In Parshat Vayera (Breisheet 18:1) we see that Avraham was living in Elonei Mamre (the Oaks of Mamre):

God appeared to him in Elonei Mamre and he was sitting at the door of
the tent in the heat of the day.

Where is Elonei Mamre?

We have already encountered Elonei Mamre earlier in Avraham’s journeys
in Parshat Lech Lecha (Breisheet 13:18):

Avram set up his tent, and he came and settled in Elonei Mamre, in
Hevron…

Radak explains that Elonei Mamre is within the borders of Hevron.

Where would Elonei Mamre be located today?

Elonei Mamre is associated with Ramat El Halil, around 3 kilometers from
Hevron, on the way to Jerusalem. The Jews call the spot Ohel Avraham, Avraham’s
Tent.  In the Mishna (Maaser Sheni 5:2)
it was called Eilat Avraham, “Eilat to the
South” (not to be confused with the city of Eilat as we know it today in the
south of Israel).

In Breisheet 18:2, Avraham lifted up
his eyes and saw, and behold three men were standing near him. He saw them and
ran from the door of the tent to greet them and he bowed down to the earth.

Rashi explains that the men were actually
angels and why three were needed:

One angel’s task was to foretell to
Sara that she will give birth. One had the job to overturn Sdom. And one
(Refael) was there to heal Avraham after his Brit Mila (circumcision).

Avraham prepares food for them and
then they ask where Sarah is and inform Avraham that by next year Sarah will
give birth to a son.

In verse 16, the “men” continue on
their journey:

The men stood up from where they
were, and they gazed upon Sdom. Avraham went with them to send them on their
way.

Rashbam explains that two of the angels go
to Sdom (Breisheet 19:1) “The two angels
came to Sdom in the evening.” The third, most important angel remained with
Avraham and spoke to him.

Where was this lookout place where
they gazed upon Sdom?

Nebi Yakin is located next to the
settlement, Maale Haver. It is also called Mitzpe Shloshet HaMalachim, (the
lookout point of the three angels) since this is thought to be the spot where
Avraham stood with the three angels and gazed upon Sdom.

From that vantage point, one can
look to the south and see the settlement of Har Hevron. When looking east, one
can see the northern and southern parts of Midbar Yehuda (the Judean desert).

You don’t actually see Sdom from
that spot, but you see the direction of Sdom, the mountains of what eventually
became Amon and Moav.

This is the spot where Avraham was
told that Sdom would be destroyed and where Avraham tried to convince God not
to destroy the cities. Once that it was clear that there weren’t even ten
righteous people who merited the cities being saved, the conversation was over
(Breisheet 18:33):

God departed when He finished
speaking to Avraham, and Avraham returned to his place.

Sfrono explains that Avraham left
the place where he had escorted the angels and spoke to God and he went back
home (to Elonei Mamre) .

Last year, I had the honor of
visiting Mitzpe Shloshet HaMalachim. It was amazing to be in that spot, looking
over towards Sdom and understand where Avraham was standing when this story
unfolded.

The more that we travel around
Israel, the more we understand our deep roots in the Land and why it must never
be taken for granted.

May the three angels come back to
visit us during this difficult time in Israel- one to heal those who are sick
and injured, one to remind us that we must continue to bring life and joy into
the world and one to destroy evil and save the people who have been taken hostage.

At the beginning of Parsha Vayera,
Avraham and Sara (who are 99 and 89 years old) make an effort to make their
guests (who they don’t even know) feel welcome.

Rav David Stav points out that
unfortunately, many Israelis are focused on their own families and close
friends and don’t pay attention to the members of the community at large who
may appreciate being hosted. In Israel there are many new Olim (immigrants) who
don’t have any family or friends and would appreciate being hosted. They talk
about how when they lived in the Diaspora, they invited Israelis who were
visiting, and now that they are in Israel, nobody invites them!

When we made aliya 18 years ago, a
native Israeli family noticed that we were new and invited us over for Shabbat
meals on a regular basis as well as to all of their Smachot (happy occasions).
We appreciated their warmth and we are still friends with them.

There is now an organization called
Keep Olim which has a No Oleh Alone program to make sure that Olim are invited
for meals for the holidays. The organizers decided that instead of waiting for
native Israelis to invite them, they would make arrangements themselves.

Avraham and Sara were Olim as well,
and they came to the Land of Israel to make a difference. They went out of
their way to invite others even though nobody invited them.

Although hosting Olim may not be on
the radar screen for many Israelis, there are those families, both native
Israelis and immigrants who, like Avraham and Sara do make an effort to host.

Hopefully, when Jewish people all
over the world read this parsha, they will be inspired by how gracious Avraham
and Sara were and take the cue to invite newcomers into their homes.

In Parshat Vayera, Avraham performs many acts of chesed, loving
kindness. As soon as he sees three strangers (who are really angels) passing
by, he rushes to greet them, feed them and make them feel comfortable.  One act of chesed that we may overlook is that
when Avraham sends off his guests, he personally escorts them out. As we see in
Breisheet 18:16 “The men set
out from there and looked down toward Sdom, Avraham walking with them to see
them off.”

The Rambam in Hilchot Evel (Laws of
Mourning) 14:1 teaches:

The reward for escorting a stranger
is greater than any reward. It is a practice introduced by our father Abraham,
a way of kindness which was habitual with him. He served food and drink to
wayfarers and escorted them. Hospitality to wayfarers is greater than welcoming
the Divine Presence, as it is written in Breisheet 18:2: “He saw three men
… he ran to meet them.” Escorting them is even greater than receiving
them. The rabbis taught in the Talmud, Sotah 46b: “Anyone who does not
escort his guests is almost guilty of bloodshed.”

Local residents are compelled to
provide escorts for wayfarers just as they are compelled to contribute to
charity. The court used to provide agents to escort any person who would pass
from one locality to another. Those who shirked this duty were regarded as if
they shed blood [because of the dangerous roads]. Even if one accompanies
another the distance of four cubits, he will be amply rewarded.

What is
the reason for this extra layer of hospitality?

When
guests see that the host is going out of his or her way to escort them, even
after their visit is over, they are made to feel that the host was sincerely
happy to have them over.

Radak explains that Avraham walked
to see them off, to keep them company for a while, to accompany them. The Torah
teaches good manners, that one should not dismiss a guest abruptly, but by
walking with him indicates that one regrets the time had come to part from one
another. The rabbis taught in the Talmud, Sotah 46b that the distance one
should accompany a guest from one’s house is a mil (1.2  kilometers).

The Talmud, Sotah 46b explains the
importance of the mitzvah of providing an escort:

A Braita stated: Rabbi Meir would
say: We compel a person to escort his fellow from the city. For the reward for
fulfilling the mitzvah of escort is without limit. As it is written (Shoftim
1:24) “And the watchers saw a man leaving the city, and they said to him, ‘show
us now the approach to the city and we will deal kindly with you.’” And it is
written: “And he showed them the approach to the city.” And what act of
kindness did they do with him? They killed the entire population of that city
by the sword, but that man and his family they sent away unharmed, as stated by
the verse there.

The man who had shown them the way
went and built another town. This town was Luz which was not destroyed by
Sancheriv or Nevuchadnetzar.

The Braita concludes: If the
C’naanite, who did not even speak with his mouth and did not even walk with his
feet but merely pointed out the approach to the city caused salvation for
himself and his descendants to the end of time, then one who performs the
mitzvah to escort with his feet by actually walking the traveler, how much more
so is he worthy of unlimited reward.

Rabbi Aryeh Levin z”l whose life
story is documented in the book “A Tzadik in Our Time” was especially known for
escorting people in the streets of Jerusalem.

May the time
come soon when we can once again safely host and be hosted, giving us the
opportunity to perform the  extra layer  of chesed to respectfully escort our guests at
the end of their visit.

In Parshat Lech Lecha, when Lot’s
shepherds began to argue with Avraham’s shepherds, Avraham said to Lot
(Breisheet 13:9): “Is not all the land before you? Please separate from me, if
you go to the left, I will go to the right, and if you go to the right, I will
go to the left.”

Lot raised his eyes and saw the
entire Jordan Plain which was abundantly watered; before God destroyed Sdom and
Amora, it was like God’s garden, like the land of Egypt going towards Zoar. Lot
chose for himself the entire Jordan Plain; Lot journeyed from the east and they
separated from one another. Avraham lived in the land of C’naan and Lot lived
in the cities of the Plain, setting up his tents as far as Sdom (Breisheet
13:10-12).

In Parshat Vayera, after Lot and his
daughters are safely out of Sdom we read:

God caused to rain upon Sdom and
Amora sulfur and fire- from God, from Heaven. He overturned these cities, and
the entire plain, and all those who lived in the cities and all that grew upon
the ground…Avraham stared at Sdom and Amora and the whole land of the plain,
and he saw the heavy smoke rising from the earth like the smoke of a furnace (Breisheet
19:24-28).

In a recent article in Universe
Today, Nancy Atkisnson explains that evidence of a cosmic airburst 3600 years
ago destroyed a city near the Dead Sea. The blast was 1000 times more powerful
than the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

After eleven seasons of excavations
in an archeological dig combined with an online impact calculator, researchers
estimate that a 50 meter wide space rock exploded about 4 kilometers above
Earth sending a blinding flash and a wave of heat at 2000 degrees c. This would
have burned everything including bodies, tools, weapons and pottery. A few
seconds later, a shockwave leveled all of the buildings and walls.

As well, an airburst related influx
of salt produced hyper-salinity in the soil making it impossible to grow anything
in an area that was originally one of the most productive agricultural lands in
the region.

Anyone who travels to the Dead Sea
region today can still see the impact form the destruction of Sdom. Those
familiar with the Torah are familiar with why and how it happened yet it is
still amazing that archeologists and scientists now have a scientific idea of
what transpired.

God delayed the destruction of Sdom
until Avraham had an opportunity to intercede on behalf of the city. God’s
reason for involving Avraham is outlined in Parhsat Vayera, Breisheet 18:17-18:

And God said, “Shall I conceal from
Avraham that thing which I intend to do; seeing that Avraham is surely to
become a great and mighty nation, and the nations of the earth shall be blessed
in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household
after him that they shall keep the way of God, doing tzedaka (righteousness)
and mishpat (justice); in order that God might then bring upon Avraham that
which He has spoken of him.

Rambam (Maimonides) in Hilchot Avodat Kochavim 1:3 teaches: Avraham was
forty years old when he recognized God. He then began to spread the word about
Monotheism to the inhabitants of Ur Kasdim. He wanted to destroy all of the
idols ensuring that the people would no longer have any other gods to pray to.
The king of Ur Kasdim tried to kill him, yet Avraham escaped to Charan. There,
he alerted the world that there is one God and he gathered followers from
different cities and kingdoms until they arrived in the Land of C’naan, where
he called out in the name of God. His followers would ask him questions and he
would set them on the path of truth until there were thousands and then tens of
thousands of followers who became known as the “house of Avraham.”

In Sheilot u’Tshuvot (Questions and Answers) 293 of the Rambam, Ovadia
Ger Tzedek, a sincere convert, not
biologically a descendent of Avraham asks if he can say the following parts of prayer :“Elokeinu v’Elokei Avoteinu”, “Our God and the God of our
fathers” and “Shehinchalta l’Avoteinu”, “You have given (the Land of
Israel) to our forefathers as a heritage.”

Rambam answers that since Avraham was the one who taught “his children and his household after him that they shall keep the
way of God, doing tzedaka (righteousness) and mishpat (justice)”, everyone who
converts to Judaism until the end of time as well as whoever recognizes that HaShem, our God is
One is a student of Avraham and they are all considered to be the future
members of his household. Just as Avraham brought the people of his generation
to the right path through his teachings, so too he will also bring in all of
the future converts.

Rambam concludes that Avraham is the father of his descendants who
follow in his path as well as the father of all of those who convert to
Judaism. Therefore, converts should not change the words of the Amida (Silent
Devotion), and they should recite “Elokeinu
v’Elokei Avoteinu”, “Our God and the God of our fathers” since Avraham is
their “father” and in Birkat HaMazon (Grace After Meals) converts should
recite “Shehinchalta l’Avoteinu”, “You have given (the Land of Israel)
to our forefathers as a heritage” since Avraham was given the Land of Israel as
it says (Breisheet 13:17) “Arise, walk about the Land through its length and
breadth! For to you will I give it.”

May the rabbis today learn from the
Rambam the importance of having respect for those who sincerely convert to
Judaism.

Dedicated by Stan and Marc Futterman on the first yahrzeit of
Stephanie Futterman

In Parshat Lech Lecha, God changed
Avram’s name to Avraham, promised him and his descendents the Land of Israel and
commanded him to perform the mitzvah of Brit Milah (the covenant of
circumcision). God then changed Sarai’s name to Sarah.

In Breisheet 17:16, we read about Sarah’s
blessing which was promised to Avraham: “I will bless her and I will also give
you a son through her. I will bless her, and she will become the mother of
nations, kings of peoples will descend from her.”

At that point (sentence 17),
“Avraham fell on his face and laughed. He said in his heart: ‘Can a hundred
year old man have children? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old give birth?’”

Avraham then tried to convince God
that Yishmael could be the heir. God explained that Sarah will indeed have a
son named Yitzchak, the covenant will be through him and Sarah will give birth
in exactly a year. Avraham then followed God’s instructions and proceeded to
circumcise all of the men in his household.

In Parshat Vayera, three men came to
visit Avraham. One of the men told him (Breisheet 18:10) “I will return next
year, and Sarah, your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard this from the door of
her tent.

In sentence 12 we read: “Sarah
laughed to herself saying, ‘Now that I am worn out, shall I have the pleasure,
my master being an old man.’”

God asks Avraham why Sarah laughed. This seems like a really strange
question considering that Avraham himself laughed when he was given the same
news the first time and God was not surprised when Avraham laughed. In fact,
God even said that the child should be named Yitzchak, laughter!

Ramban explains that Sarah probably was unaware that the “men” were not regular men, rather angels sent with a prophecy from
God. Since Sarah was in her tent, she most likely didn’t even see them. Avraham
was so busy circumcising himself and his household that he did not have time to
reveal to Sarah what God had originally told him, “Indeed, your wife, Sarah
will bear you a son” so how could Sarah possibly have known that the man was
serious when he said that she would give birth the following year?

When God is asked Avraham why Sarah
laughed, he was actually saying, “Why was Sarah surprised? How did you not
reveal the prophecy to her?”

We learn from here that even if you
are in a rush to do a mitzvah, as Avraham was, sometimes you have to take a
step back and realize that there is some news that just can’t wait! 

At the end of Parshat Vayera we read the story of Akedat
Yitzchak. God commands Avraham (Breisheet 22:2) “Please take your son, your
only one, who you love-Yitzchak- and go to the land of Moriah; bring him up
there as an offering upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you.”

Avraham would have been willing to sacrifice his son Yitzchak
if that was what God was asking for. Child sacrifice was commonly done during
that time period so although Avraham did not want to sacrifice the son that he
waited one hundred years to finally receive, he would have done it if
necessary.

However, that is not what God wanted.

Rashi points out that God did not say to Avraham, “slaughter
him!” because God did not wish him to be killed, but, only to be brought up the
mountain to be made into an Olah (sacrifice). Once he brought him up God said
to him, “Bring him down.”

We learn from here that Judaism is a religion of life. Even
if other nations are sending their children off to die in the name of their religion,
it is not something that we do.

You may ask why we even need to discuss this topic as we are
no longer living in the days of child sacrifice.

The answer is that unfortunately child sacrifice is still
taking place. During Operation Protective Edge children served as human
shields. Throughout the world we hear about young children who are being sent
out in explosive belts to carry out suicide bombings. Teenagers are sent by
their parents to throw stones at Israeli soldiers, Israeli cars and the light
rail train knowing that there is a chance that they may get killed in clashes
with the soldiers.

Last week, a 32 year old Islamic Jihad terrorist who was a
resident of Jerusalem
tried to assassinate Rabbi Yehuda Glick. Fatah’s youth movement in Jordan’s Facebook page posted: “With great pride Fatah salutes its heroic
martyr of Jerusalem”.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas himself said the man who
shot Yehuda Glick would go to heaven as a martyr.

This terrorist
was 32 years old. Yitzchak’s age at the time of the Akeda was 37 (as he was
born when Sarah was ninety and she passed away at 127 about the same time as the
Akeda). The Akeda reminds us that our children are our children no matter how old
they are and contrary to what Fatah and Abbas have to say, it is unacceptable
for them to martyr themselves at any age.

And where did the
Akeda take place?

Avraham was
specifically told to bring Yitzchak up to Har HaMoriah, the Temple Mount
which from that moment became the Jewish nation’s holiest site.

In memory of our
friend and neighbor Mr. Richard Lakin who was murdered while riding the 78 bus
in Jerusalem

In Breisheet 18:18-19 we read: “Avraham is indeed to become
a great and mighty nation and through him shall be blessed all of the nations
of the world. For I have given him special attention because he commands his
children and his household after him and they will preserve the way of God,
doing righteousness and justice (tzedaka umishpat) so that God will bring upon
Avraham all that which He has spoken of him.”

The way of God is the way of righteousness and justice.
Avraham and his descendents are commanded to emulate God by doing righteousness
and justice.

Avraham was a role model in the area of Kvod HaBriyot,
respect for all of God’s creations. Avraham welcomed strangers into his home,
sought to save the people of Sdom even though they were corrupt and was
distressed when Yishmael had to be sent away.

In Yirmiyahu 9:22-23 we see the importance of righteousness
and justice: “Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in
his riches: but let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows
Me, that I am the Lord who does kindness, justice and righteousness in the land:
for in these things I delight says the Lord.”

According to Radak, to know God is to imitate His ways by
dealing with others with kindness, justice and righteousness.

Righteousness and justice are also found in Amos 5:24: “Let
justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

The Ramchal, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746) wrote a famous
book of musar called Derech HaShem, The Way of God. He chose that title because
“it speaks of God’s ways as revealed by His prophets and taught in His Torah.
These are the ways in which God directs both ourselves and everything else He
created.”

This past Tuesday we received the horrible news that our
neighbor, Mr. Richard Lakin passed away. Mr. Lakin had been in critical
condition for two weeks after being shot and stabbed by two terrorists on our
local 78 bus. Mr. Lakin was a man who walked in God’s path. He lived on the
main floor of our apartment building in the Talpiot/Arnona section of Jerusalem. I saw him when
entering or leaving the building almost every day. He always had a kind word to
say. I even ran into him outside of our building on the afternoon before the 78
bus was attacked by two terrorists. He was a humble person that would never
hurt anyone.

A few years ago Mr. Lakin gave me a copy of the book that he
wrote: Teaching as an Act of Love. It was interesting to learn more about this
man who I always saw around but didn’t know much about. In his book, one can see
what a wonderful principal he was in a Connecticut
elementary school before making Aliya in the 1980s. He was careful to teach
every child in the way that they would learn best. In one story, a student who
couldn’t handle the new math curriculum was totally lost so Mr. Lakin pulled
old math books out of the closet and taught the student the more traditional
methods which were easier to grasp. When students were asked to bring gifts to
exchange with their friends, Mr. Lakin didn’t embarrass the poor student who
brought a live chicken to school but rather accepted the gift graciously and
took the chicken home with him. Just like Avraham, Mr. Lakin was a role model
who cared about every human being.

At the end of his introduction, the Ramchal writes: “And
now, fellow seekers of God, go on your way. May God be with you, giving you
eyes to see and ears to hear the wonders of His Torah.”

Using the Torah as our guidebook, we must follow the path
that God outlines for us and bring more kindness, justice and righteousness to
the world.

In Parshat Vayera we read about God’s destruction of the
city of Sdom.

What was so terrible about Sdom that it had to be utterly
destroyed and still remains a wasteland today?

According to the prophet Yechezkel (Yechezkel 16:49):
“Behold this was the sin of Sdom, your sister: She and her daughters had pride,
fullness of bread and peaceful serenity, but she did not strengthen the hand of
the poor and needy.”

The Midrash Pirkei DeRebbi Eliezer states: “They issued a
proclamation in Sdom saying: Everyone who strengthens the hand of the poor and
needy with a loaf of bread shall be burnt by fire. Plotit, a daughter of Lot was married to one of the great men of Sdom. She saw
a very poor man in the street and she felt bad for him. What did she do? Every
day when she went out to draw water she put in her pitcher all kinds of
provisions from her house and she sustained the poor man. The men of Sdom said:
How does this poor man live? When they ascertained the facts they brought
Plotit forth to be burnt by fire. She cried out: Sovereign of all worlds!
Maintain my right and my cause at the hands of the men of Sdom! And her cry
ascended before the throne of glory. In that hour God said: I will go down and
see whether they have in fact done what she is crying about. If it turns out to
be true then I will overthrow the city.”

Nechama Leibowitz points out: “Their wickedness was the law
of the land and whoever violated the law and performed a good deed prompted by
his own instincts of pity was condemned to be burnt at the stake. There was no
remedy for such a society but total destruction.”

We must learn a lesson from what happened to the selfish
people in Sdom and make every effort to make laws that protect the poor and the
needy to ensure that nobody in the Land of Israel goes hungry.