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I never heard of a Jew named Lot. Are there not any? Why not? What did Lot do that disqualifies him?

His righteousness and (exaggerated) hospitality allowed him to be spared the fate of Sodom. The angels he hosted defended him from the mob. His incest with his daughters was entirely his daughters' doing. He even observed Pessah before the Exodus! [Genesis Rabbah 48:12]

You can probably find ways to pick on him, but then so can you about any biblical figure. So why is Lot banned from the list of acceptable Jewish names?

Maurice Mizrahi
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  • A) he's not of the spiritual line of Abraham (see this week's Parsha, that only goes through Isaac), hence his descendents were not Jewish B) the incest thing is rather hard to get past – יהושע ק Nov 14 '19 at 05:06
  • @JoshK -- Adam and Eve weren't Jewish either, but their names are still popular today. – Maurice Mizrahi Nov 14 '19 at 05:20
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    @DonielF -- That question was really about the names of Talmudic rabbis, not biblical figures. Besides, I am focusing on Lot. – Maurice Mizrahi Nov 14 '19 at 05:26
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    What about that part where he offered his daughters to be raped? – mroll Nov 14 '19 at 05:53
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    If we can have a famous rabbi named Yishma'el, we can have people named Lot. Feel free. – rosends Nov 14 '19 at 11:15
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    Yishmael did tshuvah and acknowledged Yitzchak as the rightful heir at the burial of Avraham. Lot never did tshuvah. – sabbahillel Nov 14 '19 at 12:21
  • @sabbahillel - Teshuva for what crime? Shogeg/Ones with his daughters? Machshovo with the rape offer? – Danny Schoemann Nov 14 '19 at 14:22
  • @sabbahillel That's not the best logic, really. We haveplenty of Jews, historically, who did horrible things and never did Teshuva yet we use their names. Avshalom is an example. He tried to kill his father. Sha'ul tried to kill David. (He did "teshuva" but repeated the crime, anyway. And, of course he killed an entire city, too.) We use their names. – DanF Nov 14 '19 at 15:36
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    Imagine yourself as one of the daughters of Lot. Your own father offers you for rape, see you as property, and all for two strangers he never met. Its no wonder Jewish mothers refuses to name their sons after this man! – Turk Hill Nov 14 '19 at 15:59
  • @mroll -- Yes, the Midrash records God's anger at Lot for that: "[Lot] said to the men of Sodom: I have two daughters, who have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out to you (Gen. 19:7). Normally, a man would prefer to undergo death for the sake of his daughter or his wife; indeed he would willingly kill or be killed for their sake, but this man was willing to allow his daughters to be abused by men. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: By your life, keep them (your daughters) for yourself!" [Midrash Tanhuma, Vayera 12] – Maurice Mizrahi Nov 15 '19 at 00:57

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