Parashat Vayera

Dedicated to my Eshet Chayil Wife, Julie

By Michael Betesh

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Parashat Vayera

Hachnasat Orchim

Parashat Vayera illustrates the concept of hachnasat orchim—hospitality which Avraham Avinu demonstrated often. He was a master of kindness and a host that went above and beyond. Rabbi Frand quotes Rav Nisson Alpert, ZT’L, who offered beautiful insight into the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, which can be derived from this parasha. Rashi explains that to provide Avraham some respite from guests after his recent milah, G-d made it an exceptionally hot day so that no one would be traveling on the roads. However, Avraham was distressed that he had no guests to offer his hospitality. Therefore, G-d sent him three angels in disguise. Avraham welcomed the unfamiliar men into his home with open arms, slaughtering an animal for each of his guests, so they can all have individual portions of luxurious cuts of meat.

Angels are completely spiritual beings who could not eat the meal that Avraham provided for them. They only pretended to eat the food. If Avraham was so distressed from his lack of guests to feed, why did Hashem send him guests who did not have that capability? Hashem could have made a thunderstorm to lower the temperature, a poor person would have inevitably come down the road, and Avraham would have invited him in for a meal. This seems more logical than wasting Avraham’s supreme efforts to prepare a gourmet meal for angels who only pretended to eat!

This incident teaches us about the nature of hospitality. Contrary to what we may think, hachnasat orchim is not so much for the benefit of the guests. Rather, it’s for the benefit of the host! It didn’t matter that they didn’t eat, the point was that Avraham needed to serve them. The mitzvah of welcoming guests is directed at the giver, not the receiver. Hashem has His ways regarding charity and acts of kindness. If someone needs food, G-d will get it to him. If an individual or an institution needs money, G-d will ensure they are taken care of. But He assigns the actual task of giving to those who will benefit from the act the most.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of people who need assistance with food, shelter, or financials. The only question is to whom Hashem will grant the merit to do the chessed. Thus, the primary example of hachnasat orchim in the Torah is the story of Avraham feeding the angels, who did not even need food because they weren’t human. We must always remember that we are the ones who need this mitzvah. The guest is doing us a favor, not the other way around.

The Jewish people have the chessed gene directly passed down through the generations from Avraham. All Jews have an innate need to help others, from the more secular Jews who give generous donations to fund hospitals, to the endless list of community chessed organizations like Hatzalah, Sephardic Bikur Holim, and the Sephardic Food Fund.

Big Rewards

When a person carries out great deeds, Hashem shows himself to that person to acknowledge that individual for recognizing Hashem in a difficult time. I can personally remember many times when I did something difficult, and Hashem showed His Hand to me in a way that I was able to clearly understand.

One time, a Rabbi who needed to raise money for his yeshivah came to visit me in my office. He asked me for an amount that I felt was more than I would be able to give. But I felt deeply for his cause, so I decided to push myself to accommodate his request. I distinctly remember going back from the conference room where we were meeting to my office to get my checkbook.

It was at that exact moment that a call came in from a person whom I’d been speaking to about purchasing life insurance. I picked up the phone and the person calling said: “Hi Jack, I’m ready to buy that insurance policy we’ve been discussing. When can we meet?”

Right then, I saw clearly how Hashem rewarded me on the spot for doing that mitzvah. The connection was so obvious to me. Hashem wants to show us that because we did something difficult for us in order to fulfill His Will, we will be rewarded.

We learn from Avraham Avinu and from all these acts that he did, to show our faith in Hashem and He will acknowledge our efforts... Every mitzvah counts. Every. Single. One. We must commit to taking upon a new mitzvah or perhaps pledge to intentionally do one to which maybe we don’t pay such great attention. Hashem is listening. He is eagerly waiting for us to bring Mashiach speedily in our days.

Our Rabbis Protect Us

After Avraham finished serving the three angels who came to him disguised as guests, he embarked on a long dialogue with Hashem, pleading and negotiating on behalf of the wicked people of Sedom to try and save them from complete destruction (18:23-33). The question that’s asked is, why did Avraham spend so much time trying to convince Hashem to save terrible people, and why did the Torah document it? Rav Nissim Kaplan quoted the Maharal Diskin, saying, Avraham was no fool, he knew exactly what he was doing. True, they deserved the worst punishment, but Avraham had a broader vision. He foresaw a time when his descendants would anger their Creator by behaving as badly as the people of Sedom. Avraham seized the opportunity that lay before him. He created an insurance policy for his children. A contract for all future generations.

The day may come when the end seems inevitable, but there would always be hope. This is a gift from Avraham Avinu, a special merit that each generation would be awarded. Tzaddikim would have the ability to protect their generation from harm. Avraham was negotiating with Hashem on behalf of all of us, the future generations of the Jewish Nation by creating a concept. If there is a city that is deserving of Hashem’s wrath and isn’t worthy of being saved, if it is home to at least ten tzaddikim, the city will be protected from harm.

As we go through our daily lives, some may think, “What are these Rabbis that are learning in kollel doing for me?” Avraham’s negotiations with Hashem clearly show that the Rabbis learning in our city are protecting all of us from the harm of which we may be unaware. May Hashem always preserve our community and all Jewish communities throughout the world! Amen!

The Relationship Between Avraham and the Etrog Tree

At the beginning of Parshat Vayeira, Avraham looked up and noticed three people standing on the road. Avraham ran to greet them. [Bereishit 18:2]. The passuk repeats the word ‘Va-yar--and he saw’ twice. First it says, “He looked up and he saw…”; and then it repeats “…and he saw, and he ran toward them.” What was this second “seeing”?

The Rav Mordechai Ilan, gives an interesting interpretation. He explains that there are many occasions when a situation arouses “enthusiasm of the moment.” Our initial impulse is to rush in and do the mitzvah. But, with the passage of time, rational thought often overcomes emotion and the enthusiasm dissipates.

This was not the case with Avraham. The passuk is telling us that Avraham was not merely the type of person who rushed into something on the spur of the moment. His enthusiasm maintained itself beyond the stage of the knee-jerk reaction. Even upon reevaluation — giving the situation a second look, so to speak — he remained determined to offer kindness and hospitality. His attribute of kindness emerged not only from emotion (the first sighting) but from rational consideration, as well (the second sighting).

The Sages speak of this consistency regarding Avraham’s attribute of chessed. It was his hallmark. The Toras Kohanim comments that the expression “Pri Etz Hadar--fruit of a beautiful tree” [Vayikra 23:40] refers to Avraham Avinu.

The Talmud [Succah 35a] says that the comparison of Avraham to an Etrog is based on an alternate translation of the phrase “Pri Etz Hadar”. Literally, Pri Etz Hadar means, “fruit of a beautiful tree”. However, the Talmud says that by switching the vowels, “Hadar” (beautiful) can be read “Hador” (that dwells). Therefore, the passuk can be translated, “fruit of a tree that dwells”. This refers to the fact that the Etrog, unlike other fruits, does not just grow, blossom, and fall off the tree within three months. The Etrog lives on its tree from year to year. It has a consistency that is not found in any other fruit.

That was the attribute of Avraham. He did not just have momentary enthusiasm that inspired kindness. When guests came, Avraham was not only excited on the first day. What about guests that stayed three days? What about guests that stayed for a week? Avraham did not tire of offering hospitality. Avraham was consistent, just like the Etrog that is consistent on the tree from year to year.

Against Our Instincts

Later, at the end of Parashat Vayera, Hashem tells Avraham to sacrifice his only son Yitzchak. Avraham, being a man of chessed, had to go completely against his nature. He intended to fulfill Hashem’s request without hesitation, unaware that it was only a test. As the children of Avraham, we are still benefiting from his merit from this mitzvah until this very day! Just as Avraham drew the sword to sacrifice his son, an angel appeared to him and told him not to proceed with the slaughter, as this was merely a test.

The question arises as to why this command was such a crucial test for Avraham Avinu. Yitzchak was 37 years old at the time of the akedah. He was not a young boy forced into this by his father. Wasn’t this a test for him, as well? Why is Akedat Yitzchak presented as a test more for Avraham, than Yitzchak?

One explanation is that this was a test specifically for Avraham, because he had arrived at the belief in G-d on his own through logical reasoning. In a world that believed in idols, Avraham, in his profound wisdom and intelligence, recognized through logic that there must be a single Creator. Avraham’s great test was fulfilling G-d’s command which seemed wholly illogical. G-d had earlier promised to produce a great nation from Yitzchak, and now He told him to kill him.

This defied all logic, and thus naturally challenged Avraham’s entire approach of arriving at his belief through logic. His obedience to the Divine Command demonstrated that he was committed to G-d not only when logic dictated following His laws, but even when His laws seemed illogical.

But there is also another reason why this test was unique to Avraham. The Vilna Gaon taught that a person’s task in this world is to overcome his innate tendencies. We are to identify our areas of personal weakness and work toward improving ourselves in those very areas. Thus, for example, a person who is naturally a glutton and enjoys overindulging in food should focus on moderating his food intake. A naturally short-tempered person has the responsibility to fight against this tendency and be patient and tolerant of other people. We are not here to just accept our nature, to resign ourselves to the character flaws with which we are created. Rather, our primary job during our lifetime is to break our nature, to perfect the flawed areas of our personality.

Avraham, as we know, was naturally kind and generous. His outstanding quality was chessed, as expressed by his hospitality and in his plea on behalf of the wicked city of Sedom. He naturally loved and cared for all people. The test of Akedat Yitzchak required Avraham to go against that instinct in the most extreme way possible. There is nothing crueler and more heartless than killing one’s son. The command of Akedat Yitzchak was necessary for Avraham to show that he was prepared to obey G-d’s commands even when they directly opposed his most basic, innate instincts. This test was required to show that Avraham was devoted to G-d no matter how strongly he was naturally disinclined to obey His command.

This insight into the akedah is relevant to many different areas of life. We have a natural tendency to not admit to making a mistake. In marriage, especially, this inclination must be broken. Marriage requires us to hear another perspective and admit when it’s more correct than ours, something which is very difficult to do because it goes against one of our most natural tendencies. There is no such thing as “This is just the way I am.” If this is the way we are, then our job is precisely to change that very nature. If a man as kind as Avraham could obey G-d’s command to slaughter his son, then certainly we can break our instincts toward anger, obstinacy, and so on. We can improve the flawed areas of our characters, to continuously work towards rising closer to perfection.

May we all learn from our forefather Avraham Avinu to always look for ways to do mitzvot as the Torah commands us. We all have times in our lives when we make decisions to do mitzvot that are difficult for us. Now especially, we must know that those acts don’t go unnoticed, as we saw in these powerful stories. May we learn from Avraham to do mitzvot wholeheartedly and with immense joy, especially if they go against our nature.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Amram Sananes, written by Jack Rahmey

Discussion Point:

What makes a good host?

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