“Hashem had caused sulfur and fire to rain on Sedom and Amora- by Hashem from Heaven.”

The name Hashem signifies divine mercy and the name Elokim exemplifies the attribute of judgment. Since the Pasuk is talking about destroying cities, shouldn’t it use the attribute of judgment instead of divine mercy?

Rav Gifter explains that although destroying the wicked may seem harsh, it indeed stems from Hashem’s mercy on the rest of the world. A similar idea is expressed by the Sforno, “Hashem is a man of war; Hashem is his name (Shemos 15:3);” “Even though He is a man of war, destroying the wicked with justice, his name is indeed Hashem. Through destroying the evil people,He is granting existence and being to His world. He removes the thorns from the vineyard, for the wicked destroy the world.”

We can see another divine mercy displayed during the destruction of Sedom and Amora. “After the forces of destruction are given permission to destroy, they do NOT differentiate between the wicked and not wicked” (Bava kama60a). Lot, who was living in Sedom at the time of destruction, should have been killed. Hashem, however, with great mercy saved him and his family.

The Gaon says that the 613 mitzvos are just general commandments, while the specific details of each and every mitzvah are infinite. He proves this point from the fact that many parshiyos in the Torah contain not even one mitzvah. Why were these parshiyos written, if there is no mitzvah to be learned from them? Therefore, it must be that there are aspects of mitzvos that can be learned even from these parshiyos. Parshas Vayeira is one of these parshiyos: it is a source for teaching us acts of chesed. The Torah tells us that the angels asked Avraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” He answered that she could be found inside the tent. Rashi points out that although the  angels knew Sarah’s location, nevertheless they raised this question to Avraham to bring her modesty to his attention and let him appreciate it. A wife should always be endeared to her husband regardless of the husband’s age, as Avraham was nearly hundred years old and married for over seventy years at the time. This is one example of a chesed displayed in this parsha. Rav Wolbe writes that there is no situation in which it’s too difficult to do kindness; it is not beneath a person’s dignity to perform chesed. This is the lesson we learn from a parsha without even one of the 613 mitzvos!