Vayera: The Sin Of Sodom Was Beating Up Women On Buses

What was it that caused the Sodomites to finally call down the wrath of God? Was it sodomy? Inhospitality? Or was it beating up righteous women?

The pasuk (in Bereishit 19:20) states:

כ וַיֹּאמֶר ה, זַעֲקַת סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה כִּי-רָבָּה; וְחַטָּאתָם--כִּי כָבְדָה, מְאֹד.	20 And the LORD said: 'Verily, the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and, verily, their sin is exceeding grievous.
כא אֵרְדָה-נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה, הַכְּצַעֲקָתָהּ הַבָּאָה אֵלַי עָשׂוּ כָּלָה; וְאִם-לֹא, אֵדָעָה	21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.'

Rashi cites a midrash which takes כְּצַעֲקָתָהּ as "her" cry, a cry of a woman, and כִּי-רָבָּה as because of a maiden.

Our Sages, however, interpreted הַכָּצַעִקָתָה to refer to the cry of a certain girl, whom they killed with an unusual death because she gave food to a poor man, as is delineated in [chapter] Chelek. (Sanh. 109b)

As it says there in the gemara:

A certain maiden gave some bread to a poor man, [hiding it] in a pitcher. On the matter becoming known, they 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: whereon Rab Judah commented in Rab's name: On account of the maiden [ribah].

Within the city of Sodom, the Sodomites thought they were doing good and exacting justice, and it was the maiden they punished who acted badly.

Not only people of Sodom can be Sodomites. As Yeshaya says, even those in Jerusalem can act such. Yeshaya 1:

ח וְנוֹתְרָה בַת-צִיּוֹן, כְּסֻכָּה בְכָרֶם; כִּמְלוּנָה בְמִקְשָׁה, כְּעִיר נְצוּרָה.	8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
ט לוּלֵי יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, הוֹתִיר לָנוּ שָׂרִיד כִּמְעָט--כִּסְדֹם הָיִינוּ, לַעֲמֹרָה דָּמִינוּ. {פ}	9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah. {P}
י שִׁמְעוּ דְבַר-יְהוָה, קְצִינֵי סְדֹם; הַאֲזִינוּ תּוֹרַת אֱלֹהֵינוּ, עַם עֲמֹרָה.	10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
יא לָמָּה-לִּי רֹב-זִבְחֵיכֶם יֹאמַר יְהוָה, שָׂבַעְתִּי עֹלוֹת אֵילִים וְחֵלֶב מְרִיאִים; וְדַם פָּרִים וּכְבָשִׂים וְעַתּוּדִים, לֹא חָפָצְתִּי.	11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
יב כִּי תָבֹאוּ, לֵרָאוֹת פָּנָי--מִי-בִקֵּשׁ זֹאת מִיֶּדְכֶם, רְמֹס חֲצֵרָי.	12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts?
יג לֹא תוֹסִיפוּ, הָבִיא מִנְחַת-שָׁוְא--קְטֹרֶת תּוֹעֵבָה הִיא, לִי; חֹדֶשׁ וְשַׁבָּת קְרֹא מִקְרָא, לֹא-אוּכַל אָוֶן וַעֲצָרָה.	13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations--I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly.
יד חָדְשֵׁיכֶם וּמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם שָׂנְאָה נַפְשִׁי, הָיוּ עָלַי לָטֹרַח; נִלְאֵיתִי, נְשֹׂא.	14 Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.
טו וּבְפָרִשְׂכֶם כַּפֵּיכֶם, אַעְלִים עֵינַי מִכֶּם--גַּם כִּי-תַרְבּוּ תְפִלָּה, אֵינֶנִּי שֹׁמֵעַ: יְדֵיכֶם, דָּמִים מָלֵאוּ.	15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.
טז רַחֲצוּ, הִזַּכּוּ--הָסִירוּ רֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיכֶם, מִנֶּגֶד עֵינָי: חִדְלוּ, הָרֵעַ.	16 Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil;
יז לִמְדוּ הֵיטֵב דִּרְשׁוּ מִשְׁפָּט, אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ; שִׁפְטוּ יָתוֹם, רִיבוּ אַלְמָנָה. {ס}	17 Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. {S}

This distinction Yeshayahu is making is the distinction between being frum and machmir, on the one hand, and being a good person to your fellow Jew on the other hand. "Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood."

When someone attempts to impose his chumras on others, and does so through violence, this is absolutely a perversion.

See Miriam Shear's recent article, and see Rabbi Horowitz's recent article about the assault on the bus in Bet Shemesh.