Talmud reads Torah // Vayera

Then the LORD said, “The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave! I will go down to see whether they have acted altogether according to the outcry that has reached Me; if not, I will take note.” The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Abraham came forward and said, “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” And the LORD answered, “If I find within the city of Sodom fifty innocent ones, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” Abraham spoke up, saying, “Here I venture to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes: What if the fifty innocent should lack five? Will You destroy the whole city for want of the five?” And He answered, “I will not destroy if I find forty-five there.” But he spoke to Him again, and said, “What if forty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it, for the sake of the forty.” And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I go on: What if thirty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” And he said, “I venture again to speak to my Lord: What if twenty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the twenty.” And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I speak but this last time: What if ten should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten.” When the LORD had finished speaking to Abraham, He departed; and Abraham returned to his place.

R. Levi said: Why did the Holy One give a revelation to Abraham? Because he had reflected in his heart about the generation of the flood, and said: It is impossible that there are not some righteous ones among them. You should know that it is indeed so. And God said "Now the LORD had said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do" (Genesis 18:17). What did he (Abraham) answer? "Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?"

Rabbi Abba Bar Kahana says: What is the meaning of that which is written as part of Abraham’s prayer to God, when God informed him that He was going to destroy Sodom: “That be far [ḥalila] from You to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked” (Genesis 18:25)? This is what Abraham said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, it is a sacrilege [ḥullin] for You to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked. The Gemara asks: And does God not act in this manner? But isn’t it written: “And I will cut off from You the righteous and the wicked” (Ezekiel 21:8)? The Gemara answers: There the verse is referring to a righteous person who is not completely righteous, and he will therefore be destroyed along with the wicked. The Gemara raises a difficulty: But is it true that one who is completely righteous cannot be destroyed along with the wicked? But isn’t it written in a prophecy about the destruction of the Temple that God says to the destroyers: “And begin at My Sanctuary [mimmikdashi]” (Ezekiel 9:6); and Rav Yosef teaches: Do not read the word as “mimmikdashi,” but rather read it as mimmekudashai, those sanctified to Me. He explains: These are people who observed the Torah in its entirety, from the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet alef through its final letter tav. These people observed every mitzva in the Torah, and yet they were destroyed along with the wicked. The Gemara answers the difficulty: There too, since they had the power to protest against the wicked and prevent them from sinning and they did not protest, they are considered as righteous people who are not completely righteous.

As soon as Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons: Get you down thither, and buy for us from them, etc. And Joseph’s ten brethren went down (ibid. 42:2–3). Why did all ten go? Because in that number resides the power to avert calamity. For example, when the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to destroy Sodom, our patriarch Abraham pleaded for heavenly mercy on their behalf. He spoke first of fifty men, but finally reduced the number to ten, as it is said: Perahaps ten shall be found there (ibid. 18:31) as ten comprise a congregation, as is said: How long shall I bear with this evil congregation (Num. 14:27) [...] Hence Scripture states: Joseph’s ten brethren went down (Gen. 42:3) just as in the case of Sodom, Scripture speaks here of ten.

From here you learn that anyone who wishes to tell his companion a matter which disgraces him, begins with a good word and concludes with the bad matter that displeases him. Whence do we learn this? From the Holy One, blessed be He, who appeared to our father Abraham, and began by telling him of his wife Sarah's pregnancy. Afterwards He told him about the fate of Sodom, as it is said, "And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great". Abraham started pleading to Him for compassion. He said before Him: "Sovereign of all worlds! Like the death of the wicked shall the death of the righteous be? 'Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked?' (Gen. 18:23)." The Holy One, blessed be He, answered him: Abraham ! By the merit of the righteous one will I forgive Sodom. "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous" (Gen. 18:26), then will I forgive it all of its sins. Hence they said: If there be fifty righteous in the world, the world will exist through their righteousness. Abraham proceeded to beseech God until he reached the number ten. From here they say that if ten righteous people live somewhere, the place will be saved by their merit, as it is written: "I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten" (Gen. 18:32).

"As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear Him" (Psalms 103:9). Rabbi Hiyah taught: as the most merciful of fathers. Who is that? Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said: this is Abraham, who said to God when pleading for Sodom: “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty?" Rabbi Berachia said: like Jacob our father, as it is written: "and he passed before them." He said to himself: better that he harm me than he harm my sons. That is "As a father has compassion for his children."

The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish people: I desire you, since even at a time that I bestow greatness upon you, you diminish, i.e., humble, yourselves before Me. I granted greatness to Abraham, yet he said before Me: “And I am but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27). I granted greatness to Moses and Aaron, yet Moses said of the two of them: “And what are we” (Exodus 16:7). I granted greatness to David, yet he said: “But I am a worm, and no man” (Psalms 22:7).

Rava says: As reward for that which our Patriarch Abraham said: “And I am but dust [afar] and ashes” (Genesis 18:27), his children merited two mitzvot: The ashes of the red heifer (see Numbers, chapter 19) and the dust of the sota, i.e., dirt taken from the ground of the Tabernacle that is mixed into the water that examines whether or not a woman committed adultery (see Numbers 5:17).