In the beginning
of this week's parsha the Torah describes how Avraham
Avinu was sitting dejectedly as Rashi says, because
there were no guests and he wanted to perform the
Mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim. Rav Moshe Feinstein in his
Darash Moshe says that it is very difficult to
understand, why Avraham was so upset, since there is no
Mitzvah if there are no guests. Rav Moshe compares it to
someone who is sad on Tuesday that today isn't Shabbat!
There is no point to it! Rav Moshe explains that the
reason for Avraham's sadness was because of his great
love to do acts of kindness. It is itself a Mitzvah to
desire to be involved in Mitzvot, in particular acts of
kindness, in the same way that people desire certain
foods or other physical pleasures. The fact that the
food they want is not in front of them does not take
away their hunger for it; the only way to end their
hunger, is to find that food and partake of it. This
was the intensity of the hunger of Avraham to do acts of
kindness; even though potential guests were not
available, he still thirsted for the Mitzvah. We are
the descendants of Avraham Avinu and must learn from his
wonderful desire to do Mitzvot, how we should behave.
The Gemara says that one of the three character traits
of a Jew is someone who is Gomel Chesed, who does acts
of kindness. Many of us talk about the importance of
giving charity, which of course is a very big Mitzvah,
but the Gemara in Masechet Succah teaches us that in
three ways, Gemilut Chessed is even a greater Mitzvah
than giving charity. They are: 1) Tzedakah is only to
the poor where Gemilut Chessed can be done for the rich
too and 2) Tzedakah can only be done with your money
while Gemilut Chessed can be done with you're body, too,
and 3) Tzedakah can only be done to the living while
Gemilut Chessed can be done to the dead, as
well. There is a famous story told about a man who
was brought up in a religious home but when he went off
to college, decided to give up on religion and become
totally secular. One day, many years later, when he was
at work and very successful, he heard some children
playing outside. Suddenly, he heard a loud crash and
then one of the boys screaming. He went to the window to
see what happened and heard the boy scream over and
over, "What will father say!" After a while he went
outside to try to do an act of kindness and calm down
the boy. He asked him what happened and why he was
crying so much. The boy related that he was very poor
and his father had saved enough money in order to buy
oil for the Chanukah menorah and he asked him to
purchase the oil and bring it straight home for use
tonight on the first night of Chanukah. Instead he
stopped to play with his friends and the bottle of oil
broke and that is why he stood there screaming, "What
will my father say." The businessman took out some money
from his wallet and gave it to the boy and told him to
buy new oil and bring it home and enjoy Chanukah. When
the boy ran off, the sound of "what will my father say"
kept resounding in the man's head and he asked himself
the same question, what will my Father say about the way
I am living my life. He decided right then and there to
come back to Judaism. We see from this story that when
we help others, we help ourselves as well. May we
learn this message of the love of Gemilut Chassadim from
Avraham Avinu and may we keep this
story in mind as we constantly ask ourselves,
"What will my father say," and hopefully, we can live our
lives in a way that we emulate our father Avraham,
where we worry about the needs of others, not
only ourselves, and make this world a better place for everyone
to live.
Going the Extra
Meal by
Ben Krinsky
At the beginning
of this week's Parsha, Avraham invites three angels into
his house and offers to feed them. He says in 18:5,
"'Viekcha Pat Lechem, Vesaadu Libchem'.Vayomru, 'Kein
Taaseh Kaasher Dibarta,'" "'And I will get a morsel of
bread, and you shall satisfy yourselves'.and they said,
'Do so - as you said.'" He merely offers them a little
bread, and they respond that this will be enough.
However, later we see that Avraham serves the angels an
elaborate and sumptuous meal, which includes homemade
cakes and some of his best calf meat. Why, after they
say they only want a small amount of food, does it make
sense for Avraham to serve them so much food? All they
said they needed was a piece of bread! The Gemara in
Bava Metzia explains that this is the quality of the
righteous, who always go above and beyond what is
required in the performance of Mitzvot. Avraham was the
perfect example
of this
behavior. First of all, he did not have to
invite the angels into his tent at all. He also
could have just offered them a place to stay so that
they could avoid the sweltering heat. Even when
he provided them with food, he could have
just given them a small piece of bread as
he offered, and they would have been satisfied. Yet
Avraham did as much as possible to completely fulfill the
Mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim and accommodate his guests. To accomplish
this goal, he did his best to provide them with
everything they wanted. When he found that all they
said they wanted was a little bread, he was afraid
that they were being modest and did not
want to cost him too much, and so had not
informed him of what they truly wanted. Avraham therefore gave
them much more than they requested. Avraham's actions are a
lesson not only in the importance of going out of our
way to do Mitzvot, but also in the importance
of not cutting corners when we do
them. Like Avraham, we must find the best and
most complete way to perform each Mitzvah.
Against the Odds by
Avi Wollman
One of
the highlights of Parshat Vayera is Hashem's destruction
of the city of Sodom. When Hashem approaches Avraham to
tell him about His plans, Avraham begs of Him not to
destroy the city in the merit of any righteous
inhabitants who may be living there. However, Avraham's
prayers are to no avail, and Hashem ultimately destroys
the city. This incident is very interesting and raises
several questions. First of all, why is Avraham pleading
with Hashem to spare the city of Sodom from destruction?
This city even recognized Hashem but still defied Him
outright; it was entirely evil! In fact, there is a
Pasuk in Mishlei that states, "When the evil are
destroyed, it calls for rejoicing (song)." Based on
this, it seems that Avraham should, in fact, want the
city of Sodom to be destroyed. Why, then, of all the
things he could do, does Avraham choose to pray for
Sodom? Additionally, what is Avraham doing praying for a
city which Hashem has decided to destroy? What gives him
this right? In truth, Hashem did not have to notify
Avraham of his plans to destroy Sodom. Because Hashem
did notify him, Avraham perceived that he could pray on
the city's behalf. Hashem was granting him a special
opportunity to intercede. Still, the Pasuk in Mishlei
seems to indicate that he should not have been praying
for them, but rather rejoicing over their destruction.
We may explain this difficulty based on a Gemara in
Masechet Nidarim that states that Bnei Yisrael's
enslavement in Egypt was due to Avraham's actions when
he won the war against the four kings. In 14:21-23, the
Torah says, "The King of Sodom said to Avraham, 'Give me
the people and take the possessions for yourself.'
Avraham said to the King of Sodom, '.I shall not take
anything of yours..'" Since Avraham did not take this
opportunity to convert the king of Sodom, the Gemara
says, he was punished with his children's enslavement.
Now, when the time came for Sodom's destruction, Avraham
tried to correct his previous mistake. He took the
special opportunity Hashem had given him to pray that
the city of Sodom to be saved from complete destruction.
Nonetheless, as we know, Sodom and its inhabitant were
wiped out. We are often presented with valuable
opportunities which we sometimes miss. When this
happens, it is important to do our best to correct our
mistakes, even when the odds are against us. We
must learn to be like our forefather Avraham, and to take advantage
of the wonderful opportunities with which we provided.
Halacha of
the Week
Many people eat natural peanut butter that
contains no hydrogenated oils. This appears to be
a wise choice, as avoiding hydrogenated oils seems
to fulfill the Mitzvah of Vinishmartem Meod Linafshoteichem
(maintaining our health). Indeed, Rav Hershel
Schachter stated at a convention of the National Council
of Young Israel Rabbis that Rabbanim should urge
their constituents to make healthy choices regarding the
foods they consume. Natural peanut butter, though,
must be stirred before use because
the oil and peanut butter separate during shipping
and storage. It is possible that this stirring
might constitute a biblically forbidden act of Lishah, kneading, on
Shabbat. Consult your local Rav for a
ruling.
Staff at
time of publication:
Editors-in-Chief: Ely
Winkler, Willie Roth Executive Editor:
Jerry M. Karp Publication
Editors: Jesse Dunietz, Ariel
Caplan Publishing Manager: Andy
Feuerstein-Rudin Publication Managers: Orin
Ben-Jacob, Moshe Zharnest Business Manager:
Etan Bluman Webmaster: Avi Wollman Staff:
Duvie Barth, Mitch Levine,
Josh Markovic, Moshe Schaffer, Chaim
Strauss Faculty Advisor: Rabbi Chaim
Jachter
This week's
issue of Kol Torah has been sponsored by Michael and Cecile Wollman in honor of their son Charlie's Bar
Mitzvah. ---------------- This week's issue of Kol Torah
has also been sponsored by Moshe and Ilana Wertenteil in
memory of Moshe's father, Louis Wertenteil, z"l, Yehuda Baruch
ben R' Dovid.
This
publication contains Torah matter and should be treated accordingly.
