 “And Abraham Ran...” Printed with permission from "The Chesed Boomerang" by Jack Doueck www.judaicapress.com In Jewish tradition, Abraham is known as the man of chesed. When three visitors came to his tent, he convinced them to stay. At first, he offered them merely bread, water and a little rest. Then, he ran to his cattle and prepared for them a huge meal. On the surface, Abraham seems to be merely a decent, normal person. After all, who would not take in three weary travelers? But we must look further to find a deeper understanding. How would you feel two days after being circumcised? What would you do? How would you feel on the third day of your hernia operation? Would you sit at the front of your home, and, upon seeing travelers, “run towards them” as Abraham did? . The Torah, in describing this incident, uses the verbs ratz, meaning ran, vaymaher (hurried) and Mahari, (hurry!), a total of four times. The emphasis is on how Abraham responded to weary travelers — even while he himself was suffering great physical pain. His response was chesed. Imagine being able to communicate with God, and, in a mystical, prophetic way, being able to hear “a still, small voice”. Now imagine that if you hear this voice, if you are approached by God and by guests simultaneously I that you have to say (Genesis 18:3)“O my Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, do not go away from your servant”. Imagine telling God: “Please wait just a few minutes. I have to go serve my guests. When I return from helping other human beings, I’ll return and talk with You.” This is what the Bible tells us that Abraham did. He was actually conversing with God and saw potential guests. He asked God to excuse him, and went to greet and invite the guests into his home. Abraham’s hospitality was legendary. The Sages say (Bava Metsia 30b, Shabbat 127b) that he built his home with entrances on all four sides, so that passersby on their way would tend to approach it. Abraham would then run to serve them and let them rest in his home. Jewish tradition holds the virtue of hospitality in the highest regard. The Talmud asserts that hospitality to guests is more important and should take priority even over “welcoming the Divine presence”. There is an interesting Midrash (Exodus Rabah 28:1) that describes what happened when Moshe was about to receive the Torah. The angels wanted to strike him down (and not let him receive it). God then created an image of Abraham and asked the angels, “are you not now ashamed? Wasn’t this the man who was so hospitable as to invite you in to eat in his home?” Then God turned to Moshe and said, “the Torah is given over to you only because of the merit of Abraham (and his hospitality)”. Perhaps this is what the Mishnah (Avot 3:21) meant when it declared: “If there is no flour (food), there will not be Torah.” If not for the “flour” (the food) that Abraham hurried to prepare for his guests, there might not have been a Torah (or for that matter a Jewish people...).
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