Midras Kejadian 13:9: Kohelet Rabbah, Pesikta Rabbati, Aggadat Bereshit & Bereshit Rabbah

“The heart of the wise is to his right, and the heart of a fool is to his left” (Ecclesiastes 10:2).
“The heart of the wise is to his right…” – Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa said: [This is analogous] to two people who had two kor, one of wheat and one of barley. One of them said to the other: ‘If yours is of barley mine is of wheat, and if mine is of wheat yours is of barley. In any case, I am taking the one of wheat.’ So, Abraham said to Lot: “If to the left, I will go to the right, and if to the right, I will go to the left [asme’ila]” (Genesis 13:9). Rabbi Ḥanina ben Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It is not written here “esmola,” but rather “asme’ila.”⁵Esmola means, “I will go to the left.” Asme’ila can mean, “I will cause to go to the left.” Even if you are impertinent, I will cause you to go to the left.⁶Abraham told Lot: Ultimately, I will go to the right, the direction of the wise, and you will go to the left, which is the direction of the fool. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi], when a person would enter for judgment before him, if [the party that lost the case] would obey the ruling that would be fine, and if not, [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi] would say to a member of his household: ‘Cause him to go left’;⁷Cause him to understand that he is wrong. and he would signal and show him that he should strike him from the other side.
Another matter: “The heart of the wise is to his right” – this is Jacob, as it is stated: “Jacob arose and placed his sons and his wives [upon the camels]” (Genesis 31:17).⁸Jacob understood that the main objective of marriage is producing the next generation. Therefore, he tended first to his sons and then to his wives. “And the heart of a fool is to his left” – this is the wicked Esau, as it is stated: “Esau took his wives, his sons, [and his daughters]” (Genesis 36:6).⁹Esau prioritized his own pleasure; therefore he tended to his wives and then to his sons. It was not because he was concerned with his wives’ safety that he tended to them first, as he tended to his daughters, who were even more vulnerable, last.

... [What about all] the praise of Joseph, who exceeded in the honor of his father? And yet he did not enter into him all the time, such that were it not that they came to tell him, "Your father is sick," he would not have known! Rather this is to inform you of his righteousness. For he did not want to be alone with his father, lest he say to him, "How did your brothers act with you?" And [then] he would curse them.... Hence he did not go to his father all the time.)

[2] Another interpretation: And Abraham traveled from there. "I have not sat with false people and I will not go with the deceitful" (Psalms 26:4). The false people are the people of Sodom and their associates, and the deceitful are Lot and his daughters. As it is written above, "Do not look behind you" (Genesis 19:17). Just as you should not look at prostitutes, as it says, "For a harlot is a deep pit" (Proverbs 23:27). Lot said to them, "What shall I do?" They said to him, "Go to Abraham," as it says, "The mountain, flee!" (Genesis 19:17). This refers to Abraham who was called a mountain, as it says, "Hear, O mountains" (Micah 6:2). He said to them, "Abraham is a completely righteous man and I cannot go to him," as it says, "And I cannot" (Genesis 19:19). Why? Because as long as Sodom and Gomorrah existed, I sat among them and appeared righteous among them, and the Holy One, blessed be He, would observe my actions and theirs, and I would appear righteous in their eyes. But now, if I go to Abraham, he is a completely righteous man, and if the Holy One, blessed be He, observes my actions and theirs, if I am found to be wicked in His eyes, He will destroy me. Therefore, "I cannot" (Genesis 19:19). Instead, "Behold, this town" (Genesis 19:20). He did all these things so that he could go to the cave to engage in immorality, as it says, "And Lot went up...and the elder daughter said" (Genesis 19:30). And from the beginning, when he was with Abraham, he desired to engage in immorality, as when Abraham said to him, "Let there be no quarrel between you and me" (Genesis 13:8). "Separate yourself" (Genesis 13:9). Immediately, "And Lot lifted up his eyes" (Genesis 13:10). The word "lifted up" only refers to desire for immorality, as it says, "And the wife of his master lifted up her eyes" (Genesis 39:7). "And he saw all the plain" (Genesis 13:10), for the sake of a harlot one can travel a distance of a kilometer (Proverbs 6:26). "For [they were afraid] that the drink would fail" (Genesis 13:10). "And they made their father drink wine that night" (Genesis 19:33) - At first, Lot had a desire for immorality, which is why Abraham said, "Please separate from me," etc., and Lot thought he sinned and no one knew. Rabbi Berechiah said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Lot: 'What, do you think you have sinned and no one knows? Your descendants will be called "Moab" and "Ammon," as it says, 'So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father' " (Genesis 19:36), and similarly, Solomon said to desire, "Depart from me, you who are a deceiver" (Proverbs 1:10). When Abraham saw this, he said, "What am I seeking from these people?" Immediately he left there. Therefore it is said, "And with the crafty, you will not come" (Psalms 26:4). And the Holy One, blessed be He, judged them according to their deeds: Lot's daughters were deserving of being burned in fire, but the Holy One, blessed be He, judges only according to thoughts, which they thought and said, "Our father is old and there is no man on earth to come to us" (Genesis 19:31). It can be compared to a priest who had a field, sowed it with a tenant farmer, and the field did not produce. When the owner of the field asked for his share, the tenant farmer said, "There was no seed for us to sow." The priest asked him, "Did you see that there was no seed to sow?" He replied, "Yes, I saw it, so I took the tithes and sowed them, and the field produced a crop." The priest said to him, "What did you do?" He replied, "Since I saw there was no seed, I did this." But the priest said to him, "You should not have put it in the storehouse." Similarly, Lot's daughters saw that there was no man in those places, and furthermore, they thought that there was no creature in the world, as they said, "The world is turned over just as Sodom was overturned," as it says, "There is no man on earth," etc. "Come, let us make our father drink wine" etc. They sowed their seed like tithes. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, You deserved to be burned, but since you intended to build the world, you will not be admitted to the treasury. "No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the congregation of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 23:4). (This raises a question: This is written regarding a matter that did not precede you [i.e., the generation that left Egypt], so why should it apply to you?) Immediately, Abraham said, "I will not come to terms with hidden people; I have nothing to do with those about whom it is written, 'No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter.'" (Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 76b:15) and he left.