Learning from Avraham

In this week’s Parsha we are given a glimpse of Avraham’s greatness, which we might have missed if it were not for the words of the rabbis who elucidated the text.  The Torah states that Avraham was, “…sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot” (Bereshit 18:1).  Why was Avraham sitting at the entrance of his tent?  Many are familiar with Avraham’s exemplary attribute of chesed, of kindness, and they are familiar with how Avraham would wait at the entrance of his tent to find passers traveling and in need of assistance.  However, one day it seemed to be exceedingly hot.  Those who are acquainted with Torah study are aware that the Torah is quite terse in its descriptions of events and laws.  As such, they would be surprised that the seemingly irrelevant detail of the weather would be included.  The Rabbis, adept at picking up on hints in the text, share with us an essential backstory.

This incident took place right after Avraham had just circumcised himself at a very old age.  As such, the Rabbis tell us that God wanted to give Avraham a little break and so He made it an exceedingly hot day in order to not have any travelers be out and about.  Avraham was saddened that he was not confronted by anyone in need.  Therefore, God then sent three travelers in the form of man (commentary of Rashi on Bereshit 18:1).

What seems rather strange about this whole incident is that Avraham was dejected because he was unable to help anyone.  However, what that means is that there was no one to help!  Why should that be a cause of consternation for Avraham?  Shouldn’t he be happy that no one needed assistance?  Let’s say a person starts choking in the middle of a restaurant and someone yells out for a doctor.  So the doctor comes and saves that person.  Great!  The doctor helped someone, the person was saved.  But what happens every other night?  Is the doctor upset if they go out to eat and there is no incident?  It seems like Avraham wants someone to be hurt just so he can help.  This seems like a strange mindset from our pillar of chesed.  A comment found in a commentary on the Torah by Rabbi Bernie Fox (a former head of school from Seattle) can help us understand what is going on. 

Rabbi Fox explains that we can see there are two paradigms of chesed: Reactive and proactive.  Many people will respond if someone next to them trips, drops something, or needs a little help.  In general, a good person would react to that need and try to assist.  However, Avraham shows us that he did not just stick around waiting for something to come to him, rather, he proactively sought out opportunities to help others.  Rashi explains that Avraham would move from town to town because, “When he observed that the cities had been destroyed and travelers ceased to pass to and from, he went away from there” (Bereshit 20:1).  The analogy we gave seems to be erroneous.  Avraham could be compared to a doctor who travels around looking to help others, not someone who sits in a restaurant hoping someone gets hurt.  Avraham was upset because he knew there were people out there who needed assistance, but he just couldn’t help them. 

At this time the Jewish nation has seen terrible Antisemitism and the power of pure evil.  The response of our people has included an outpouring of love and assistance.  We are reacting in an above and beyond way, whether it be by financially supporting families and soldiers in Israel, or sending letters and videos to improve the morale of those in Israel, or by sending supplies to our homeland; our people have responded with such strong support.  Please God we should not need to keep doing this and our people and land will be safe soon.  However, we can learn from Avraham to take that altruistic drive and search out opportunities to continue to help out those created in the image of God.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eliezer Barany