Avraham sees three men coming toward him. One thing that is clear is that it is not clear to Avraham who - or what - they are. On one hand, he has them wash their feet, because the local idol worshippers tend to worship the dust on their feet (Rashi). On the other hand, he calls them "Ado-nai" which, according to some opinions is meant fully Divine. And this is troublesome in itself, and is explained as referring to their Master, or are they the last parting words of the previous dialogue, the one that started when Hashem appears to Abraham at the beginning of the parasha? Or, for the Rambam, they are the same encounter - first introduced by "And Hashem appeared to him in the heat of the day…" and then described how it happened "And he looked up, and three men…" and according to Rambam, it was all a prophetic vision anyway.
What comes out of this, in a sense, is that, to Avraham, whether his guest is an idol worshipper, or an angel, or Hashem Himself, his attitude is the same - "Welcome. Come in." Avraham is called Ish Chesed, man of kindness. Really, chesed - kindness in its purest form is about that lack of distinction - is about a total unmitigated flow of kindness and attention toward the world. By Yitzhak we will have plenty of distinction. But for this week, let us remember and consider our great-great grandfather Avraham welcoming everyone and everything into his tent with equal joy, Avraham who, says Rashi, left the face of the Shechina to welcome a guest who probably worshipped idols, and in the act taught us that welcoming guests is more important than staying in the presence of the Shechina. With that, let our week by guided by the principle of welcoming all - great and small - with equal joy into our tents.
Rav Gavriel Goldfeder
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Rav Gavriel Goldfeder is one of the first semicha recipients of the yeshiva. A graduate of Drew University in Religious Studies, he came to Bat Ayin after stints in other yeshivot and found a spiritual and intellectual home. Here he met his wife, Ketriellah, who was a student in our short-lived Women's Yeshiva. Upon graduation, Gavriel took the position of rabbi of the Aish Kodesh Congregation in Boulder, Colorado and together with Ketriellah and their growing family, they are busy creating (in Gavriel's words), "a community infused with Torah values, passion for learning and prayer, consideration of one another, and action, as well as deep celebration of the joys of life." |