בס”ד


Parashat Vayera

In this week’s Torah reading we find the story of Avraham receiving guests and telling them about God. After eating and drinking (and listening to Avraham’s Torah class) they wold thank him. However Avraham would press them so much until they would thank God. Does it have any value?
Based on Likkutei Sichot, vol. 15, p. 122

Breaking the Coarseness Within

This is a written version of a short class on Parashat Vayera.

Abraham’s Eshel

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayera, G-d appears to Abraham. We also find Abraham planting an eshel.¹ Our Sages discuss what an eshel was. Some say it was a tree. Some say it was a kind of small hotel. Others say it was a whole garden full of trees and fruit.²

In this place, Abraham received people who were traveling on the roads, in the middle of the desert. He gave them food, drink, and fruit. And while they ate, Abraham spoke about G-d. He told them that there is One G-d, that He is the Master of the universe, and that He watches over everything.

When the guests finished eating and drinking, and had listened to Abraham’s whole Torah class, they said: “Thank you so much, Abraham. We have to move on.” But Abraham answered: “Wait. Why do you thank me? Thank G-d. He is the Master of the world, and you ate from Him.”

Some of the guests said: “We don’t believe this. We heard everything you said, and we are thankful for your food, but we have to go.” Then Abraham became firm. He said: “If you are not going to thank G-d, from whom you ate, then you owe me money for the meat, the wine, the drink, the fruit, and everything else. It is a fortune.” So he gave them two choices: thank G-d, or pay.³

The guests became very nervous. They did not have many options. Either they paid a fortune, or they said: “Thank you, G-d, that I ate from You.” And that is what they did.

The Question

Our Sages tell us that Abraham did not only call in the name of G-d. He also made other people call in the name of G-d.⁴

But there is a simple question. What is the value of thanking G-d under pressure? These people did not do it from their hearts. They did not say it because they were moved by Abraham’s class. They just did not want to pay a fortune.

And we cannot say that Abraham only wanted them to say the words, whether they believed them or not. That makes no sense. Abraham was a true person. He truly wanted people to understand that there is a G-d. That is why he gave so many explanations, while his guests ate and drank and he kept talking.

So why did Abraham do this?

The Story of Rabbi Elazar and the Ugly Man

To understand this, let us look at a story that our Sages tell in the Talmud.⁵

Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon, was riding on his donkey. He was coming back to his city to become the rabbi of the city. He was very proud of himself and very happy.

Suddenly he met a very ugly man. The man greeted him: “Peace be upon you, my rabbi.” But the rabbi did not answer his greeting. Instead he looked at the man and said: “How ugly you are!”

The man was very hurt. He said: “If you think I am ugly, why don’t you go and complain to the Master of the world, who made me like this?”

Rabbi Elazar realized that he had done something wrong. He said: “I am sorry.” They went back and forth. The rabbi kept asking for forgiveness, and the man kept refusing. This happened in front of the other people, because they were all traveling toward the city. In the end the man said: “I will forgive you, but be careful not to do this too much.”

A Second Question

This story also raises a question. Didn’t Rabbi Elazar know that G-d is the One who shapes a person’s body? Why did he tell the man that he was ugly? It was not the man’s fault!

The answer is that sometimes a person’s coarseness does not allow him to recognize G-dliness.

Look at what happened. As soon as the rabbi said, “You are so ugly,” what was the first thing the man said? “Go and talk to G-d. Tell Him that I am ugly. It is His fault, not mine.” Before that moment, the man was not thinking about G-d at all. The rabbi, in a very harsh way, broke through his coarseness. And right away, the man turned to G-d.

Back to Abraham

Now we can understand Abraham.

Some of Abraham’s guests recognized G-dliness quickly. Their lives and their bodies were not so coarse. They thanked G-d and moved on, and Abraham was happy with that.

But some people were so coarse that Abraham had only one way to break through. He had to put them under real pressure. “Either you pay me a fortune, or you thank G-d. You are not going anywhere.”

When Abraham broke that coarseness, the G-dliness inside them rose up, and they thanked G-d. So they were not cheating Abraham. They were showing who they really are.

A Lesson for Us

There are many lessons in this story. I would like to bring out one.

Sometimes a person feels that he does not feel G-dliness. He does what he has to do. Jews keep the 613 commandments. Non-Jews keep their seven commandments, with all their details. But inside, he does not really feel that anything is moving forward.

At that moment, ask yourself: What is going on with my own coarseness? Am I breaking my coarseness, to make room for the divinity that is inside me, so that it can come out?

Good Shabbos.

Talk from Rabbi Tuvia Serber


The above is a representation of the spoken text converted to written text.

Footnotes

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