Social Justice vs. Sedom

This week in class, we learned about the concept of social justice as applied to both Avraham's descendants and the people of Sedom. Hashem told Avraham that in the future, his descendants would be known for their "Tzedaka u'Mishpat" or justice and righteousness. Obviously, Avraham was the first person in the history of the world to act perfectly "in the image of G-d," and therefore, he was chosen to be the father of G-d's chosen nation. He was also meant to set the example for his descendants on how to act and present themselves to the rest of the world. One might ask: how does this relate to Sedom?

This (positive) theme of justice and righteousness comes in stark contrast to the actions of the people of Sedom. As we saw when we went through the five different quotes from Tanach, Sedom was the epitome of immorality and injustice. They were pretty much pure evil. According to the Peshat of Perek 19, the angry mob came to Lot's house and ordered him to send his guests outside so that they could be raped. Lot then offered to send his daughters outside instead. Clearly, this was not the ideal society. Why, then, did Avraham volunteer to save them/pray for their salvation? Why did G-d even include Avraham in this discussion in the first place?

G-d created a moral and ethical dilemma for Avraham. As it was Avraham's duty to set the example for his children, he should be given a chance to prove his worth. The situation in Sedom was such that the people could not possibly be saved on their own merit, but they should be saved because they were people. In one sense, Avraham could have seen this as attempted genocide. This differs from the Mabul situation because G-d created a moral and ethical person with the ability and opportunity to let G-d see his point of view. G-d's original plan for the universe was not in a failure; actually, the first "correct" version of the world was being born. Avraham had to step in on behalf of Sedom because that was his personality: he could not just stand by and let people die. His valiant attempt to save the city resulted only in the saving of Lot. The saving of one person was enough to inspire and instruct future generations of Jews on how to act.