Parsha Vayera 5777

The Difference between Sodom and Gibeah

The Torah writes (Genesis 19.4-10):

They had not yet lain down, when the townspeople, the men of Sodom, young and old—all the people to the last man—gathered about the house. And they shouted to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may be know them them.”  So Lot went out to them to the entrance, shut the door behind him, and said, “I beg you, my friends, do not commit such a wrong. Look, I have two ... but do not do anything to these men, since they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

and later on (Genesis 19.23-25):

As the sun rose upon the earth and Lot entered Zoar, the LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from the LORD out of heaven. He annihilated those cities and the entire Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground.

As the result of the sin of Sodom, it was destroyed. However, we find a similar case later on during the time of the Judges which did not end that way. We find in Judges (19:22-26):

While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the town, a depraved lot, had gathered about the house and were pounding on the door. They called to the aged owner of the house, “Bring out the man who has come into your house, so that we may know him him.” The owner of the house went out and said to them, “Please, my friends, do not commit such a wrong. Since this man has entered my house, do not perpetrate this outrage. Look, here is my ... ; but don’t do that outrageous thing to this man.”

The question is why wasn't Gibeah destroyed by G-d the same way?

The Malbim (Judges 19:22) answers that the people of Sodom did this because they setup laws to keep away strangers and not because they wanted to fulfill their own desires. On the other hand, in Gibeah, they did those solely because of their desires. He cites several proofs:

1. Lot invited the angels into his house in secret while but in Gibeah the guest was invited in public.

2. In Sodom all the people of the city attacked Lot's house while in Gibeah it was just the coarse / evil people of the city which were a minority and rebels, and not because they were complying with the law.

3. In Sodom they wanted to attack Lot and his house, while in Gibeah they surrounded the house to make sure the guests don't run away but they did not plan to attack the owner. This is also why they knocked on the door, as opposed in Sodom where they tried to break down the door. (They also called instead of shouting like in Sodom)

4. In Gibeah the owner called it an "outrage" - "נבלה" but not in Sodom for their it was accepted and according to their laws.

5. In Gibeah, they were satisfied with something else but not in Sodom because in Sodom the point of their attack was against the guests not to fill their desires.

(Additionally this may also have been why they complained about Lot coming to judge among them since he was asking them to ignore the laws of Sodom)

The Righteousness of the Daughters of Lot

Famous story with Rabbi Moshe Feinstein related to the daughters of Lot - can be found in introduction to Igros Moshe, volume 8, pp. 15.