Vayera – Once Upon a Week

Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Yehuda Bachana.

The first and most important topic of this Torah portion is hospitality. Abraham is sitting at the entrance of his tent; he lifts his eyes and sees people passing by.

Immediately, he runs to invite them inside and urges them to stay with him and enjoy his hospitality.

From this comes a well-known saying in Judaism:

How did the sages come to the conclusion that attending guests is more important than talking to God? It feels almost heretic to even say it, how much more thinking or living by it?

Taking preference in addressing immediate needs, caring for people at the expense, or seeing it as more important than God? As people of faith, those who take Scripture seriously, it is difficult for us to accept or understand this.

Hospitality continues to be a prominent topic of this Torah portion. Another character who welcomes guests, and is willing to protect them by risking his own life, is Lot.

God sends His angels, who look like people, to Sodom. Similar to Abraham, who sat at the entrance to his tent, Lot is sitting at the city gate. When he sees these people (or angels), he urges them to come to his house, even when they insist on sleeping in the street.

Lot, who is aware of the dangers in Sodom, wishes to protect these guests. Lot is willing to defend his guests, and when the townspeople attack his house demanding that he sends them outside, Lot goes out of his house, closes the door behind him, and tries to protect them with his own body. He is willing to do anything to prevent his guests from being harmed.

Back to Abraham. Why did the sages say that receiving guests is more important than talking to God? They said it, because they understand the situation differently.

According to the rabbinical viewpoint, God has already revealed himself to Abraham in a vision, as the portion starts with:

And after this, after God already appeared:

So, when Abraham saw travelers passing by, he asked God to wait, and ran out to invite them in. From this understanding came the idea that:

However, I think the story is different. Abraham is sitting at the entrance of the tent, and he sees God, or at least the angels of God.

And I think Abraham does not recognize them as angels, but for him they are just travelers. And yet he runs out and insists that they stop for refreshments.

I would like to stop here, and reflect on the depth of the saying:

And I will ask again, does living and thinking like that not sound heretical? To give priority to people? Even in the time of need or trouble, to put human beings before God?

The New Testament gives additional insights into this discussion. In the first epistle of John, he asks if we are not capable of liking and respecting people that are in front of us today, people next to us, whom we can see, with whom we can communicate directly.

If we do not love or respect those we can see, how can we claim to love and respect God, whom we cannot see? How can we say “we love God” but we do not love His creation, people, who are made in the image of God?

It is easy to live a life of faith, easy to welcome the Divine Presence, when God reveals Himself to us. It is hard to see His presence, hidden behind three anonymous travelers.

The greatness of Abraham is, that for him, serving God and showing hospitality to strangers is the same thing. It is the work of God in every way.

Here we learn an important and fundamental principle of our lives as believers. We honor God through honoring the image of God — other people.

I will make it even more difficult: do we need to prefer the care of people over serving God? Is this not heresy?

Yeshua is asking the same question in the parable of the Good Samaritan, in Luke 10:25. He is telling us a story of an anonymous traveler.

On the way down from Jerusalem he was attacked and wounded by robbers, and left dying on the side of the road. Yeshua tells us of two people, a priest and a Levite, who saw him, but did not stop to help.

Why didn’t they help him? And why did Yeshua specifically choose a priest and a Levite as an example?

Because the wounded man could die, or maybe he already had died, and if the priest or the Levite touched him, they would be defiled. They would become impure and unable to serve God in the Temple.

And this is our dilemma exactly. Which is more important, the work of God or a crucial help to God’s creation?

I imagine them thinking: “I want to help this poor man, but God is more important. I must remain pure for the work of God. I am a priest and I have to lead people in the Temple. It is all for God. Someone else, who is not a priest, will probably pass here soon. Someone who is not in a hurry to serve God. And hopefully he will help this poor man.”

In my opinion, the priest and the Levite were not bad or selfish people. I am sure they wanted to help.

But they compared their commitment to the work of God, with helping a stranger on the road. Not knowing if even they are able to help, since they are not doctors and the fellow is dying.

They decided that the work of God was more important. And that on the road to Jerusalem, will be others, who could help.

Yeshua goes on telling us of another simple man, a Samaritan, not of the children of Israel. But when he sees the wounded man, he stopped to save him, he took care of him.

By the way, the Samaritan wasn’t a doctor either. He just took the wounded man to a place, where he could be treated and cared.

Yeshua is asking, who in this case kept the commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself”? Who showed kindness to that wounded man?

And the answer is of course the Samaritan. The same person who stopped everything.

I am sure the Samaritan was also busy and in a hurry, but nevertheless he stopped his own personal race of life in order to help another man. Flesh and blood who was hurt.

The moral of this parable is that we too have to act like that Samaritan. Yeshua teaches us that the poor and needy man standing before us is now a priority, and comes before the work of God.

The New Testament sees the commandment of hospitality as very important, the writer of Hebrews says:

What an exciting verse! In many Hasidic stories, hospitality is a fundamental mitzvah. There are many stories of a rude or dirty guest who comes in and exploits the hospitality. In these stories, the rude or simple man is later revealed as a hidden righteous man, or an angel, who tests the host.

Hospitality can be a difficult test. A stranger enters our lives, his presence can disturb our peace and comfort, he can violate our personal space and freedom we have in our homes. Serving him food and refreshments can also be a challenge.

And that’s when we remember the examples of Abraham and Lot, and the words of the New Testament:

This verse makes me excited and fills me with hope. It makes me wonder, could I have hosted an angel, in my home? Or in the congregation?

Let’s go back to Abraham. He passes his test and invites the angels into his house. Abraham himself runs and hurries to take care of his guests, and to serve them food and drink.

It is all done by the master himself, not by a worker, as Abraham had many workers. But the fact that he does it himself shows us that for Abraham it was not a hassle. On the contrary, he is happy to serve, and does it quickly and with joy.

Abraham teaches us that hospitality is the work of God. And when Abraham was sitting by the great trees of Mamre in the heat of the day, it was not clear when these passing travelers had a chance to eat, drink or rest.

So, Abraham took care of them. Strangers who are in trouble, walking in the heat of the day. Abraham offers them food, drinks, and a place to rest.

Yeshua deepens our understanding of this principle, when He connects help to those in need with the work of God, since man was created in the image and likeness of God. Yeshua teaches us that what we do for our brothers and neighbors, is like we’ve done it to Yeshua himself.

This teaching appears many times in the New Testament, but the clearest one is found in Mathew 25:37:

From this teaching of Yeshua we understand that everything we do to one another: visiting mourners, visiting the sick, charity, hospitality, is as if we are doing it to the King and Messiah, to Yeshua Himself. This is what “greater is hospitality than receiving the Divine presence” means.

Because when we help each other, it is as if we do it for the Creator of the world. In addition, the Spirit will not dwell in us, as a family, nor as a community, unless we show hospitality, give charity, comfort mourners, and visit the sick.

If we do not behave in a righteous and moral way, sitting and praying in the congregation, church, or synagogue will not help us. Without a righteous way of life, His Spirit will not dwell in us.

We started with a well-known saying:

And we will end with another famous phrase, which in my opinion goes hand in hand with the first one:

The way we treat each other is important.

Shabbat Shalom.