04 Nov VAYERA- KEEPING IT PRIVATE

The Torah in Parashat
Vayera tells the story
of the destruction of
Sedom, a wicked city
which G-d condemned
to annihilation. Before
destroying the city, G-d sent two angels to
rescue Lot – Avraham’s nephew – who had
taken residence in Sedom.
Rashi (19:29) makes a perplexing comment
explaining why Lot deserved to be rescued.
Lot was saved, Rashi writes, in the merit of
a favor which he did for his uncle, Avraham.
When Avraham was forced to briefly move to
Egypt because of the harsh famine that struck
Eretz Yisrael, he and his wife, Sara, posed
as siblings. Avraham feared that Egyptian
men might desire Sara and thus kill him so
she would be available for marriage. In order
to protect his life, he and Sara had no choice
but to pretend that they were brother and
sister. Lot, who had accompanied Avraham
and Sara, went along with the plan, and did
not reveal to anyone in Egypt that Sara was
actually Avraham’s wife, and not his sister. In
this merit, Lot was deserving of being rescued
from Sedom before the city’s annihilation.
The obvious question arises, why was this
considered such a significant source of merit?
What was so special about Lot keeping this
secret about Avraham and Sara’s relationship?

The answer to this question perhaps can
be found in a teaching of the Gemara,
in Masechet Megilla (13b). The Gemara
writes that in the merit of Rachel’s Seniut
(“modesty”), she was worthy of having a
descendant, Shaul, who would become king
over Israel. And in the merit of Shaul’s Seniut,
the Gemara then states, he was deserving of
having a great descendant of his own – Queen
Ester, who likewise had this quality of Seniut.
The Gemara explains that the term “Seniut” in
this context refers not to a style of dress, but
rather to the ability to remain private, to keep
quiet when necessary. Rachel did not divulge
to Yaakob before what was to have been
their wedding night that she had taught Leah
the special signals that she and Yaakob had
arranged before the wedding. Shaul complied
with the prophet Shmuel’s instruction not to
tell anybody that he had been chosen to be king.
And Ester obeyed Mordechai’s instruction not
to mention that she was Jewish. It emerges
from the Gemara that Shaul and Ester rose to
royalty in the merit of this quality of privacy,
of reticence, of remaining quiet, keeping
things to oneself rather than freely talking and
spreading information, either about oneself or
about others.
Rashi makes his comment about Lot’s merit
for remaining silent just before the story
of Lot’s incestuous relationships with his
daughters, which produced a son, Moab.

Centuries later, Rut, a descendant of Moab,

was born. Rut, of course, was the great-
grandmother of David Ha’melech, and she

was thus the matriarch of the Davidic dynasty,
which will culminate with Mashiah. Rashi
is perhaps alluding to us that Lot earned
this great privilege, of fathering the eternal
dynasty of Jewish kings, in the merit of his
“Seniut” – his quality of remaining quiet
when necessary. Lot lived in a society where
one person’s business instantly became
everyone’s business. He invited the angels
– who appeared as ordinary travelers – into
his home, and soon the entire city assembled
outside his home and demanded that they be
handed over. The society of Sedom marked
the antithesis of “Seniut,” of privacy. Despite
living among such people, Lot retained this
quality, and for this reason, he was worthy of
fathering the Davidic dynasty.
This area has become very challenging in
our times. Today it has become accepted to
broadcast everything, to send pictures of
ourselves and the activities we’re involved
in to hundreds of people using our devices.
People are on social media platforms trying
desperately to draw attention to themselves
– the precise opposite of Seniut. Who knows
if what’s delaying the arrival of Mashiah, the
restoration of the Jewish dynasty, is this lack
of Seniut, of discretion, or privacy, the way
we broadcast ourselves as much as possible.

We began by asking why Lot deserved so much
credit for remaining silent in Egypt, keeping
to himself the information about Avraham and
Sara being married. But if we take an honest
look at our own habits, at how quickly we
rush to spread private information around, we
have our answer. It indeed takes a great deal
of discipline to keep quiet, and not divulge
“juicy” information that we have. We need to
examine ourselves in this area, and recommit
ourselves to the timeless value of Seniut, of
remaining silent when silence is warranted,
and keeping our private information, and
other people’s private information, private,
out of public view.