Vayeira - Lot's Wife

A digital rendering of Lot's wife, having been turned to salt, reflecting the red fires still burning in Sodom and Gomorah. Hebrew text reading, "Vatabet ishto me'acharav vatehi netsiv melach" ([Lot's] wife looked behind him, and she was turned into a pillar of salt) also appears. The story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah are found in the Torah portion Vayeira (And He appeared) - Genesis 18:1 - 22:24. Two angels, having spent the night in Lot's home in Sodom, urge he and his family to leave as the city will soon be destroyed. Lot hesitates, the angels take hold of him, his wife and their daughters, and bring them out of the city. They are commanded, "Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away." Lot's request that he be allowed to flee to the small town of Zoar instead of the hills is granted. Following her husband Lot's wife looks back toward Sodom, ignoring the warning given by the angels, and is turned into a pillar of salt. A columnar salt formation located at Mt. Sodom near the Dead Sea is called Lot's Wife. The recommends a blessing be said there. The Jewish historian Josephus claimed to have seen the pillar of salt which was Lot's wife. The fate of Lot's wife has been interpreted as punishment for disobeying the angels' warning. Looking back at the "evil cities" betrayed a secret longing for that way of life. Deemed unworthy to be saved Lot's wife was thus turned to a pillar of salt. An alternative explanation is that she was punished for looking back at the suffering of other humans. Another view is that Lot's wife sinned with salt and was punished with salt in return. On the night the two angels visited Lot, he requested of his wife to prepare a feast for them. Lacking salt, Lot's wife sought to borrow salt from her neighbors alerting them of the presence of their guests, resulting in the mob action that endangered Lot's family.