it says that sdom was "kula mashkeh" they had great natural resources. the meforshim say that they were also on a trade route. Meaning that they had the best of both worlds having their own bounty of natural resources on one hand but also the ability to trade and acquire from other countries. Usually countries have one or the other. They might have great wealth but need to import crops from agricultural countries or vice versa. Sdom had both. They had immense wealth and the highest standard of living. That is why Lot chose to leave Avraham and go to Sdom rather than any other country. The Gemara in Sanhedrin 109:A says that the people of Sdom became arrogant because of the great wealth that God bestowed upon them.
There are many Gemaros and Chazal's describing the wickedness of Sdom. I would like to study some of these to see if we can come up with a pattern for their behaviour. What was the root of Sdom's wickedness? We find that the first Bais Hamikdash was destroyed because Klal Yisrael had violated the three big avairos. We also know that the second bais Hamikdash was destroyed because of Sinas Chinam. There is usually a pattern to a behaviour that is based on some root cause on a bad Midah, in this case a mida so bad that God felt the need to destroy the whole country completely becasue they seemingly had no chance of redemption.
On a side note: The psukim in Parshas Lech Lecha state as follows:
וישא-לוֹט אֶת-עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא אֶת-כָּל-כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן כִּי כֻלָּהּ מַשְׁקֶה לִפְנֵי שַׁחֵת יְהֹוָה אֶת-סְדֹם וְאֶת-עֲמֹרָה כְּגַן-יְהוָֹה כְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בֹּאֲכָה צֹעַר:
יא וַיִּבְחַר-לוֹ לוֹט אֵת כָּל-כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן וַיִּסַּע לוֹט מִקֶּדֶם וַיִּפָּרְדוּ אִישׁ מֵעַל אָחִיו:
יב אַבְרָם יָשַׁב בְּאֶרֶץ-כְּנָעַן וְלוֹט יָשַׁב בְּעָרֵי הַכִּכָּר וַיֶּאֱהַל עַד-סְדֹם
Rashi brings a medrash which is a gemara in Horiyus 10:b that states as follows regarding Lot's intention:
דורשה לגנאי, על שהיו שטופי זימה בחר לו לוט בשכונתם
Lot really liked the Sodomites behavior and that is why he chose Sdom. The question is why not take the pasuk literally? It seems to have been well known that Sdom was a nation with great wealth (chazal say that they had great natural resources). Why do Chaza'l assume an ulterior motive?
The explanation is that there is פרדס in Torah (pshat remez, drush, sod). This is instrinctly built into the basic structure of the Torah. The klal we were mekabel from Chaza'l is
הסתכל באורייתא וברא עלמא
The Torah is the blueprint for the world. If the blueprint has פרדס built into it then the actual structure has to reflect that. In Seforim it is mentioned that PARDES is "Keneged NARNN" There is PARDES in every man. Man is know as "OLAM KATAN". There is פרדס in every man whether he realizes it or not. . Just as we can only see Pshat if we look at the surface of the Torah we can also only see Pshat when it comes to seeing man. Chazal were able to tap into the פרדס of man. Man's NARNN, nefesh ruach neshama. There is a Shoresh, a root, beyond what is recognized to the person himself whcih is much deeper than what meets the eye. The unconscious might be one of the layers. Maybe those layers start after the unconscious and the unconscious is still part of Pshat. Who knows. This is Pshat in many Chazal's such as in Bamidbar it says that the Bnei Yisrael were ‘bochim limishpichosav”. Chaza'l say that that Bnei Yisrael were not complaining about onions but rather “iskei mishpachos” – arayos. They were complaining about the Issur of Arayos. How do Chazal know that? They were able to tap into a much higher level of man's consciousness into the פרדס realm. Another example is when Yehuda told Pharoah – Ki Chamocha kiParoah. Chazal attribute a whole different meaning than it seems on the surface even though on the surface the simple meaning makes sense that Pharoah is a strong king. Chazal say that Yehuda meant much more than that. This deeper meaning is possible even if the speaker is not aware of it. And this might only be in the remez, or drush realm, there might be other deeper meanings in the Sod realm which is parallel to the Neshama which is totally above and beyond a person's ability to relate and obviously isn't even aware that it exists. Even a shrink that can delve into a persons darkest place cannot find this realm. It si buried in the person's spiritual existence. That might be why we find in the Gemara a lot of times when people say things that they don't even mean the Gemra says his "mazal" saw it and sometimes it comes true. This is because there is a much deeper part of that person that is speaking. He might be speaking directly from his Neshama.
That would be pshat in “barasi yetzer harah barasi torah tavlin” and other “segulas” that chazal tell us like saying krias shema. These fixes work on the “sod” of the persons neshama which drives him without him able to know why.
As an aside, I find it very interesting that we, today, are so enthralled with our "Gedolim" and "Rebbes" and feel that when they see a person they know right away everything about him/her. That they can see into the deepest depths of their soul. I just want to quote a few psukim from Shmuel I 15 6:
וַיְהִי בְּבוֹאָם וַיַּרְא אֶת-אֱלִיאָב וַיֹּאמֶר אַךְ נֶגֶד יְהֹוָה מְשִׁיחוֹ:
ז וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל-שְׁמוּאֵל אַל-תַּבֵּט אֶל-מַרְאֵהוּ וְאֶל-גְּבֹהַּ קוֹמָתוֹ כִּי מְאַסְתִּיהוּ כִּי לֹא אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה הָאָדָם כִּי הָאָדָם יִרְאֶה לַעֵינַיִם וַיהֹוָה יִרְאֶה לַלֵּבָב
This is talking about Shmuel Hanavi. Possibly the greatest Prophet Bnei Yisrael ever knew since Moshe Rabenu. He comes to Yishai with a command from God to anoint one of Yishai's son's as the next King. When he sees Eliav he immediately "Knows" that Eliav is the "ONE" and is ready to anoint him, but wait, God says to Shmuel הָאָדָם יִרְאֶה לַעֵינַיִם וַיהֹוָה יִרְאֶה לַלֵּבָב. You can only see what is on the surface because only God knows what is in man's heart. I guess it was too bad that Shmuel couldn't take a contemporary Rebbe with him who could show him how to do it.
Go through the Gemara in Sanhedrin 109
In short the stories told are as follows:
1)Didn't let any outsiders come in to their country
2)They would put the rich people next to a wall which would fall down and kill them and then they would take their money (rishonim say it was strangers from other countries)
3)The people of Sodom would deposit sweet smelling fruits (pearsomens) with the wealthy which would allow the Sodomites to smell where they hid their money and they would come and take their money
4)People that had an ox would have a turn to be appointed to watch over the town cattle for one day. Those that owned none would have to do two days of civil service
5)The toll for crossing the bridge was one Zuz. For someone who didn't use the bridge they charged two Zuz.
6)To builders who lined up their bricks to build, the Sodomites would come and each one would take one brick until he had none left. They justified it by saying we are each only taking one.
7)If someone would cause a woman to have a miscarriage the judges would force the perpetrator to make her pregnant
8)If someone cut off somebody else's donkey's ear the judges would demand that the victim hand over his donkey to the perpetrator until the ear grew back and only then would he have to return it
9) If someone caused anther and injury which led him to bleed the judges would demand that the victim compensate the perpetrator for blood-letting fees
10)They had a bed with which they would lay foreigners on to be measured. If the foreigner was longer than the bed they would chop his feet off and if he was shorter they would stretch his body until it fit the exact length of the bed.
11)When a poor person would come to town they would collect money for him. Every donor would write his name on the coins he gave. However they would not allow anyone in town to sell the beggar any food. Then when the beggar died everyone would come and collect his money back.
12)If a person invited an outsider to a party the judges confiscated the inviters clothes.
13) A young woman once gave food to a poor person. The people of Sodom took the young woman and tied her up, poured honey over her whole body and lay her out on the outer walls of the city and she was stung to death by a swarm of bees.
The mishna in Avos says that one who says sheli sheli veshalcha shalcha (according to one opinion) is Midas Sdom. Furthermore the Gemara calls somebody who doesnt allow one to derive any pleasure from his property even though the property owner doesn't have a loss is called "Midas Sdom". both these don't seem all too bad.
When it comes to Gilui Arayos there is a concept of Ma'aseh Sdom, in English it is called Sodomy (Sodom is the word itself) which refers to copulation where there cannot bear a child. What does this have to do with Sdom as we know it?
Sdom was the ultimate "ME" generation. They were a nation that did not believe in "Chesed" But they had a "Shita" They weren't just against "Chesed" per se. They believed that a person had to justify his existence and should not be a burden on society. Someone who couldn't carry his weight, even through no fault of his own, didn't deserve to be carried by others.
The aveiros of Sdom were all collective sins. The Tzedakah that they didn't allow was private Tzedaka. The Sodomoziation of the malachim was being done collectively by the nation again, not by individuals.
The Dor hamabul and Sodom
An explanation as to why God brought a Mabul upon the world and drowned all civilization in water is possibly as mida keneged mida for their sins. Water as we know represents "Chesed". Chesed brings things together as opposed to Fire which represents "Din". Fire breaks things down and separates them into their basic elements while water is typically a bonding agent. The aveira of the Dor hamabul was "Nizkakim Lishe'aynum minum-Mishkav Zachar. There was an abundance of zima in the world. Civilization's attitude was to love indiscriminately, they even loved animals. The medrash says that the Dor Hamabul were the first generation that sanctioned mishkav Zachar by instituting a "Ksuva Lizachar". They affected animals to the point where animals were cohabitating with other species other than their own. Znus in the Torah is called "Chesed" which is really misplaced Love. Love has to be channeled correctly. Indiscriminate love is destructive.
The other aveira of Dor Hamabul of "Gezel" is always described as "Chamas" as in "Vatimaleh Ha'aretz Chamas" and 'ki malah Ha'aretz Chamas. "Chamas" is translated as "Chatofin" in the Targum. The Torah is not referring to private Gezel where people are stealing from each other but rather institutionalized stealing where the strong take from the weak. Grabbing by force of the law such as in Sdom where legal stealing was their way of life. When the strong government steals from the producers to redistribute their private property to others that they feel is politically expedient is called "Chamas". When those in power take from the weak to redistribute the wealth it is usually done in the name of social justice. Again this is a misplaced act of Chesed. Sdom would steal from visitors and distribute to citizens. They had a rationalization. They were doing Chesed to those that needed it most.
וַיִּרְא֤וּ בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֥י טֹבֹ֖ת הֵ֑נָּה וַיִּקְח֤וּ לָהֶם֙ נָשִׁ֔ים מִכֹּ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּחָֽרוּ:
This was another example of the powerful taking advantage of the week. The powerful decided who should be married to whom and who should love whom. Private citizens were not allowed to make those decisions. For sure there was a rationale to that too. This was the sin of the Dor Hamabul
The punishment was "Mida Keneged Mida". Water which symbolizes chesed when it is doled out in measure became a flood. The Gemara says that one of the Chasadim of God is that when it rains no raindrop touches the other. If the raindrops combined they would flood the world. A flood happens when water which usually creates growth combines unnaturally and instead of acting as a constructive force becomes the ultimate destructive force. A flood is water becoming a destructive force which symbolizes the ultimate perversion of "Chesed". The destruction of Sodom was by fire.
