Parshat VaYera: Connecting With God
This week’s parsha picks up right after God commanded Avraham at the end of last week’s parsha to circumcise himself and all the males of his household. Avraham wasn’t a youngster when told to do this; 8-day olds are much luckier in this regard. Understandably he was in much pain and recovering from the procedure when God Himself paid him a sick-visit, much the way we might visit someone in a hospital – the mitzva we call Bikkur Cholim.
Despite his difficulties Avraham doesn’t take sick leave and insists on sitting at the entrance of his tent looking for travellers to assist. Thus living up to his reputation of the personification of Chesed, one who does the utmost to help and assist others.
God appeared to Avraham in the plains of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. Avraham ran to meet them and said, “Please lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, do not pass from before me. Let some water be brought to wash your feet and recline underneath this tree. I will bring some bread and you will be satisfied, then you may go on your way.” (Genesis 18:1ff)
Rashi records a Midrash as to how to properly read the Torah’s account of Avraham’s invitation to assist the strangers. When he says, “Please lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, do not pass from before me”, the simple reading is that he was addressing them (lower case, “lord”) asking that they not pass by so he could help them out. However, the alternative way to read it is that Avraham was addressing God – upper case, “Lord” – and he was telling God to wait for him until he would run and bring in the travellers.
According to this second interpretation, Avraham’s behavior towards God is a quite surprising. Here we have Avraham being visited by God Almighty Himself and yet he chooses to interrupt the visit and leave to take care of the needs of some perfect strangers. In essence, Avraham puts God on hold to deal with passing travellers whom he has never known and will probably never see again.
Now imagine if God were to visit you and the phone rings, someone knocks at your door or you get a text. Would you tell God, “Wait a minute” and proceed to see what the requesting party might need? Would you interrupt one of the most meaningful events of your life – one that would probably change it forever – to see what a passing stranger might want? I understand that it’s nice and noble to help out others, but is it so important that you would blow off a visit from God Almighty?!
It turns out that Jewish tradition via the Talmud sanctions this curious choice of Avraham by commenting, “Greater is hospitality to strangers than Mekabel Pnai HaShechina receiving the Face of the Divine Presence.” Hmmm… really? Are they honestly trying to tell me that meeting God face-to-face is less of an awesome experience than helping another bloke? I get it, it’s nice to be nice – but greater than having a one-on-one with The Almighty, Creator of the Universe? I think most people wouldn’t interrupt a private meeting with Lionel Messi, let alone God, for such a thing!
Rav Noah Weinberg zt”l used to explain this Talmud dictum of, “Greater is hospitality to strangers than Mekabel Pnai HaShechina receiving the Face of the Divine Presence” by saying that, “Greater than meeting God Himself is being like God.” There is a deeper expression of relating to God – even moreso than meeting Him personally – and that is acting like God. Being like God. Imitating God.
A person might love a good rock bank like Dire Straits and have the best time listening to them play Sultans of Swing. But if you happen to also play guitar yourself then you have a much deeper appreciation of what a great guitarist Mark Knopfler really is. Similarly, you might be a big hockey fan and love watching the sport. But if you play ice-hockey, even thought the NHL players are way out of your league, you connect much better to the game and to the players because you can appreciate the skill and talent they have. You’ve been on that ice rink, you’ve tried to make that pass and check that guy.
Doing the same activity, even though at a much lower level, allows you to have a whole different relationship with the musician/band or sports figure/game since you, on some level, are akin to their specialty rather than being merely a spectator to their work.
Meeting God would be great, but it is passive and thereby ultimately a limited relationship with Him. However being like God by doing things that God would do is active and is a much greater connection to Him.
People are always looking for some spiritual experience and they search for it in many different places. Some go to the mountains of Tibet, some study Kabbalah, some think psychedelics will give them a high that will put them in touch with a loftier enlightenment. The number of books available about Spirituality are too numerous to count. New-age and old-age religions abound that offer one to get in touch with their innermost being, or an outermost Being, which will allegedly change their lives forever.
Avraham – the father of monotheism, the man who taught us about relating to God and not to gods, who had a pretty good understanding of God and met Him on many occasions – teaches us an important lesson in our search for Spirituality. Spirituality is found in the subtle acts of kindness that greet us daily moreso than in the dramatic so-called spiritual highs that many seek. Godliness isn’t necessarily found in lofty mystical heights and indeed too often we see people get so self-absorbed in their spiritual quests that their loved ones suffer, ignored and neglected and left in the dust of another’s narcissistic spiritual quest.
If you truly wish to connect and relate to God, you needn’t go further than to give a few bucks to the beggar on the side of the highway ramp, caress your child’s cheek as you patiently assist her with her homework, help the elderly gentleman put his carry-on in the overhead bin, let someone in your lane on the highway, offer the gardener a drink, tip a little beyond the minimum to the struggling server, or any one of the thousands of opportunities available to every one of us to be like God.
Meeting God face-to-face may not change your life forever. But acting like Him certainly will.
You check out guitar George
He knows all the chords
Mind, it’s strictly rhythm
He doesn’t wanna make it cry or sing
Yeah an old guitar is all he can afford
When he gets up under the lights to play his thing…
With the Sultans
With the Sultans of Swing
-Dire Straits
