From: krulwich@zowie.ils.nwu.edu (Bruce Krulwich)
Subject: Dvar Torah -- Parshas Vayera -- Rabbi Alter
Organization: The Institute for the Learning Sciences, Evanston, IL
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 17:50:57 GMT


	Parshas Vayera -- Rabbi Avrohom Alter -- Yeshiva Migdal Torah

Several questions arise in looking at this weeks parsha.  

At the beginning of the parsha we see Avrohom sitting in the opening of his
tent and G-d appears to him.  During this nevuah [prophetic experience]
Avrohom raises his eyes and sees three men approaching.  Immediately Avrohom
excuses himself, gets up, and goes to greet the visitors [Gen.  18:1-3].
Thinking about this, one is struck by the oddity of the scene.  Avrohom is
sitting in the divine presence, communicating with the Creator of the
universe, at an unprecedented spiritual level, when he sees three wanderers
approaching, and in Rav Noach Weinberg's words, he says "excuse me G-d, I've
got company!!"  This requires some explanation.

Later in the parsha G-d informs Avrohom of His plans to destroy S'dom [Sodom].
Avrohom prayed for G-d to spare the city, and G-d agreed to spare the city
under certain conditions..  It turned out that the conditions (that there
would be ten righteous people in the city) were not met, and the city was
destroyed.  Why did Avrohom pray for G-d to save the city?  Avrohom's entire
life was dedicated to helping others, while S'dom was committed to not helping
others.  Avrohom was committed to hospitality, while S'dom enacted laws
outlawing it.  Avrohom freely used his wealth for supporting others, while
S'dom went to great lengths to make sure that noone took anything out of the
city.  S'dom was the antithesis of everything that Avrohom stood for.  If
anything, we might expect Avrohom to pray for S'dom to be destroyed!!  Why
would Avrohom pray for its survival?

Our third question concerns Avrohom's fame as a man of chessed [loving
kindness].  ChaZaL (our sages of blessed memory) say that Avrohom's tent had
doors on all four sides, so that wanderers from any direction would feel
welcome.  He also took this one step further and set up roadside rest stops
with food and drink and shelter for travelers.  For this he was crowned as the
pillar of loving kindness of the world, to the extent of inheriting this trait
to his future generations.  But what makes Avrohom so special, if his loving
and giving heart was a gift from birth?

In order to understand this, let us consider what was unique about Avrohom's
life.  Avrohom was known for two things.  One is chessed, the other is belief
in G-d and rejection of idolatry.  The Midrash tells a story about Avrohom's
being left in charge of his father's idol shop one day when his father was
away.  A sixty year-old man entered the store to buy an idol.  Avrohom asked
him "how can a sixty year-old man bow down to an idol that was made three days
ago and proclaim to it 'you created me'?"  The man realized his foolishness
and was embarrassed and left.  On another occasion, a woman brought a tray of
flour as an offering for the idols.  After she left, Avrohom took an axe and
destroyed all the idols except for the largest one.  He then put the axe in
the hand of the remaining idol and placed the tray of flour in front of it.
Terach [his father] came back to the store and demanded an explanation.  "A
woman brought an offering of flour," Avrohom explained, "and the idols argued
over who would get it.  The biggest one took the axe and destroyed the
others."  "Ridiculous," responded Terach, "the idols are made of wood and
stone.  They couldn't have done that!!"  "Why, then, do you worship them?"
responded Avrohom.  These Midrashim show how easy it was to demonstrate the
silliness of idol-worship.  Were the people of the time so foolish that they
didn't see this?  One explanation is that they in fact didn't truly believe in
the idols they worshipped, but that they used their religion to fulfill the
need for structure in their lives.  People have a need for something to guide
their lives and give them a sense of purpose, a code of standards by which to
live.  This then was the function of their religion.  However, in providing
structure for people's lives, religions make demands that people find to be an
encroachment on their personal desires. This is one of the appeals of
idolatry.  The Gemorah says "Israel worshipped idols only as a means to permit
itself public imorality" [Sanhedrin 63b].  One who worships idols does so in
order to avoid the imposition of any particular structure on his activities.
If he doesn't like one of the demands his religion is making on him, he can
put it in the closet and get a new one.  Avrohom, however, proclaimed to all
that there is absolute purpose in the world and in our lives, and that this is
reflected in belief in one G-d.

Everything that Avrohom did was a consequence of his belief in G-d.  Avrohom
realized that the best thing he could do with his life was to strive to
emulate G-d.  Looking around, he was struck with how much the world provides
for supporting life.  The sun provides enery to the plants which
photosynthesize it, trees provide shelter to man and animals alike, plants
provide oxygen to all living creatures that breathe, and everything in the
world works together to support life.  Avrohom concluded that benevolence and
providing for others was a primary concern of G-d's, and therefore he adopted
it as his own.  We must stress here that he didn't adopt this concern out of a
sentimental feeling of "goodness" but rather out of a desire to emulate the
Creator.  This is demonstrated without question when we consider his response
to G-d's final test [which is at the end of this week's parsha].  Commanded by
G-d to sacrifice his beloved son, Avrohom did not hesitate for a moment.  This
was a command which went against everything that chessed implies, and yet
Avrohom did not hesitate to proceed in an attempt to fulfill the Almighty's
request.  This indicates that Avrohom's commitment to chessed took its roots
not from an overflowing loving heart by nature, rather from a lifelong
ambition to grow spiritually via subservience of one's own will to that of the
Almighty's in whichever way He deems it.  This answers our question about
Avrohom's uniqueness as a man of chessed.  People can fill their lives with
acts of chessed for a variety of reasons, but Avrohom performed acts of
chessed purely because of his belief in G-d and his desire to serve Him.

Now we can understand why Avrohom prayed for S'dom.  Avrohom's commitment to
an absolute standard, which is implied by monotheism, required him to put
aside his personal feelings and desires.  This idea is brought in the Gemorah
in a story about Rabbi Meir and his wife Bruria.  Both of them were praying
for rain, each is opposite corners of the room.  Their prayers were answered
and rain came, from the direction of Bruria and not of Rabbi Meir.  When asked
why this happened, Rabbi Meir explained that the two of them reacted in
different ways to the hooligans who roamed the neighborhood.  While he prayed
that they should be punished, she prayed that they should be brought to
tshuvah [repentance].  Because of this, her prayers received more attention
from G-d.  Her personal desires may have been for vengeance against the
wicked, however she put these feelings aside and prayed that they do teshuvah.
Similarly, Avrohom put aside his personal feelings about S'dom (i.e., his
desire for their total eradication as an indication to the world that such
behavior is the antithesis of G-d's will) and did what he knew was right in an
absolute sense.  The Almighty wishes not for retribution from the wicked,
rather that they should turn from their ways and draw closer to Him.

The question we haven't yet answered is why Avrohom would leave G-d's presence
to greet his guests.  Avrohom was sitting in the door of his tent when G-d
appeared to him.  Rashi explains that Avrohom wanted to rise out of respect
for G-d's presence, but G-d told him to remain seated, as a sign to future
generations that G-d would stand in the council of judges while the judges
remained seated.  This seems like a total non sequitor!!  What does this have
to do with Avrohom staying seated in His presence?  ChaZaL explain that G-d's
standing in the council of judges occurs when they are judging truthfully.
This is because reality is defined by G-d's affirmation of it's being so, as
the Gemorah says "G-d's seal is emes [truth]."  When judges sit in judgement
their focus should be to seek out and extract absolute truth and the reality
of a particular situation.  Thus, when they judge truthfully they are
emulating G-d, the eternal unchanging standard.  The fact that judges can sit
in G-d's presence means that they can refrain from showing honor to G-d (by
standing) when they strive to emulate Him.  This is what Avrohom learned when
G-d told him to remain seated.  In other words, emulating G-d is more
important than showing respect for Him.  This is why Avrohom could leave G-d's
presence in order to do chessed with his guests.  Avrohom's chessed was a
direct emulation of G-d's altruistic benevolence to mankind, therefore the
Almighty forewent His own honor while Avrohom proceeded to emulate His
attributes.

This teaches us an important lesson.  In everything we do we should take a few
seconds to consider whether our actions reflect G-d's will.  Whenever we're
preparing to eat something, or say something, or do something, we should ask
ourselves whether we're eating what G-d wants us to, or saying what G-d wants
us to, or acting in the way G-d wants us to.  If we put our own desires ahead
of G-d's, we are embracing that which is akin to idol worship, the realization
of our own desires over the Almighty's will.  If we look at everything we do
and ask ourselves "is this what G-d wants," we are following in the footsteps
of Avrohom Avinu.

                                     Rabbi Avrohom Alter, Yeshiva Migdal Torah
                                        Parshas Vayera 5750, November 18, 1989
                                  Transcribed by Moshe Handel and Dov Krulwich