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“… And behold three men were standing over him…” (Bereishis 18:2)
Our sages tell us that the Jewish people received the Torah in the merit of Avraham Avinu’s hospitality in welcoming the three angels. We learn (Shabbos 88b) that when Moshe Rabbeinu ascended to Heaven to receive the Torah, the angels protested. The medrash in Parshat Yisro states Hashem then changed his facial appearance to look like Avraham, and He said, “Aren’t you embarrassed in front of this person, in whose house you ate?” The inference was that they had eaten meat and milk together.
The Talmud (Bava Metzia 86b) also tells us that the Jewish people benefited from three gifts in the midbar in the merit of Avraham Avinu’s hospitality: The manna for sustenance, the Clouds of Glory which protected them and led them through the desert, and the Well that traveled with them.
R’ Goel El Karif comments that often the value of a small deed that is performed many times is worth more than a significant deed that is done only once. For example, the half shekel was a small coin that was collected annually in the time of the Bais HaMikdash. Yet because it came from all of the Jewish people, its effectiveness was so compelling that it had the ability to annual Haman’s decree. As a matter of usual practice, Avraham Avinu was renowned for his hospitality and chesed. Why does the Torah specifically highlight his encounter with the three angels who looked like Arabs? And why was it this incident that merited all the wondrous miracles in the Midbar?
R’ Yisroel Salanter analyzes the pasuk (Tehillim 62:13), “And You, Hashem, have kindness, for You repay each man according to his deed,” in his sefer Or Yisroel. He asks: If an individual did a good deed and Hashem rewards him accordingly, that is not chesed; the person earned his payment.
R’ Yisroel offers an explanation with the following illustration. A very wealthy individual is a generous philanthropist. He has no difficulty fulfilling the mitzvah of tzedakah, and he will certainly be rewarded for the performance of the mitzvah. Yet his reward is less than that of the individual who is not as wealthy, and nevertheless exerts every effort to disburse tzedakah as though he were wealthy. The Mishna (Avos 5:23) teaches us, “The reward is in proportion to the exertion.” When the wealthy man’s fortune turns, and he becomes poor, he nevertheless exerts himself to give more tzedakah than he can really afford, even in his impoverished state.
R’ Yisroel Salanter notes that when this individual was very wealthy, he had no difficulty giving one-fifth of his money for tzedakah. When he lost his riches, he made one extraordinary attempt to continue to give 1/5 of his money for tzedakah. The reward that he would receive for this singular incredible act was exceedingly significant, much more than the reward he merited for the thousands of times when he had given 1/5 of his wealth to tzedakah so easily.
It is at this time that the kindness of Hashem becomes evident, for Hashem will repay him many times over for all his generous acts of tzedakah in the past, corresponding to his singular deed of selflessness now. Hashem in His kindness will repay him accordingly. All the tzedakah the man gave when he was wealthy, will now garner a greater reward. For, with this extraordinary gesture, the man has demonstrated that he is willing to self-sacrifice to continue to give tzedakah, no matter how challenging the circumstances.
With this explanation, we can understand the unique superiority of Avraham Avinu’s hospitality in welcoming the three angels. Our sages tell us that Avraham was weak as it was the third day after his bris milah, when the wound is most painful. It was a very hot day, as the Talmud says (Bava Metzia 86b) “Hashem took the sun out of its sheath,” so that no wayfarers should bother the tzaddik. Yet Avraham was selflessly dedicated to fulfilling the mitzvah of hachnasas orchim, and he sat at the entrance of the tent awaiting any travelers who might need accommodation.
A young couple who had moved to the southern part of Eretz Yisrael during the summer were planning to spend Simchas Torah with the wife’s parents who lived in the north. A day before erev yom tov, a neighbor called to inquire whether they would be home for yom tov, because she was looking for accommodations for her brother and his family who were coming to spend yom tov with them. The husband had answered the phone, and knew that his wife preferred not to have strangers stay in their home when they were away. He told the neighbor he would check with his wife and call back.
Surprisingly, when the husband recounted his conversation and noted that it would perhaps be a zechus for them to have a blessed year, his wife immediately agreed to let the family stay in their home.
A few hours before yom tov, the young couple got a call that the wife’s father had been taken to the hospital and her mother would be unable to host them. Understandably, this was an upsetting call – the father was not well, the wife was unprepared for yom tov, and they had already promised their home to another family.
Although the husband argued they would just have to explain the situation to their neighbor, his wife seemed uncomfortable with the excuse. “After all,” she said, “we already agreed, and the people are expecting the accommodations we promised. They would feel terrible, similar to how we feel at this moment. Let them have our home, and we will look for another place,” she contended.
The husband was dumbfounded. This was his wife speaking, she who didn’t usually like to have strangers stay in their empty apartment. Luckily, they found accommodations, although the apartment was more than a half hour away from where they lived. They took the basic necessities and gave their keys over to the neighbor. The wife remarked that since they had already extended themselves in such an unusual way for her, they might as well enjoy the reward for their chesed.
That motzei Simchat Torah the couple heard what had happened in their neighborhood. In fact, their home had been attacked, but the family that had been staying there were miraculously saved because they had already gone to be with their family.