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Fort Lauderdale Could Go The Way of Sodom

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November 12, 2014

One of the most iconic lines from 1970s television was: “Book ‘em, Danno!” from the police drama “Hawaii Five-O.” That was how most episodes would end – with Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett telling his subordinate to “Book ‘em, Danno!” – usually specifying a charge like “murder one.”

Imagine, now, the following scenario. This time, it’s not Hawaii – it’s Fort Lauderdale. A south Florida version of Steve McGarrett is telling someone to “Book ‘em, Danno!”

But this time, it’s not for “murder one.” No – it’s for “tzedakah one.”

That's what can get you arrested in Fort Lauderdale — feeding the homeless in public. And it turns out that this was the sin of Sodom. The ancient rabbis said that the people of Sodom were selfish. They passed laws that said that it was illegal to give charity to anyone. One legend says that when a beggar would wander into Sodom, the people would mark their names on their coins and each of them would give him a coin. But no one would sell him bread. When he died of hunger, everyone would come and go through his pockets, and they would take their coins.

The sages told the story of a young woman who fed the poor in secret. The authorities discovered what she was doing. The judges of the city were men of deceit and lies. They decreed that the girl be covered with honey. They put her on top of the walls of the city, and they left her there, until bees came and stung her and she died.

It says in Genesis that the cries of Sodom had ascended to God. Which cries? the sages ask. It was her cries – the cries of the poor young woman, covered with honey, being attacked by killer bees. Her cries ascended to God, and for that reason, God realized that the sins of Sodom had simply gone on too long.

A number of years ago, I was teaching a group of seventh graders. One particularly smart kid asked me the following question: “Rabbi, there were two cities that God destroyed, right? Sodom and Gomorrah. I know what sodomy is – but what’s gomorry?”

The sin of gomorry is the sin of smugness, and the sin of callousness to the poor.

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