By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO– Some in my congregation may have noticed that I often leave the bima during Shabbat services to greet visitors to our congregation. Although this may appear disruptive, I am following in the footsteps of a most excellent role model: Avraham Avinu, Abraham our Father. Abraham, the first human being to recognize the existence of one God, was well known for his love of the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests.
Parashat Va-yera opens with Abraham sitting at the opening of tent scanning the horizon for approaching visitors. The Talmud tells us, “Because God saw that Abraham was sad that no visitors were approaching, God sent him three angels in the guise of messengers.” (TB Baba Metzia, 61b) These messengers would later inform Abraham about the upcoming miraculous birth of his son, Isaac, and later visit his nephew, Lot, in Sodom.
Rabbi Shlomo Heiman was puzzled by Abraham’s distress. While it is a mitzvah to welcome visitors, he noted, one is not obligated to search them out. Why was Abraham so anxious? Furthermore, Rabbi Heiman was puzzled over how God sending angels could possibly help Abraham fulfill the mitzvah. After all, the mitzvah of welcoming guests applies to human beings, not angels!
In order to understand Abraham, Rabbi Heiman concludes, one must look not only at the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim but at that which motivates it. Welcoming visitors is the act of someone whose life and personality overflow with chesed, loving kindness.
Abraham was a man who loved humanity. His love of his fellow human beings could not be contained but had to be shared with others. He not only wanted to show kindness to those who needed help, but to demonstrate to everyone within his orbit the importance of showing goodness and generosity to friend and stranger alike. He was not content to wait for someone to come his way to help, he had to seek them out.
This is why it made no difference that God sent angels instead of human beings. Abraham was not performing the mitvzah of welcoming guests to earn points on the “Great Scoreboard in the Sky.” Abraham welcomed guests because it fulfilled his need to give and share his love, and allowed him to show others how they could also fill their lives with chesed, lovingkindness.
In this way Abraham is a role model for all of us. Not only does he show us the importance of welcoming guests in our congregations and in our lives, but how to live each day with kindness and generosity.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. He may be contacted at leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com