We Argued With G-d

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

                    Abraham and Lot, his nephew
      Remember the story of Lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt?  The story of Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt is found in the Old Testament book of Genesis, specifically in Genesis 19. To understand why this happened, we need to explore the context of the events leading up to this incident, the significance of salt in biblical symbolism, and the lessons that can be drawn from this narrative.  

• The victorious coalition of four kings from the East captured Lot and looted the city of Sodom, where Lot lived. The four kings were Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim.

Abraham (b: c.1948 BCE)  had a brother, Haran and Lot was his son.  He went with Abraham from Aram-Naharaim to Canaan.  While on the trek, their shepherds argued with each other over pasture land, and they all separated.  Lot settled in Sodom (you know, Sodom and Gemmora?) He was captured by 5 kings but was rescued by Abraham. The defeated coalition of five kings included the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, who had previously rebelled against Chedorlaomer. 

Lot had his escape from Sodom, and was warned not to look back.  Lot's wife did, anyway, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.  

• Abraham arguing for Sodom: In the Book of Genesis, Abraham directly challenges God's plan to destroy the city of Sodom. He bargains with God, asking if he would spare the city for the sake of 50, then 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, and finally 10 righteous people.

The bargaining between God and Abraham for Sodom is found in Genesis 18:16-33. It was Abraham, not Lot, who pleaded with God, arguing that the city should not be destroyed if there were righteous people within it. The dialogue starts with Abraham asking if God will spare the city for 50 righteous people and, through his bargaining, reduces the number to 10, which is the final number mentioned in the negotiation.  . 

• The conduct of the people of Sodom was terrible and more than justified the Divine judgment of its corruption.  Lot had showed that his years with Abraham had ennobled him so much that although Sodom had made a mark on him, he had remained righteous, even heroically so.  Despite the mortal danger of being hospitable to visitors in the cruel environment of Sodom, Lot took the "men" into his home.  There they said they wanted to KNOW them, meaning they wanted to sodomize them.  (Rashi, Ibn Ezra)
  
      Where tribes turned into kingdoms; Ammon and Moab

Lot also had something terrible happen to him.  Evidently he and his daughters , then grown-up were in an isolated place for a long stretch and the girls gave up hope of ever meeting a man and having children.  They decided their father would have to father their possible children, so they got him drunk and the inevitable happened.  Two sons were the result;  Ammon and Moab.  This happened a good 4,000 +years ago. They became our distant cousins; now no longer in existence. 

This shows me that if Lot could argue with G-d, then so can we under certain circumstances;  like standing up for  the Jewish people who lived in Skogie, Illinois when the Nazis came and berated them with their presence. However, I'm sure that many Holocaust victims did this as well, asking G-d for their lives or the lives of their family, and G-d didn't reply.  One must remember that Abraham asked;  not Lot. Even G-d knows when to bend his own rules once in a while.  We are not robots only able to follow what directions are fed into us.  We had minds.   

Now, since the Holocaust, we are asking again to save our people.  Let us hope we will be and are worthy enough as a human to be heard.      

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

The Bible (Tanach)-the Stone Edition, ArtScroll Series by Me'sorah Publications, Ltd.