Parshas Vayera
Not Only As It Appears
By Rabbi Pinchas Winston

FRIDAY NIGHT:

And G-d appeared to him in the Plains of Mamre ... (Bereishis 18:1)

This first posuk of this week's parshah is one of those possukim that, by saying less actually says much more, as the following midrash discusses:

The Holy One, Blessed is He, visits the sick, as it says, "And G-d appeared to him," and He [G-d] didn't say anything to him (i.e., prophecy did not follow the revelation); so, He [G-d] obviously came just to visit him [Avraham]. Rav Havah said to him: One who comes to visit the sick usually says something comforting, and The Holy One, Blessed is He, said nothing? What kind of visit was that?! Furthermore, the rabbis teach that one who visits the sick removes one-sixtieth of the illness; can not G-d "carry" all of it (i.e., not just one-sixtieth), and remove the sickness and pain entirely from Avraham? And if yes, then what need was there to send [the angel] Raphael to heal Avraham? Therefore, know that after Avraham was circumcized, The Holy One, Blessed is He, actually came to bless him, as it says, "And G-d appeared to him ..." and it doesn't say, "And G-d appeared to Avraham ..." Because, when someone is suffering greatly, one should not mention his name ... and, though it is true that one who visits the sick removes one-sixtieth of the illness, that is only the case until he takes his leave, after which time the illness returns. (Sodi Razah)

First of all, did you ever wonder what happened in the end to those "one-sixtieths" of illness that were lifted from the sick person by those who visited him? According to the above midrash, they were only removed temporarily, having returned to the infirmed at the end of the visits. THAT certainly makes it more difficult to cut a sick-visit short with a clear conscience. That's why the angel Raphael still had to come and heal Avraham, even had G-d removed sixty-sixtieths of the suffering.

However, what makes the above midrash problematic is that it goes against others that use the above verse as a source for the concept of visiting the ill (If G-d did it, why shouldn't we?). Furthermore, even if G-d did come specifically to bless Avraham, then where's the blessing? Rav Havah's answer still wouldn't explain why this revelation didn't result in prophecy, as they usually do.

The answer may be that Rav Havah doesn't mean that G-d did not come with the intention of visiting Avraham as one visits the unwell (and hence, this verse is still a valid source for the mitzvah). On the contrary, that is exactly what G-d intended to do, and did. However, perhaps, what Rav Havah wants to come and add is that the main intention in visiting the sick is not just to lift their spirits, but to be a source of blessing for them--of merit for them.

After all, sickness is a time of judgment, the more severe the illness, the more severe the Heavenly judgment. Every moment, we all live by the mercy of G-d, but sometimes, mercy is not enough to maintain one's health (though others seem even less worthy to remain healthy). In such situations, extra mercy is necessary, and that means extra "attention" from the Heavenly Court, extra scrutinization of one's spiritual quality of life, and extra judgment.

The one who visits the sick is like a witness taking the stand on behalf of the "Defense," that is, the ill individual. Testimony comes in the form of spiritual positiveness created because of the visit, and on behalf of the visited. The more meritorious the visit is in the eyes of Heaven, the greater the merit will be towards the recovery of the individual visited.

Therefore, the next time you visit someone who is not well, or, even when you think about them away from their presence, do something spiritually inspiring. Give a d'var Torah, learn some Torah, do an extra mitzvah, give some tzeddakah--whatever! Physically, the environment may seem "peaceful" and lacking any sense of urgency, or, if it is an urgent situation, it may seem to lack any possibility of your affecting its outcome.

It is not true!

Remember: the Heavenly Court has convened. The Shechinah Itself is hovering over the head of the unwell individual, and all eyes may be on you, to see what you have to think about, say, or do for the infirmed individual. Make it a good testimony.

SHABBOS DAY:

Avraham lifted up his eyes, and saw--and behold, three men standing over him; and he saw and ran and called to them from the opening of the tent, and bowed down to the ground. (Bereishis 18:2)

From the posuk itself, you can feel the sense of urgency that Avraham must have felt, which expressed the sublime delight he had in "discovering" three guests on so hot a day. Avraham lived to do chesed, and, as the rabbis teach, the pain of having no one to take care of, for Avraham, was far greater than the pain of Bris Milah on the third day.

But still--was it only the chance to do chesed that made Avraham move so quickly? It would not be difficult to say yes, for that was Avraham Avinu--a zealot to serve G-d and others on His behalf. The greater the act of self-sacrifice, the greater the testimony of love for G-d and His creation.

Nevertheless, there did happen to be another pressing matter in this somewhat unusual episode, as indicated by the following:

Three men standing over him ... What does "over him" mean? It means looking into his judgment. So, he [Avraham] said, "Quick! Three measures of wheat flour ... And Avraham ran to the herd." These are items for sacrificing, which were pleasing to them, in order that they should not harm him. (Zohar, Tzav 260a)

In other words, according to the Zohar, on one level, Avraham may have been doing chesed for the three strangers who happened to "chance" by his tent. However, on another level, Avraham was doing that which might prompt chesed for himself--to spare him the consequences of a negative judgment, as is the role of most sacrifices brought before G-d.

This, however, seems to reduce Avraham's tremendous example of chesed and concern for others to a somewhat self-serving act. Not that one should not try to cause a favorable judgment upon oneself, especially at a time that one is being judged. It is just that this particular episode is meant to teach such an important fundamental, and in the end, it really doesn't.

Or does it?

In fact, this question might lead to the answer of another: Why does it say "and he saw" twice in the same verse, as if Avraham did a "double-take"?

Because, in effect, he did. The first time Avraham "looked," he did so only to notice three travelers in need of chesed, and at that precise moment, his will was to take care of their needs, in spite of his own personal pain. That was Avraham's first impression, and it was enough of a reaction to show G-d to what extent Avraham's chesed went (as if G-d didn't already know!).

However, upon "second look," when Avraham saw how these "strangers" were looking at him, standing over him, so-to-speak, he realized that more was going on over here than at first met his eye, and determined at that time that he should bring a sacrifice to ward off any negative judgment from Above (always a risk at a time of illness or danger).

This, then, would provide us with a deeper understanding of the first posuk:

G-d appeared to him in the Plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day. (Bereishis 18:1)

Says the Talmud:

There is no Gehinnom in the World-to-Come. Rather, The Holy One, Blessed is He, takes out the sun from its pouch, which heals the righteous and judges the evil. (Nedarim 8b)

--and:

... Immediately each one goes and make a succah on his roof, and The Holy One, Blessed is He, causes the sun of Tammuz to bear down upon them, and each one [is forced to leave his succah and] kicks his succah and goes out ... (Avodah Zarah 3a)

In each case, the sun is being used as in instrument of Divine judgment. Perhaps, then, the "entrance of the tent" is also an allusion to something else, in the case, the entrance of another tent--the "Tent of Meeting," hundreds of years in the future (Shemos 27:9). It was there that one entered the world of the altar and the Mishkan, where sacrifices, such as the Sin-Offering were offered to earn Divine favor.

Therefore, in the end, Avraham's mesiros nefesh to do chesed remains unmarred; he is rewarded accordingly, and we have an eternal source from which to learn this central trait. And, in the end, the Zohar's explanation also remains intact, for, at a time of illness, Heaven reviews one's "file" to see what his outcome should be; it is especially at such times that we must endeavor to draw down as much merit as we can on behalf of the one who is unwell and in danger.