Lot’s Logic
One of the prohibitions that apply to a judge is that of taking a bribe. The Torah states that a bribe will “blind the eyes of the wise.”[1] How does a bribe have this blinding effect? A bribe makes the judge partial to one of the sides; it makes it impossible for him judge the evidence from a balanced standpoint. Torah law is very stringent about what constitutes bribery, and even a minor favor from one of the litigants can disqualify a judge from hearing the case.[2]
This is a crucial lesson about the way people judge things. Even seemingly objective data is often very much open to interpretation, and a person is wont to interpret things the way he would like them to be. This is an idea that extends well beyond the confines of the courtroom, for ultimately it relates to the judgments and decisions that people make in their own lives. We are often prone to begin by choosing the answer that suits us, and then work backwards in making it so – and doing so very convincingly.
A stunning illustration of this phenomenon is discussed in the Gemara. As we know, the Jewish leap year consists of two months of Adar. Although nowadays the calendar is fixed, and we know in advance which years will have the extra Adar, originally this was decided on a yearly basis by the Sanhedrin, with various factors taken into consideration. The Gemara[3] states that a kohen gadol [high priest] is disqualified from sitting on the panel which determines whether an extra month should be added. Now, normally, there is no objection to a kohen gadol being part of Sanhedrin, but he cannot join with them to determine this matter.
Why not? The answer of the Gemara is astonishing.
Once a year, as part of the service on Yom Kippur, the kohen gadol goes to the mikveh five times during the course of the day. If an extra Adar is added, the following Yom Kippur will fall one month later in the year. The later in the year Yom Kippur falls, the colder the mikveh will be!
This is what happens when high priests meet low temperatures. We are concerned that this factor will affect the judgment of the kohen gadol. As he considers the question of whether an extra Adar should be added, a chill will be making its way up his spine. The result will be that his feelings about making that year a leap year will be, shall we say, lukewarm at best, and he will be more liable to argue against adding a second Adar.
The amazing thing about this is that the question of whether to add an extra month is based on external empirical data, e.g., weather conditions and farming seasons. Nevertheless, the worry is that his intellectual evaluation of these situations will be affected by other considerations, whether he realizes it or not.
Taking this idea one stage further, not only can our vested interests influence what we choose to believe, they can even lead us to both believe and deny the very same thing.
In our parsha, the Torah recounts how Lot, Avraham’s nephew, allowed his sheep to graze in neighboring fields which didn’t belong to him.[4] Upon being challenged about this by Avraham’s shepherds, Lot replied, “The land has been promised to Avraham’s descendants, except he does not have any children, which means that I am in line to inherit it. I am merely taking an advance on my inheritance.”[5]
Now, leaving aside the fact that Lot is leapfrogging over the present into the future, which he is not really entitled to do, let us consider what it is that the future has to hold:
If Hashem has promised the land to Avraham’s descendants then He has essentially promised Avraham that he will have descendants, which means Lot does not stand to inherit anything! How then, can he presume to act as Avraham’s heir?
Now, Lot may counter that he does not believe that Hashem will really bless Avraham with children. But that begs the question, why then does he believe that Avraham will inherit the land?
The answer is, because Hashem said so!
However, if Lot is prepared to believe Hashem when He says that He is giving the land to Avraham’s descendants, how can he not believe what is essentially part of the very same promise, namely, that Avraham will have children?
The answer is: Lot believes whatever he needs to believe in order to allow his sheep to graze wherever they want. If that involves believing what is ultimately a contradiction in terms, so be it. That is a small price to pay for getting what one wants.[6]
As with all such cases, the Torah does not include this description of Lot for our entertainment, but to alert us to how the truth can be changed, deleted or fabricated depending on what we want. The Torah’s call to us is that with any question that comes our way, we shouldsee to it that our interest is to determine the answer, and not that our interests provide us with it.
[1] Shemos 23:8.
[2] See examples in Kesubos 105b.
[3] Sanhedrin 18a.
[4] Bereshis 13:7.
[5] Bereishis Rabbah 41:5, quoted in Rashi to Bereishis, ibid.
[6] Commentary Beer Yosef to Bereishis, ibid.