Parshat Vayeira (And He Appeared)
CARLSBAD, California — In this week’s portion the Torah continues the narrative of our righteous Patriarch, Avraham. When we study his devotion to G-d we are truly awestruck by his profound connection and his willingness to do ‘whatever it took’ to fulfill the desires of the Master of the Universe. Avraham became known to all subsequent generations because of the enormous tests that he successfully navigated. Put into modern American terms, “Avraham batted 1,000.”
What I want to focus upon this week is not Avraham’s success, but instead upon his failure, for from his failure we can learn even more about our beloved father, the first person identified as a Hebrew, and we can learn about tools available to us.
In our portion we find Avraham recovering from his Bris Milah – his ritual circumcision. Our Talmudic sources tell us that not only did G-d send messengers (aka angels) to check on Avraham, but that the Almighty Himself fulfilled the Mitzvah of Bikur Cholim – visiting the sick. In fact three angels visited Avraham, one to send him healing, one to give him the good news that Sarah would finally be blessed with a child in a year’s time, and another warned of God’s planto destroy the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and other cities nearby.
As the angels departed to save Avraham’s nephew, Lot, who dwelled near the gates of Sodom, G-d communicated to Avraham His plan to destroy Sodom, Gemorrah, and the three other cities that were also steeped in evil and in proximity to the first two. When Avraham learned of the impending calamity he immediately tried to intercede. This is one of the most famous ‘scenes’ in the Torah – where Avraham tries to strike a bargain with G-d. ‘If there are 50 righteous people will You save the cities so as not to destroy the righteous with the wicked?’ G-d replied in the affirmative, but since the plan to destroy was not halted Avraham realized there were not 50 righteous, and the bargaining went on from there until the point where he realized there were not even 10 righteous found in any of the cities.
The angels headed to Sodom to save Lot and his family. Lot, was a complex individual sometimes displaying greatness and sometimes displaying the opposite. He chose to live near Sodom, as he was fascinated by the evil of the place. But he also imperiled his own life by inviting the angels into his house as guests. Lot insisted his wife treat the guests nicely but then allowed himself to get drunk, not once, but twice, leading to an incestuous relationship with his two daughters.
When the angels told Lot to flee the city for it was about to be destroyed (Lot was being saved by virtue of Avraham) he was told to return to Avraham. Lot asked for a change in plans being that he knew that his shortcomings would be in stark relief to Avraham’s righteousness. He therefore asked to go to Tzo’ar, which, in Lot’s words, was a young city that therefore did not have too many sins as yet. The Creator acquiesced to this request and that is where Lot went.
This is amazing! Originally Tzo’ar was destined to be destroyed. Even Avraham could not change the decree against it, and yet Lot was able to save the city through his request to the Almighty. Why was Lot able to save the city while the thoroughly righteous Avraham was not?
A couple of answers are offered by modern commentaries. One says that since Lot was praying for his own life his prayers were even more intense – in this case – than Avraham’s. The sheer intensity of the prayers was enough to change G-d’s decree against the city. Another answer is that Lot used a different approach than with Avraham. Avraham appealed to G-d’s sense of justice (Will You destroy the righteous with the wicked?), while Lot appealed to G-d’s mercy.
In this particular case Lot was successful in saving the city while Avraham was not. This shows that intense prayer, even when offered by someone with profound deficiencies, has advantages over other types of prayer. Avraham’s prayer was selfless while Lot’s was selfish, yet in this case, Lot’s prevailed. We also see the power of appealing to G-d’s mercy. We see that our Creator is approachable – even to flawed individuals – because He is merciful and He responds to intense sincerity, even when the motives are not pure.
This is an important for a generation like ours, which is peopled by some who may not be perfect, but can truly appeal with intensity to G-d’s incredible mercy!
Wishing everyone a happy and HEALTHY Shabbos!
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Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is Director of Coastal Chabads and Chabad at La Costa. Rabbi Eilfort welcomes readers’ comments and questions and may be reached at RabbiE@ChabadatLaCosta.com.