Chessed – Greater Than Greeting the Shechinah!?

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

Parshas Vayeira teaches us a surprising rule: hachnasas orchim (taking in guests) is so important that it takes precedence even over greeting the Shechinah! This principle is derived from the episode that begins the parshah: Avraham Avinu was sitting at the entrance of his tent, waiting for someone to appear on the horizon so he could try to fulfill the mitzvah of hachnasas orchim. However, before anyone appeared, Hashem appeared to him. Even though the Shechinah was before him and in spite of acute pain due to his bris milah three days earlier, Avraham stood up and ran when he saw three nomads in the distance. We learn from this episode that taking in guests takes precedence even over greeting the Shechinah (Shabbos 127a).

One may wonder, though—is this really so? Suppose a prominent Rosh Yeshivah comes to visit you. Should you abandon him to tend to some needy person you see walking by on the street? Of course not! How could Avraham have chosen the guests over the Shechinah?

Furthermore, Avraham’s efforts in hachnasas orchim seem exaggerated. It says in Avos D’Rebbe Nassan (chap. 7, 1) that Hashem contrasted Iyov’s chessed with Avraham’s, saying to Iyov, “You didn’t attain Avraham’s level of chessed. You gave people only what they needed, but Avraham gave people even more than what they needed.” Though Iyov served his guests the foods that they were accustomed to, Avraham introduced his guests to finer and more expensive foods as well. Avraham was constantly involved in kindness. The Sages teach (Sotah 10a) that he ran a free hotel in Be’er Sheva.

Why did Avraham Avinu expend such effort in hachnasas orchim, even seeming to go above and beyond the norm by preparing dishes that people weren’t even expecting?

The Alter of Slobodka explains that there are two forms of chessed. The first involves seeing to a fellow man’s needs. The Rambam (Hilchos Aveilus 14:1) states that acts of kindness such as hachnasas orchim are included in the mitzvah of loving your neighbor as yourself (Vayikra 19:18). This form of chessed finds expression only in areas in which a fellow man is discernibly lacking. In the second form of chessed, a person is so caring that he is always looking for ways to be helpful. He assesses and re-assesses a situation until he finds a way to assist his fellow even when no lack is apparent. This was the chessed of Avraham Avinu, and it stemmed from his desire to emulate Hashem. Just as Hashem created the world in order to bring into existence beings that could receive His goodness, so too Avraham looked for ways to bestow goodness on others. If a person was not used to meat and wine, Avraham would introduce him to these dishes, so that he could then give him even more. This is chessed in its complete, G-dly form (as explained by the Rambam, Hilchos Dei’os 1:6).

This also explains how Avraham Avinu could have left the Shechinah when he saw the wayfarers. He was not, in fact, leaving the Shechinah at all! Receiving the Shechinah is indeed a form of connecting with Hashem, but one that is merely external. By emulating Hashem, though, Avraham was bringing Hashem into himself.

Rav Dessler notes that external forms of connecting to Hashem, even something as lofty as prophecy, are not a guarantee that a person will remain on a high spiritual level. For example, Hashem spoke to Kayin, who then killed his brother Hevel. Connecting externally is much less valuable than actually doing what Hashem wants. When we follow in Hashem’s ways, we are making Him a part of ourselves. This has a much greater impact on us.

Many people do chessed in an incomplete manner. They feel that they have to do it, or they want the reward in Olam Haba. Some people do chessed as an investment, with the expectation that the recipient will owe them a favor in return for their act of kindness. Other people feel uncomfortable seeing the plight of a poor man and do chessed simply to alleviate the pain his situation causes them. While such acts may fulfill the command to love your neighbor as yourself, chessed in its ultimate form exists only when done completely—solely for the goodness of giving to another. This is the type of chessed we can learn from Avraham Avinu’s actions.

In addition to his stature as a gadol b’Yisrael, Rav Avraham Chaim Brim was also known for his love of chessed, often going out of his way to assist others. He was constantly looking for worthy causes and needy people for whom he could collect funds or aid in other ways. He noticed people whom he thought needed a kind word of encouragement, and he was always there for others in their times of grief. Like Avraham Avinu, who was pained by his inability to do chessed (on the third day after his bris milah when Hashem took out the sun from its case to prevent anyone from traveling and causing the tzaddik to strain himself), Rav Brim once commented when he was sick in the hospital that though he was able to learn and daven, he was unable to do chessed, and that pained him.

Whenever he traveled by taxi, Rav Brim added money to the fare, because many passengers complain to drivers about poor service or high fares, and he wanted to offset that by showing the taxi driver that he was satisfied with his service.

Once, an appreciative taxi driver looked at the money Rav Brim was offering him and said: “Rabbi, this extra sum is the only money that I want. You can keep the fare. This sign of appreciation is worth more to me!”

May we be zocheh to go in Hashem’s ways, and bestow goodness on the world!