Wednesday, November 25, 2009

More on Wonder of Wonders...

As Rabbi Besser mentioned in his post, I did see another perush that says that the transformation of Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt was not a miracle that transcended the laws of nature. (Although according to Ramban, that doesn’t mean that it is any less of a miracle!)

Rabbi Yosef Bekhor Shor lived in France in the second half of the 12th century. One of his teachers was Rashbam, and his commentary generally follows the peshat tradition. He explains that as Lot and his wife were leaving Sodom she kept looking backwards and lagging behind. As a result, when Hashem destroyed סדום ועמורה she was not quite out of harm’s way from the cloud of destruction, and the sulfur and salt fell on her as well. (Although the pasuk in וירא mentions גפרית ואש, Bekhor Shor says that wherever there is גפרית (sulfur) there is salt as well, and he references the pasuk in דברים כט:כב which mentions גפרית ומלח in connection with the destruction of סדום ועמורה). He mentions further that although the common opinion is that she changed into a pillar of salt, according to the peshat she was just completely covered by salt, and all one saw was a mound of salt there that didn’t especially look like a woman.

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