ON THE CRY OF THE MAIDEN

ON THE CRY OF THE MAIDEN

 

I posted a shorter version of this in June 2019, with a tip of the hat to my colleague Alana Suskin, who generated the original. With Tisha B’Av in less than two days, I look on with alarm as our society seems to be reaching a tipping point in the way we treat both each other and The Other, in the way we are becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah, so I am offering this expanded version. The parts in [brackets] are my glosses and some additional texts since 2019. Translations are primarily from Sefaria.
 
[“And the Lord said, ‘Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great (rabah), and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to its (her) cry, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.’” Genesis 18:21-22)]
 
[The phrase “its crying out” is generally understood to mean the outcry from the city of Sodom. But the Hebrew language has no neuter gender nouns, so that “city” is a feminine noun, thus it can be read as “her crying out”. Our Rabbis then create Midrashim to exegetically interpret “her” to mean a young woman (ribah, punning on the word rabah) in the city who is crying out in anguish.]
 
Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 109b - A certain maiden [rabita, the Aramaic form of ribah] gave some bread to a poor man, [hiding it] in a pitcher. When the matter became known, the people of the city daubed her with honey and placed her on the parapet of the wall, and the bees came and consumed her. Thus, it is written, “And the Lord said, ‘The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, because it is great (rabah)’”: whereon Rav Judah commented in Rav’s name: “On account of the maiden (ribah).”
 
[Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer 25 – Rabbi Nathaniel said: The men of Sodom had no consideration for the honor of their Owner (i.e., God) by (not) distributing food to the wayfarer and the stranger, but they (even) fenced in all the trees on top above their fruit so that they should not be seized; (not) even by the bird of heaven, as it is said, "That path that no bird of prey knows" (Job 28:7).]
 
[Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer 25 – Rabbi Joshua, son of Ḳorchah, said: They appointed over themselves judges who were lying judges, and they oppressed every wayfarer and stranger who entered Sodom by their perverse judgment, and they sent them forth naked, as it is said, "They have oppressed the stranger without judgment" (Ezek. 22:29).] [See also, "Your rulers are rogues and cronies of thieves, every one of them avid for bribery and greedy for illicit gifts; They do not give the orphan justice, and the widow's case never reaches them." Isaiah 1:23] 
 
[Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer 25 – They were dwelling in security without care and at ease, without the fear of war from all their surroundings, as it is said, "Their houses are safe from fear" (Job 21:9). They were sated with all the produce of the earth, but they did not strengthen with the loaf of bread either the hand of the needy or of the poor, as it is said, "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom; pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy" (Ezek. 16:49).]

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (John Martin, 1852)

 
Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer 25 – Rabbi Judah said: “They issued a proclamation in Sodom, saying, ‘Everyone who strengthens the hand of the poor and the needy with a loaf of bread shall be burnt by fire!’ Pelotit the daughter of Lot was wedded to one of the wealthy men of Sodom. She saw a certain very poor man in the street of the city and her soul was grieved on his account, [as it is said, "Was not my soul grieved for the needy?" (Job 30:25)]. What did she do? Every day when she went out to draw water, she put in her pitcher all kinds of provisions from her house and she sustained that poor man. The men of Sodom said: ‘How does this poor man live?’ When they ascertained the facts, they brought her forth to be burnt by fire. She said: ‘Sovereign of the entire world! Maintain my right and my cause at the hands of the men of Sodom!’ And her cry ascended before the Throne of Glory. In that hour the Holy One Blessed be He said: ‘I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to her cry which is come unto me and if the men of Sodom have done according to the cry of the young woman, I will turn the foundation upwards and the surface downward…’”
 
Genesis Rabbah 49 - R. Levi said: “[God said]: ‘Even if I wished to keep silent, justice for a certain maiden (ribah) does not permit Me to keep silent.’ For it once happened that two girls went down to draw water from a well. One said to the other, ‘Why are you so pale?’ ‘We have no more food left and are ready to die,’ she replied. What did she do? She filled her pitcher with flour, and they exchanged [their pitchers], each taking the other’s. When they [the Sodomites] discovered this, they took and burnt her. Said the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘Even if I desired to be silent, justice for that young girl does not permit Me to keep silent.’ Hence it does not say, WHETHER THEY HAVE DONE ACCORDING TO THEIR CRY [namely, the cry of the people of Sodom]; but ACCORDING TO HER CRY ‘- the cry of that maiden.”
 
We can do better.

Have a meaningful Tisha B’Av
 
(updated 7/25/23, from 6/6/19)