November 3, 2023 /19 Cheshvan 5784
I’m haunted by the story of the destruction of Sedom and Amora.
“The sun was going out over the earth as Lot came to Tzo’ar. And YHWH rained down brimstone and fire upon Sedom and Amora, coming from YHWH, from the heavens; he overturned those cities and all of the plain, all those settled in the cities and the vegetation of the ground. But his wife gazed behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” [Genesis 19:23-26, Everett Fox translation]
Lot is Abraham’s nephew. He and his family are the only residents of Sedom who don’t ‘deserve’ to die, and once they escape, God rains down brimstone and fire and ‘overturns’ Sedom and Amora.
As is my wont, I spent some time this week searching for artistic renderings of this terrible moment. Below you’ll find paintings, all from the 16th and 17th centuries, that depict the scene.
As I encountered each one, I couldn’t help but also see similar scenes from the current war. Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz K’far ‘Aza; and also Jabalya and Gaza City. All of them scenes of terrible destruction, even if brought about in very different ways, with very different intentions, and for very different purposes. I’m not arguing for a moral equivalency; I frankly don’t see one. I merely wish for us to take note of the images and the reality of terrible destruction.
The pictures are so difficult and painful to see, let alone to make sense of and absorb. And yet, it feels important that we look, notice, see, and grapple with this war’s already terrible losses and damage.
May this war end soon. May there be peace in and on Israel and Gaza. May nation not take up sword against nation. May we all know war no more. May there be well being in our ramparts and peace in our citadels.
Shabbat Shalom
