Vayera: collective punishment

The parsha is hard to figure. Abraham tries to rescue Sodom, yet he banishes Ismael and Hagar into the desert - where they would die of thirst had not an angel pointed them to water. Abraham prays that Avimelech be healed from the illness created to prevent him from being with his wife, Sarah – and then brings their son, Isaac to be a burnt offering on the altar.  Things do not evolve as expected.

When Gd appears, a challenge looms. The conversation between Gd and Abraham, Abraham’s attempt to save the five towns ( Sodom, Amorah, Admah, Tzevaim and Tzoar) is presented as incidental, a tribute to Abraham’s future.

אָמָ֑ר הַֽמְכַסֶּ֤ה אֲנִי֙ מֵֽאַבְרָהָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֲנִ֥י עֹשֶֽׂה׃

And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Avraham that thing which I intend to do;

The plea that ensues is a model for those who call themselves the descendants and disciples of Abraham

חָלִ֨לָה לְּךָ֜ מֵעֲשֹׂ֣ת ׀ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה לְהָמִ֤ית צַדִּיק֙ עִם־רָשָׁ֔ע וְהָיָ֥ה כַצַּדִּ֖יק כָּרָשָׁ֑ע חָלִ֣לָה לָּ֔ךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט֙ כׇּל־הָאָ֔רֶץ לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מִשְׁפָּֽט׃

Far be it from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, far be it from Thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Onkelos translates the word for righteous, Tzadik, as zacai – innocent. I am not sure if that clarifies or confuses the issues.

Abraham invokes an unwritten principle. I could easily simplify it to: Each individual must be judged, not the collective. That is not how it turns out.  Abraham argues that a critical mass, a sufficient number of righteous (or innocent) people should save the collective. This is a less appealing, but more practical position.

This year, I remembered that these five towns were the same kingdoms defeated by emperors of Babylon and Persia in last week’s parsha.  Abraham had saved them previously from a military conquest, another circumstance in which the innocent suffer. The capture of nephew Lot had motivated Abraham’s successful military operation. I imagine Lot’s choice to stay in Sodom was part of the reason for Abraham’s plea to save the residual righteous of Sodom from fire and sulfur. Lot is indeed saved, and Lot’s pleading saves one of the five duchies, Tzoar. Lot is saved from obscurity by the incestuous plot of his daughter, perhaps a residual from living in Sodom (or being offered as a replacement for the wayfarers lodging at Lot’s house). Relationships and the designation of righteous are complex.

In the end, in the parsha, all the named characters: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Sarah, Hagar, Lot, Avimelech – are all rescued. They confront dangers, they face destruction, but they are rescued by angels. Sodom and Amorah and Adama and Tzevoim are destroyed. There are no names to remember there. The too few innocents are swept away in the punishment for overwhelming evil. That seems to be how the world works. There were innocent Germans under the Nazis, righteous Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, good Romans under Hadrian. Etc.

I must, at least, recognize the injustice wrought by retribution.  It is a  cruel addendum to crime.