Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

36
בלה תובשחמ
Because with a gathering of ten the Divine presence comes first but with three
they must first sit.” Here we see that a group of ten people has special status and
the ability to have the Divine presence rest in its midst. Yet, the people of Sodom
did not come together in service of Hashem; they came together in order to
violate His will.
The ארמג just one דומע later may give us further insight. It reads as follows:
יתאב עודמ ’אנש סעוכ אוה דימ הרשע הב אצמ אלו תסנכה תיבב אב ה“בקהש העשב ןנחוי ’ר רמא“
.“הנוע ןיאו יתארק ,שיא ןיאו
“Rabbi Yochanan said: At the time when Hashem enters the תסנכ תיב and doesn’t
find anyone He immediately gets angry, as it says, “Why did I come and there is
no man I called and no one answers” )והיעשי 50:2(.
If Hashem gets angry when nobody is present to acknowledge Him then all
the more so when people do gather together and don’t acknowledge Him. Why
is this so? It is because God created man and placed him in this world so that
man could acknowledge God and attach themselves to Him. So a people, or a
community, who ignore Hashem and sin against Him are disregarding their
purpose. Therefore since Sodom didn’t have an הדע of tzaddikim who recognize
Hashem and strive to attach themselves to His glory, their society was viewed as
having no part in this world and could not possibly be saved.
May we all be blessed with the ability to recognize Hashem’s greatness, attach
ourselves to Him and fulfill our purpose in this world.