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Why does Avrohom negotiate down from 50 to 10 righteous people, and why does God alternate between "lo esa" and "lo ashchis"? The shiur proposes that two distinct judgments were at stake—one against the people and one against the land itself—and that Avrohom's descending numbers addressed whether the land would be destroyed even if some people were spared.
This shiur undertakes a close textual analysis of the negotiation between Avrohom and Hashem (ה׳) regarding the fate of Sodom in Parshas Vayeira (Bereishis 18). Rabbi Zweig begins by noting that Avrohom's initial assumption is that God will destroy the righteous along with the wicked, and he starts his argument by insisting that this would be unjust—"ha'aftis tzaddik im rasha." He then immediately shifts to asking that fifty righteous people should save the entire place (makom), not merely themselves. This dual concern—saving the righteous and saving the place—structures the entire conversation. The shiur identifies a critical textual puzzle: God's responses alternate between two formulas—"lo esa" (I will not do) and "lo ashchis" (I will not destroy). At forty-five and twenty, God says "lo ashchis," while at forty and thirty, He says "lo esa." Rabbi Zweig asks why the language changes and what each term signifies. According to the straightforward reading of the pesukim, each descending number should represent a greater concession, yet Rashi (רש"י)'s interpretation complicates this: Rashi explains that forty saves four cities, thirty saves three cities, and so forth, allocating ten righteous people per city. But if the principle of ten per city is already established at fifty, why must Avrohom continue negotiating? What new principle is being established at each stage?
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Bereishis 18:23-33
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