The sin of Sodom, per intra-biblical clues & rabbinic tradition was cruelty to strangers.
"This was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She & her daughters had plenty of bread & untroubled tranquillity; yet she did not support the poor & the needy."--Ezekiel 16:49 (1/6)
"This was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She & her daughters had plenty of bread & untroubled tranquillity; yet she did not support the poor & the needy."--Ezekiel 16:49 (1/6)
Talmud expands on this: [The people of Sodom] said: Since bread comes forth out of [our] earth & it has the dust of gold, why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth. Come, let us abolish practice of traveling in our land. (Sanhedrin 109b) (2/6)
In other words, they saw visitors/travelers/immigrants only as a liability & thought it was a zero sum game: if we open our borders, we'll lose our wealth. (of course, we know immigration is economic plus, besides humanitarian concerns.) (3/6)
And they passed laws against helping travelers/the poor! So good Sodomites followed the laws! (4/6)
Here's what happened when one woman did civil disobedience:
"There was a young woman who would take bread out to the poor people in a pitcher. The matter was revealed, and they smeared her with honey and positioned her on the wall (of city) & hornets came and consumed her." (5/6)
"There was a young woman who would take bread out to the poor people in a pitcher. The matter was revealed, and they smeared her with honey and positioned her on the wall (of city) & hornets came and consumed her." (5/6)
Jeff Sessions, others who are lamenting that family separation is necessary because of law (which doesn't exist, but zero tolerance policy is his fault): this is sin of Sodom. The rest of us: don't be Sodomites. (6/6)
