The Hypocritical Tzaddik

Originally published on Gimme Some Torah by Rabbi Eli Garfinkel on October 21, 2026.

A

Bereshit/Genesis 13:3

וְאַנְשֵׁ֣י סְדֹ֔ם רָעִ֖ים וְחַטָּאִ֑ים לַיהֹוָ֖ה מְאֹֽד׃

Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked sinners against GOD.

Gimme Some Torah is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Welcome to new subscriber farmpe******!

What were the inhabitants of Sodom like? There are midrashim that describe them as being both cruel and economically oppressive. Although Christianity understood the sin of Sodom to be homosexuality, Jewish tradition emphasized their general lack of compassion. You can read some of these midrashim in the Talmud on B. Sanhedrin 109b.

Rabbi Asher Wassertheil (bio), also known as the Birkat Asher, suggested that hypocrisy was another important element of their character:

NOW THE INHABITANTS OF SODOM WERE VERY WICKED SINNERS AGAINST GOD: I remember from my childhood in Europe that when people would talk about so-called “righteous people” who were actually hypocrites, they would mention Gen. 13:13 with special emphasis on the etnaḥta (pausal symbol) underneath the word “sinners.” So they would understand the verse this way: “The people of Sodom were very wicked sinners, but they were outwardly devoted to God.” And the need to interpret the verse this way still exists. (That is, there are still a lot of hypocrites who fancy themselves to be righteous tzaddikim—EG)

Rabbi Wassertheil’s point is that, in a certain respect, a hypocritical tzaddik is worse than an honest sinner. At least we know what we’re getting with the honest sinner. We may not approve of what he does, but at least we’re aware of the situation and we can either inspire him to repent or tell him to keep his distance.

That’s not the case with the hypocritical tzaddik. Two-faced righteous people can worm their way into our homes, our schools, and our institutions. Once there, they can do a lot of damage that is very hard to repair because it can be difficult to detect their fake righteousness and pierce their credibility.

A hypocritical tzaddik is essentially someone who is very generous in his support of the poor but who pays his donations with counterfeit currency.

•••