Emily Ilana Losben
Vayera

With all the excitement of the World Series- or other world events, you may have missed what happened on Saturday night when Israel played Austria in Soccer. In the last minute of the match, Austria tied the game, thus moving into second place and kicking Israel out of a possibility to go next summer’s world cup. So maybe this isn’t the biggest event going on in the world right now, but I definitely felt as if I made a sacrifice when I opted to skip going to the game in order to do schoolwork. I sacrificed my ticket and a night out with my roommates and 10’s of thousands of Israelis to do my work.  I guess it doesn’t sound much like a sacrifice, but that’s not how I felt a few days ago. So, instead of going to the game or even watching it on TV, I read about this week’s parsha- Vayera.

Of all the amazing stories we retell this week, I became most interested in the story about Lot and his guests. I wasn’t at all surprised that we read of Lot, a rather well known character, being quite hospitable. First we read that he begs the two men who come as a guest to his town to spend the night at his place. And in the spirit of true hospitality as Bradley spoke about yesterday, Lot doesn’t just offer a place to stay, but also a place to relax and even “freshen-up.”  And of course it is no surprise that a relative the Jewish people offers his guests plenty of food. Like any good host I should hope, Lot also tries to protect his guests when danger literally comes knocking at the door. But wait, here comes the next line as to HOW Lot offers to try and protect his guests when the townspeople of S’dom want to get to know them. [Hebrew Gen: 19: 8]“Here, please, I have two daughters that haven’t yet known a man. I offer them to you to do to them that which is good in your eyes, only the men here, don’t do a thing to them because they have come to my home. Lot, the nephew of our Patriarch, actually offers his own flesh and blood to a gang of strangers for them to do WHATEVER THEY WANT. I don’t know about you, but I find this particularly bothersome! What kind of man offers his own children to an awful fate, and why?

On a very simple level, we can look to justify the actions of Lot, by trying to understand his thinking. For example, some commentators, such as the 14th century German Author Rabbi Jacob b. Asher says that perhaps the townspeople think that the visitors are spies and thus Lot offers his daughters as hostages, to see if it is true. Even if this is the case, it doesn’t explain how a father could sacrifice that which should be his most important possession—his own children.

OR, perhaps rather than trying to understand the actual actions of Lot, we might be able to understand what he does by better understanding the times in which he lived. In her book, The Five Book’s of Miriam, A Woman’s Commentary, Ellen Frankel endeavors to explain Lot’s behavior by suggesting that one must see the story through the lens of a social scientist. She says that by doing such we can discover political and economic obligations and a balance of power among potential rivals. Thus when the wicked sodomites call for Lot’s guests, Lot must choose between three competing pressures:  to pacify his neighbors,  or to safeguard his guest, or finally, to protect his daughters. Frankel continues that since his daughters lack the power to either jeopardize or strengthen his position, it is no wonder that Lot chooses to sacrifice their future marriageablity rather than dishonor his guests or provoke his neighbors. Therefore, she claims that Lot makes a wise political move. Whether as social scientists, graduate students or simple human beings, we can clearly see that Lot does more than just offer to sacrifice their future marriageablity of his daughters, but he offers to sacrifice their well-being and even their lives. BUT STILL OTHERS, would choose to interpret Lot’s behaviors in another way- as those of a coward and an indecent person.   As the Midrash Tanchuma (vayera 12) says: “Normally, a man will sacrifice himself for his daughters or his wife. Either he kills or is killed, but Lot was ready to turn over his daughters to them for iniquity! Said G-d to Lot.: By your life! You keep your daughters for yourself, and eventually little schoolchildren will laugh about you when they read, “And Lot’s two daughters became pregnant from their father.” Though the later scene in this parsha where Lot’s daughters get Lot drunk and then become impregnated by him can be seen as a form of revenge or possible justification for Lot’s actions, it still doesn’t help me understand why we read of a father effortlessly giving up what should be his most precious of possessions. So, I would like to offer yet another interpretation of this very troubling story.

I see Lot’s offer to give his daughters to a gang from the most evil city ever as a form of sacrifice.  This can be seen as a precursor to the most famous of sacrifices- the Akedah of Isaac which occurs later on in this week’s parsha. Though Lot’s sacrifice is little known, I contend that it has just as many ramifications and is just as difficult to accept. To start with, Lot doesn’t realize or maybe he doesn’t care that in volunteering his daughters he is giving them to a fate far worse than that of a quick death. In a world filled with as much violence as ours is, I find it quite gruesome to imagine the fate they might have faced from the people of S’dom. Another reason why Lot’s sacrifice is so troublesome is because it is one in which he seemingly makes no sacrifice of himself.  Unlike Abraham who is ready to sacrifice his beloved son, Lot merely sacrifices his daughters to save himself and his reputation. One must ask for what does Lot sacrifice his daughters. We clearly see that Abraham is ready to sacrifice his son becomes G-d tells him to do so. Abraham’s act is a clear representation of his faith in G-d.  But for what does Lot offer his own flesh and blood? Lot doesn’t do it because G-d tells him to do so.  And he doesn’t give his daughters because of some other belief or value worth dying for.  He risks the lives and well-being of his daughters to save the lives of people he doesn’t even know- strangers. And he does this so that he can safe face as he offered to protect these visitors. You could easily argue that Lot sacrifices his daughters, merely to save his reputation. In the end of this story, as in the Akedah of Isaac, divine intervention prevents the children from being sacrificed.  But where Lot is concerned, something is still sacrificed…Lot sacrifices his love for his daughters by being rash and thoughtless.  Lot sacrifices his place in history as a decent person by thinking only of himself and his promise to protect others, than for really thinking about what that promise means. And by offering to protect the visitors who have simply and ever so recently “come under his roof”, he neglects those for whom he is rightfully responsible as his daughters have always “lived” under his roof.

I realize that when I decided to stay home and do my work, I didn’t really make a sacrifice, for nothing was truly at stake. No lives were to be lost or gained, no huge problems would have been solved or created. I didn’t really sacrifice going to a soccer game, for how can someone sacrifice something so simple. I merely only made a decision. For being faced with a real sacrifice is being faced with the challenges of Abraham and Lot. Being faced with a sacrifice will mean much more than deciding where to go and what to do on a Saturday night. Having to make a sacrifice will mean needing to decide between right and wrong, life and death and faith and love.