Parshas Vayeira begins with Avraham
Avinu welcoming guests into his tent. While Avraham’s propensity for chessed
and Hachnasas Orchim is well-documented in Chazal, this is the only occurrence
in the Torah where his kindness is extensively detailed. The situation at the
time, Avraham was recovering from surgery and it was an extremely hot day, make
it the best example to demonstrate this great middah of his.
The three “guests”, actually angels in
disguise, were ערביים, Arabs. When Avraham goes to greet them and invite them inside,
he makes a strange request. “יֻקַּח־נָ֣א מְעַט־מַ֔יִם וְרַֽחֲצ֖וּ
רַגְלֵיכֶ֑ם” “Please take a little bit of water and wash your feet” (Bereishis
18:4). Rashi explains that Arabs would worship the dust, so in order to make
sure no Avoda Zara was brought into his house, Avraham made them wash
the dust off their feet.
It is difficult for us
to understand the draw of Avoda Zara today, but some are easier to
understand than others. To worship the sun or the moon might make sense; they ‘rule’
the sky and they might be the symbols that most represent day to day life. An
argument could be made for certain majestic animals or scenery. But why dust? What
is so amazing about it that would lead someone to worship it as a god?
I heard an explanation
in the name of the Maharal that provides us with an explanation as well as an
important lesson.
The ancient Arabs (and
their modern-day descendants) were extremely dedicated to ‘god’, so much so
that they wanted to make everything they did a holy experience. However, they wouldn’t
try to find out what god wanted from them, they simply decided that whatever
they were doing at the time, regardless of what it was, was what he wanted from
them. Therefore, they were always doing exactly what god wanted from them! And
they would do it 110%.
Therefore, even the
dust under their feet was holy; since the journey they were on was a ‘mission’
from god, the dust on their feet was a part of this holy mission and connected
them to their gods. So Avraham made them wash off even the dust to remove any
potential connection to their worship.
It is this idea of
complete dedication that has made them such a dangerous enemy throughout time. They
are completely dedicated to their idea of god, and they are in complete harmony
with ‘him’. Their fight is with man, and specifically, us. The only way to
counteract this mindset is to counter it with complete dedication of our own.
In this week’s parsha,
we see Avraham recovering from his bris milah, we see him desperately
looking for guests, we see him praying to Hashem to save the city of Sedom and
the surrounding area- a place where there was not even one righteous
individual, and finally, we see Avraham willing to sacrifice his only and
beloved son, Yitzchak. All this in the name of serving Hashem. This is complete
dedication; this is what it takes to be 100% committed to being a true servant
of Hashem.
If we hope to defeat
our enemies, we must look to Avraham Avinu and commit ourselves 100% to serving
Hashem, and even better for us, we know how He should be served! With this, we
should all have a tremendous zchus to see true bracha and yeshua!
Shabbat Shalom!
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