supporting role in recent parashiyot is that of Lot, the unfortunate nephew of Avraham.
The popular view, which arises from Rashi’s presentation of accompanying midrashic material, perceives Lot as a redundant and even obstructive third-wheel in the Abrahamic juggernaut – a burden on Avram and Sarai as they traipse through treacherous territories facing various trials and tribulations from menacing monarchs.
However another understanding of the role of Lot emerges from the analysis of a number of other commentators. Judaism Reclaimed explores the position of the Radak and Netziv, for example, who portray Lot in a more positive light as primary student and heir apparent of Avram’s venture.
When Avram and Lot’s shepherds quarrel, they separate on good terms and travel in their own directions. Lot’s decision to relocate to “sinful and wicked” Sodom is portrayed in a negative light by Rashi, who accuses him of prioritizing his portfolios over his spiritual welfare. Lot’s conduct in Sodom however, does not clearly point to a man who is betraying his Abrahamic roots.
Rather than focus on financial gain, Lot appears in yesterday’s portion as having pursued a leadership role as a judge who could perhaps re-educate and set a positive example for the sinful Sodomites. When strangers appear at the gates of the city, Lot takes a courageous moral stand, persuading them to stay in his home despite the clear and obvious dangers involved.
Lot of course is a deeply flawed hero, as the continuation of the story makes apparent. The fact that he is willing to cast out his daughters to the frenzied mob in order to save the guests demonstrates – as the Maharal points out – that he is only superficially mimicking the acts of his teacher, Avraham, without effectively internalizing what kindness and love for others really entails. Perhaps the aspiring kiruv-rabbi bit off more than he could chew by aspiring to single-handedly realign the moral compass of Sin City? Either way, his appalling actions show the biblical reader why, while he may have been deserving of being saved from Sodom, Lot was not worthy of being a building block of the Chosen Nation.
Avraham, however, does not seem to have been aware of the severe shortcomings of his prime student. When God informs him that Sodom and the five towns are set for imminent destruction Avraham is dumbfounded. Despite God having made it clear that these towns are thoroughly evil, Avraham seems inexplicably convinced that a righteous remnant remains that can positively influence the city’s morality. After all, his loyal student had – several years earlier – left him to set up the first Aish/Chabad house in Sodom: Surely there must be 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10 local residents who had been positively swayed by his efforts?!
In a pattern that would be repeated with Yishmael and Eisav, Avraham’s loyalty to his student and nephew leads him to grasp in vain at the hope that Lot is sufficiently righteous to continue his path. Only when God’s hints become increasingly clear and impossible to ignore, Avraham is forced to accept the reality of Lot’s failure and the Torah proceeds to the creation of the next generation of Avraham and Sarah’s family as the continuation of their covenant and teachings.
First posted to Facebook 17 November 2024. For comments and discussion, click here.
