How to Be an Abraham In the opening scene of this week's Torah portion, G-d appears to Abraham as he is sitting at the opening of his tent: Now the Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent when the day was hot. And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he prostrated himself to the ground. (Genesis, 18:1-2) Abraham, while experiencing Divine revelation, noticed three bypassers and ran to invite them to rest and eat. The Talmud derives from this story that inviting guests is greater than greeting the Divine presence: Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Hospitality toward guests is greater than receiving the Divine Presence, as when Abraham invited his guests it is written: "And he said: Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please pass not from Your servant". Abraham requested that God, the Divine Presence, wait for him while he tended to his guests appropriately. The message conveyed is that even our connection to G-d should not interfere with our care and concern for our fellow man. The Rebbe interpreted this story from a different angle. The Torah conveys that the way to experience Divine revelation is by being devoted to helping others. The Torah tells us that G-d appeared to Abraham as "he was sitting at the entrance of the tent"; but why was he sitting there to begin with? Rashi, quoting the Talmud, explains: "to see whether there were any passersby whom he would bring into his house". G-d appeared to Abraham only after, and as a result of, Abraham's commitment to seek out people who needed assistance and support. The conventional lesson of the story is not to allow one's spiritual meditation, study, and focus to interfere with helping others. The Rebbe's interpretation explains how each of us can experience Divine inspiration in our own life. Indeed, the verse states "Now the Lord appeared to him", without mentioning Abraham’s name explicitly, because the same applies to each of us. By "sitting at the opening of the tent", seeking ways to help and inspire others, we will experience the inspiration and bond with the Divine.
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