Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos! This weeks Torah portion is Parshas Vayeira. Our Parsha begins with 3 men visiting the holy tent of Abraham and Sarah. Our holy ancestors prepare a feast for these guests. They prepare separate cows, fancy drink, assist in washing and serve all kinds of the delicacies.
The famous Torah commentator, the Ramban, points out that based on the language of Avraham, he recognized these 3 guests to be angels that were heaven sent. Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev asks the following question with Rambans’ understanding in mind; If Avraham knew these guests to be angels, beings that they need no physical sustenance, why did he and Sarah make such a fuss about providing the finest of edible delicacies?
Great question! Rabbi Levi Yitzchok teaches that we learn from Avraham to make our guests feel like equals when they are in our house. We shouldn’t make comments to our guests that make them feel like less than us. Perhaps your guests are not as intellectually/financially/
Angles don’t have free will. They do whatever it is that they are sent to this world to do. Humans do have free will. We can choose to be moral, or choose to not be. When we succeed in our challenges, we are seen as higher than the Angels because we worked to overcome our inclination and won. Avraham knew these men to be Angels and wanted them to feel equal to him. Avraham knew that he had to make the right choices in order to establish equality to bring comfort to his guests, but didn’t dare say a remark about this achievement because that would create a level of inferiority, placing him, spiritually above the angels.
Therefore, when we merit to have guests in our homes, remember to learn from Abraham and Sarah. We should make it a point to exert ourselves to make our guests comfortable, uplifted and eventually send them off with a full belly!
One that note…we’re are hosting a big Shabbat dinner tonight…will you be there?
Shabbat Shalom!
Derek Gormin
Director of Education