Vayeira: A Heritage of Generosity

My revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, frequently would say1 that we must learn a directive for our lives from the weekly Torah reading. G‑d is eternally alive, and He has given us a Torah which is an everlasting source of life. By continually studying the Torah and deriving lessons that apply to our daily lives, we become a people endowed with eternal vitality, able to overcome any and all difficulties.

This week’s Torah reading describes Avraham, the first Jew. He was one man, alone. The entire world opposed him2 until it became obvious that G‑d supported him in everything he did. At that point, the king of the Philistines established a covenant with Avraham, enabling him to live securely in their land.3

With regard to the time during which Avraham lived in the land of the Philistines, this week’s Torah portion tells us,4 “And Avraham planted an eishel (atamarisk tree)... and there he called in the name of the eternal G‑d” – i.e., he publicized G‑d’s presence5 – “And Avraham lived in the land of the Philistines for an extended period.” It is after these verses that the Torah tells us about the binding of Yitzchak.

Explanation is necessary: What lesson can we learn from the fact that Avraham planted an eishel? The Torah is describing the greatness of Avraham, relating how although he was one solitary Jew, he spread faith in the one G‑d throughout the world. What is added by prefacing this with the fact that he planted an eishel? And how does planting an eishel relate to the narrative of the binding of Yitzchak that the Torah relates immediately afterwards?

In the simplest sense, an eishel is a single, large tree whose many branches spread widely. Since Avraham lived in a desert, he planted such a tree to provide himself and his guests with shade as protection from the scorching sun. The Talmud6extends the interpretation of the Hebrew word eishel, explaining that it refers not to only one tree, but to an entire orchard. Avraham planted an orchard so that passersby could not only sit in the trees’ shade, but also refresh themselves with their fruit.

The Talmud also offers another interpretation, that eishel refers to an inn. In addition to fruit, Avraham gave wayfarers food and drink, meat, wine, and lodging.7Indeed, the Midrash8 states that he even provided his guests with a court of law to resolve their questions and to which they could turn regarding any dispute that might have arisen among them.

Avraham did not content himself with merely providing bread, salt and water, so that his guests’ basic needs would be met. He did not provide only the bare minimum; he also gave his guests items which brought them pleasure: fruit, wine, all sorts of delicacies and lodging; and even provided them with a court to resolve their questions and difficulties.

And for whom did he do all this? For absolute strangers.

This conveys an important lesson: Within the heart of every Jew has been implanted the attribute of charity and the desire to perform deeds of kindness. This is our heritage from Avraham our Patriarch9 – not merely to provide others with their bare necessities, but rather to enable them to derive pleasure – and not only material pleasure, but also the inner satisfaction that comes from the resolution of one’s inner problems.

The approach described above – to give not only the necessities, but also to grant satisfaction and pleasure – is innate to the relationship between parents and their children. Children are helpless on their own and depend on their parents for their needs. Parents have an inherent desire to provide their children with everything they need – not just with their bare necessities. They do this without ever considering whether their children will someday repay them. And they will give their children more than their needs. For example, in the sphere of education, parents endeavor to give their children everything to enable them to develop and realize their full potential, both materially and spiritually.

For Jews, as it was for Avraham our Patriarch, this approach is not confined to one’s own children; it extends to others as well. In every Jewish heart, there is an inherent tendency to share even what one has earned through hard work and much effort with relative strangers. And this involves not only providing for their material needs, but also addressing their personal issues and problems.

This approach transcends the bounds of reason. Our minds understand that we should give another person what he is lacking; it’s a pity that a person should suffer, therefore his needs should be provided for. But the willingness to give a person something he doesn’t need, something intended solely to give him pleasure, stems from a type of generosity that surpasses the intellectual imperative. A Jew’s attribute of kindness motivates him to seek out the other person’s welfare and ensure that the other person also receives pleasure and goodness.

If these concepts apply with regard to material things, surely they are even more relevant with regard to the spiritual. For a spiritual deficiency – a lack felt by the soul – causes much more pain, and is much more difficult to correct, than a material deficiency.

Therefore, whenever Jews settled in a new place – regardless of whether it was a free country or a country that oppressed them – the very first matter to which they addressed themselves, without consideration for any difficulties, was the establishment of yeshivos and Torah schools.10Moreover, they always sought not merely to give the students the minimum, but to develop them to their fullest potential, “to make the Torah great and glorious.”11

On this basis, we can appreciate the connection between Avraham’s planting of an eishel and the binding of Yitzchak, the Akeidah. The power of mesirus nefesh that motivated Avraham and Yitzchak to carry out the Akeidah came from the eishel that Avraham planted, i.e., from his willingness to do good and spread kindness in a manner that transcends logic and reason. Avraham and Yitzchak had lived freely in the land of the Philistines for many years and suffered no oppression. In this untroubled time, it was the unbounded kindness that they had shared with others that enabled them to summon up the self-sacrifice necessary for the Akeidah with joy.12

This serves as a lesson for subsequent generations. Today, what is demanded of the Jewish people is mesirus nefesh, self-sacrifice, and this is particularly true with regard to chinuch, education. The resources for which we have labored must be dedicated to the education of children – our own children, and the children of others.

Moreover, the intent must be to give them not only the bare necessities, but to advance their education to the most complete degree, giving them everything possible in the realms of Yiddishkeit, Torah, and mitzvos.

In this manner, we will raise a generation of mesirus nefesh Yidden, Jews prepared to sacrifice themselves for Yiddishkeit. Although they live in a free land, they will be ready to give of themselves – offering their possessions and if necessary their lives – for their faith in the Torah and its mitzvos, and for everything that is connected to their Jewish heritage.

When the Jews conduct themselves in such a manner, G‑d will respond with generous blessings for the support given to yeshivos and Torah schools. He will not give merely “a dollar for a dollar,” but rather will multiply our gifts several times over. And this applies not only in the financial sphere – that is self-evident – but with regard to all matters: health, long life, and satisfaction from children. (This is also reflected with regard to Avraham: Although he began with only one son, he was granted the promise,13 “I will greatly increase your
descendants, multiplying them as the stars of the heavens and the sand on the seashore.”)

The Torah counsels,14 “Do not feel bad about giving.” On the contrary, G‑d will enable us to joyfully emulate the example set by Avraham and Yitzchak, and give freely and with happiness. And G‑d will repay this generosity severalfold not only in the financial sphere, but in all aspects of life.15

Likkutei Sichos, Volume 3, P. 769ff. Adapted from a sichah delivered to supporters of the Lubavitcher Yeshivah, Tomchei Temimim, on Cheshvan 17, 5719 [1958]