A troubling incident took place after Lot welcomed two strangers, who we are told were actually angels, into his home in the wicked city of Sodom. The residents of the area gathered around Lot’s house and demanded that he hand over the strangers, the hosting of whom, was in breach of Sodom’s strict ban on hospitality.

Lot set out to protect his guests and insisted on being allowed to host them safely in his home. Astonishingly, he went so far as to offer the townspeople his two daughters in place of the guests.

The Midrash sharply criticises Lot for making such an offer, commenting: “Usually, a person surrenders himself to be killed for the sake of his daughters and wife, and either kills or is killed, but this person Lot surrendered his daughters to be defiled” (Tanchuma, Vayera 12).

We might wonder the reason the Midrash made this remark. Isn’t it obvious to all that Lot’s offer was truly appalling? Is it really necessary to note the shocking perversion of Lot’s preparedness to surrender his daughters?

Our sages seek to draw our attention through this passage to the more common manifestations of Lot’s perverse proposal to the people of Sodom.

Lot’s offer represents, in the extreme, the all too common phenomenon of people sacrificing their family’s needs in the pursuit of lofty, altruistic goals.

Certainly, Lot’s desire to care for the strangers to whom he had offered lodging was admirable, but he was wrong for going so far as to sacrifice his daughters’ dignity and innocence for this purpose.

We too are warned not to allow idealism to cause us to neglect our most fundamental obligations and duties, but specifically, our responsibilities to our families. The Midrash here reminds us that while we are indeed encouraged to live and be driven by high ambitions and aspirations, these must never come at the expense of those who are closest to us.