The term ‘sodomy’ gets thrown around a lot in our society. Whenever we want to delegitimize a group of people, we call their actions or their way of life ‘sodomy.’ But as we read in this week’s Torah portion, something truly evil was going on in S’dom which made God take notice.
As Bible itself tells us, “Then the Lord said, ‘The outrage of S’dom and Amorrah 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… (Gen. 18:20-21).”
What could they have done that was so horrendous that it grabbed God’s attention in this way?
No surprise – the ancient rabbis answered this question with a Midrash. According to this rabbinic interpretation, the people of S’dom and Amorrah would besiege any travelers who passed through their territory. They would strip them and rob them of all their possessions and then chase them outside their borders.
One time a young woman took pity on such a victim and gave him clothing and supplies. When the residents of S’dom and Amorrah found out, they punished her by treating her like one of the travelers.
I would hope that the mistreatment of their fellow human beings would be enough to get God’s attention. It seems to me, though, the “outcry” that reached God was their punishment of someone trying to do the right thing and their inability to hear someone standing up for the victims of cruelty.
To me, that is also the great “outcry” coming out of Happy Valley, Pennsylvania today.
The alleged actions of Jerry Sandusky – the assistant football coach at Penn State University who used his charitable foundation for needy kids as a means to lure vulnerable boys into sexual abuse – are beyond despicable. If/when found guilty, I hope he is punished as severely as the law allows. However, I am just as outraged by the people in power who chose to ignore those few who tried to speak out on behalf of the victims. I am just as outraged by the investigators who allowed the “glory” of Penn State football to blind them as they examined the actions of Jerry Sandusky.
But I save my strongest sense of outrage for Joe Paterno – the head coach, whose motto for the football team was: “Success with Honor.” A few years ago, the president of the university tried to get Paterno to retire after a couple of losing season. Paterno would have nothing to do with it. He used all of his political might to stand up to the president and he won that battle. He stayed on as coach. When he heard that a ten-year-old boy was raped in his locker room, though, all he did was notify the athletic director who was nothing more than his lackey. Joe Paterno was the most powerful and influential man on the Penn State campus and he did nothing. When the strong do nothing as the weak and vulnerable are victimized, there is an outcry that reaches God.
As far as I am concerned, now that he has been fired, Joe Paterno may as well move to S’dom.
Shalom,
RAF.
