While there is no shortage of Benei Yisrael being rebuked in Tanach for their various transgressions, one such indictment which seems imprecise and perhaps overly harsh is the comparison with the people of S'dom and 'Amorah. As we know, the legacy of S'dom and 'Amorah is one of unmitigated evil and a benchmark for immorality which is used to this day. Their sins were so complete and evil so absolute that Hashem does not simply cause the cities' destruction, but completely obliterates them with unparalleled divine wrath. And yet in Eicha we are told that "the sins of the daughter of my people is greater than that of S'dom" (Eicha 4:6), and in the Haftara of Hazon the Navi exclaims "Heed the word of Hashem you leaders of S'dom, listen to the words of our God's Torah you people of 'Amorah" (Yeshayahu 1:10). Were the sins of the Jews in fact as serious and complete to warrant such comparisons with S'dom and 'Amorah?
Random Acts of Scholarship: July 2006 Archives
July 31, 2006
While there is no shortage of Benei Yisrael being rebuked in Tanach for their various transgressions, one such indictment which seems imprecise and perhaps overly harsh is the comparison with the people of S'dom and 'Amorah. As we know, the legacy of S'dom and 'Amorah is one of unmitigated evil and a benchmark for immorality which is used to this day. Their sins were so complete and evil so absolute that Hashem does not simply cause the cities' destruction, but completely obliterates them with unparalleled divine wrath. And yet in Eicha we are told that "the sins of the daughter of my people is greater than that of S'dom" (Eicha 4:6), and in the Haftara of Hazon the Navi exclaims "Heed the word of Hashem you leaders of S'dom, listen to the words of our God's Torah you people of 'Amorah" (Yeshayahu 1:10). Were the sins of the Jews in fact as serious and complete to warrant such comparisons with S'dom and 'Amorah?
