#vayeira

Weekly Thought - Vayera

Rabbi Benji

Weekly Thought - Vayera

Weekly Thought - Vayera

This week saw the UK's Chief Rabbi speaking at The Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace - something very hard to imagine happening before The Abraham Accords. Appropriately, the sedra this week is VaYeira and my brother penned the following commentary on it.

This week saw the UK’s Chief Rabbi speaking at The Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace – something very hard to imagine happening before The Abraham Accords. Appropriately, the sedra this week is VaYeira (Genesis 18:1 to 22:24) and my brother penned the following for a weekly email newsletter sent to volunteers at a local Jewish care home. In last week’s sedra, and continuing this week, we read about…

My simultaneously brilliant, pessimistic, and loyal friend, “E” will grace us with her words this parsha. Notice how the sentences just flow so eloquently from her quill... #TorahOnFleek

What you may have missed in last week’s Parsha: Avraham has a bris at the age of 99, and Hashem subsequently turns up the heat so that he can rest without worrying about visitors. Avraham, however, insists on sitting outside to wait for guests, and is visited by the three angels. 

Moshe has an Epic Win Moshe Rabbeinu ascends to heaven to accept the Torah on behalf of the Jews, but has a showdown with the Malachim, who claim that they deserve the Torah because the Jews messed up with Cheit HaEgel. Moshe argues that the Malachim do not have a valid case because on the one day that they came down to the earth to visit Avraham, they consumed milk and meat together. Buuuuurn. The Malachim concede defeat, and Moshe takes the Torah. Yay Moses. 

But wait, there’s more… There’s a flaw in Moshe’s argument. The pasuk relates that the Malachim first had milk, and only afterward did they consume the meat. What did Moshe mean? Is it that they did not wait a full hour in between the meat and dairy? 

Getting technical TBH, there was no command to wait an hour between meat and dairy--the law was only to rinse the mouth between eating the two. The Shaloh instituted the hour wait later on, so that can’t be our argument. Oh dear. 

Hot and Cold Let’s take a look at the laws of batul bishishim. If a bit of milk falls into a pot of meat or vice versa, if both are cold it’s okay, but if both are hot, it isn’t. For example:  If you have a cold pot of milk, and a bit of hot meat falls in, it’s okay, because the milk is the “first” (the base, larger quantity) of the two, and it cools down the meat. In other words, it affects whatever comes after it. If the milk is hot, and a bit of cold meat falls in, the mixture is not okay because the hot milk heats up the cold meat. Bam. The milk is the deciding factor. This concept is known as “tata’ah gavar,” the bottom dominates.

Bottoms Up Rav and Shmuel had their differences. When it comes to Dinei Heter Vi’issur, we go according to the former, because Rav was the more logical and practical of the two. Shmuel, who was a psychologist, paskened Dinei Mammon, money, because he could better understand people. In this case, however, we follow Shmuel, who rules that Tata’ah gavar (Rav was of the opinion that Ila’ah gavar--meaning, the second would affect the first.) 

Say No to Cheeseburgers Milk (smooth, flowing, white) represents chessed, while meat (strong, thick, red) represents gevurah. The Malachim’s argument was that “Ila’ah gavar,” the top rules, meaning that the Torah should remain with them on high. The physical earth is tata’ah, the spiritual heavens, ila’ah. If the Malachim believed in this, it would imply that they had indeed eaten treif, because in this case the secondary hot meat, which they consumed after the milk, would affect the milk and make the mixture unacceptable.

Happily Ever After The fact that the Malachim had the milk first and the meat second shows that they believed in tata’ah gavar. When they claimed ila’ah gavar, Hashem said, in that case, you have sinned. He showed them that they didn’t really believe in ila’ah gavar, or they wouldn’t have eaten in such a manner. The Malachim conceded defeat, and we got to keep the Torah. Hooray!

וַיִּשָּׂא עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה שְׁלשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים נִצָּבִים עָלָיו וַיַּרְא וַיָּרָץ לִקְרָאתָם (בראשית יח, ב) And he lifted his eyes and he saw, and behold, there were three men standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them. (Bereishis 18:2)

In Parshas Vayeira, Avraham interrupts a visit from G-d Himself in order to host three angels that were passing by. From here we learn the great value of the mitzvah of hachnosas orchim, hosting guests. In the words of the Rambam (Hilchos Avel 14:2):

This is the tenet that our patriarch Avraham established and the path of kindness that he followed. He would feed wayfarers, provide them with drink, and accompany them. Showing hospitality for guests surpasses receiving the Shechinah, the Divine Presence, as is written: “And he saw, and behold, there were three men.”

Now, the three “men” whom Avraham hosted were actually angels, who had no need for the food and drink he offered. This raises the question: did Avraham in fact fulfill the mitzvah of hachnosas orchim with this act of hospitality? In hindsight, the cause for which Avraham disturbed his reception of the Shechinah does not seem justified as hachnosas orchim!

From here we see that hachnosas orchim is defined primarily not by the accommodations the host provides, in which case the extent of the beneficiary’s need would be relevant, but by the heartfelt concern that the host shows for his guests’ wellbeing. (Granted, giving with a smile enhances any form of kindness or charity. Nevertheless, the ideal charity is still when the donor and recipient never even meet each other face to face (see Rambam, Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 10:8). Not so the mitzvah of hachnosas orchim, where the fulfillment of this mitzvah is first and foremost through showing your guests your personal and sincere concern for their good.)

Avraham fulfilled this aspect of hachnosas orchim to the fullest, through his interest in the wellbeing of his visitors—whether or not the angels needed or ate the food that he provided for them. And knowing (better than anyone) how much Avraham was cherished by G-d, the angels too could appreciate the sincere interest that this great man took in them, putting his meeting with G-d on hold in order to take notice of them, to provide them with food, and to escort them on their way.

Parshas Vayeira is a chapter with many extreme stories: Bris mila, the destruction of Sodom, Akeidas Yitzchak, to name a few.

Why couldn’t Lot’s wife just follow directions? Think about it this way: She left her newly decorated house, her great neighbors, her iPhone, and, most painfully, her two married daughters. She knew she was leaving them to die. When she saw the fire and brimstone plunking from the heavens, she understood what that meant for the fate of her loved ones.

Name game People who aren’t mentioned by an actual name in the Torah are irrelevant to the story. Noach’s daughters-in-law merited salvation because they married the right guy, and that’s why we have no idea what their names are. Lot’s wife is exactly that: Lot’s Wife. She didn’t possess enough good deeds to win G-d’s favor by herself, but being connected to Lot and Avraham could’ve saved her.

The catch Life doesn’t come free, and so she was given one instruction: Don’t look back. Lot’s wife had to disconnect herself from her past and no longer define herself by her elite status in Sodom.

The Rambam says... “One is forbidden from reminding a Ba’al Teshuva of his past sins.” Hashem is forgiving; He willfully forgot your past and is ready to look toward the great potential of a Jew. So if others aren’t allowed to remind you of your sin, the only place it still exists is in your own mind. If you let it go, then it is gone forever. This is possible because you became a new person.

Usually, though, our Teshuvah isn’t as complete, and even when we regret our sin and feel extremely guilty, the urge to do it again still exists within us. Repeating your mistakes—looking backwards—means that you are the same person.

A pillar of salt When Lot’s Wife turned behind her she proved that Sodom still lived in her. And since she made her choice, G-d gave granted it and crystallized her, mid-journey, forever.