Stark Contrasts

Although petty and selfish behavior can be annoying, it’s usually possible to ignore or turn a blind eye to it. However, when we’ve recently experienced great kindness or been in the presence of a spiritually elevated person, petty or mean behavior stands out starkly. The contrast between the heights a person can reach and the depths another has fallen to intensifies our feelings of disgust.

The Talmud teaches that an angel is sent on only one mission at a time. In the case of Sodom, the angels who would overturn it were first sent to visit Abraham. As evil and greedy as Sodom was, its flaws seemed all the worse when compared to Abraham’s kindness and hospitality. This contrast is why, when the angels left Abraham’s home, they viewed Sodom with contempt—this contempt ultimately became the catalyst for its destruction.

"The angels rose from there and looked out over Sodom.

Rashi the term 'looked out' in Scripture indicates an evil portent for the object looked upon . . ." Genesis 18:16