GEN1122 In a beautiful legend [Midrash Psalms 37] related to Abraham, we are again reminded of the virtues of hospitality.   In [this verse], Abraham plants an eishel (tamarisk tree) in Beer Sheba, and there he calls on the name of Eternal everlasting God.   The rabbis interpreted the Hebrew word eishel as an acronym, represented eating, drinking, and escorting, thus suggesting that the virtue of hospitality is analogous to a fruit-bearing tree, for by means of hospitality, Abraham planted a tree for himself in heaven that would produce for him fruits of reward. ISAACS 96

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GEN1123 Rab and Samuel differ as to what this was. One said it was an orchard from which to supply fruit for the guests at their meal.   The other said it was an inn for lodging in which were all kinds of fruit Sotah 10a.  And we can speak of planting an inn for we find the expression planting used of tents, as it is said, Daniel 11:45 “And he shall plant the tents of his palace.”   Rashi.   SEFARIA.ORG  

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GEN1125 One should employ the means that will help one attain the high degree of the pious, who are worthy of this Divine grace.   These [means] are as follows: acting in accordance with the qualities of the ascetics, who shun this world; banishing the love and preference for this world from one’s heart, and replacing it with love of the Creator, may He be exalted; devotion to Him; delighting in Him; feeling (spiritually) lonely in the world and among its inhabitants; and adopting the practices of the prophets and pietists.  And then one should have trust in God, that He will bestow grace upon him – as He bestowed grace upon them – in the World-to-Come.   But one who trusts that God will bestow this upon him without the medium of good deeds is ignorant and foolish, and is Iike those of whom it is said, “They act like Zimri, and expect a reward like that of Pinchas” [Numbers 25:6, 10-14] Sotah 22b.  What distinguishes people of this high degree is that they guide God’s servants to His service, exhibit patient endurance in time of trial and tribulation, and regard everything else as of slight importance, when compared with the fulfillment of the Creator’s commandments.   This you know from the account [which begins] [this verse] and from the stories of Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3), Daniel in the lions’ den (ibid. 6) and the ten martyrs.   DUTIES 445-7

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GEN1124 Maimonides does not think that life is a test. He does not believe that God is obligated to requite anyone.  He rejects the rabbinic, midrashic idea of the sufferings of love as unbiblical and untrue. Nowhere in the Torah is this doctrine stated, he says.   Nowhere is it even hinted, except in the binding of Isaac [this Chapter], where the notion has been read into the text quite improperly “that God causes injuries to descend upon a person who has not previously sinned in order to increase that person’s reward.”   Many of the Rabbis, Maimonides explains, rejected this idea of the sufferings of love; and rightly so, for the doctrine is incompatible with God’s justice Guide [for the Perplexed] III, 17, 24. On the contrary, “The biblical principle is diametrically opposite to this view and is enunciated in His words: “A God of faithfulness and without injustice” Deuteronomy 32:4.  JHRHV 68

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GEN1126 A man should take heed that when he makes a banquet at the occasion of the performance of a mitzvah—such as a circumcision or betrothal or wedding or Bar-Mitzvah—that he include among his invited guests the poor and the destitute, and that he take care to speak pleasantly to them. For if one makes such a party for his son or daughter and fails to invite the poor, then the wicked Lilith and Samael raise accusations against him and they bring pain and other evil times upon him.  That is what the Midrash teaches us concerning the banquet prepared b our father Abram.  The story of the Akedah [the binding of Isaac by Abraham as a sacrifice] is introduced with the words, “after these devarim” [this verse]. Usually devarim means “things”; but it can also mean “words.”   Here, the Midrash says, it refers to the words of accusation spoken by Satan against Abraham about the “great feast” he had made at the time Isaac was weaned Genesis 21:8.  To this feast Abraham had invited all the great men of his generation—but no poor men were included.  Satan’s charges against Abraham were accepted, and the Holy One said to Abraham, “Take your son, our only son, your beloved, even Isaac … and offer him up as a burnt offering” Genesis 22:2.  It was as a result of this episode that Sarah died as the Torah gores onto relate.   We find the same thing concerning Job.   He made a banquet for his sons, but neglected to invite poor people.  As a result Satan kept accusing Job before God, until he caused the death of Job’s sons and daughters and took away from him his wealth and his cattle.   He did not rest until he brought upon him great personal suffering.  Therefore, let everyone who makes a feast remember to invite the poor, so that the accuser [Satan] may no longer accuse.   To the contrary, as we are told in Midrash Tanhuma, when a man does invite the poor to participate in his feast, then his accusers become his defenders.   GOODSOC 178-9

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GEN1127 See [[GEN1000]] Genesis 18:19 way AGUS 32-34

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GEN1128 A mishnah [Ethics of the Fathers 1:6] … uses a strange verb in referring to becoming friends.  In quoting the statement of Yehosuah Ben Prachya about how to properly behave in life, the mishnah says “acquire for yourself a friend.”   But the literal translation is “Buy yourself a friend.” How does one buy a friend? Is friendship, then, a function of wealth?   It is clear that the means of buying referred to in the mishnah is not money.   Rather, just as a money transaction is, in reality, an exchange of money for a good or service, so, too, a friendship is an exchange.   The material of exchange in a friendship is mutual experience and giving to the other person.   Thus, a friendship is “bought” through an exchange of give and take, a giving of oneself and a receiving from the other person. The word for friend, chaver, comes from the Hebrew verb lechaber, to unite to blend together.  Thus, two friends unite into one by each giving of himself or herself to acquire that friendship. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh Commentary to this verse claims that the meaning of the word for love or friendship, ahav, is derived from two Aramaic words meaning “I give.” Thus, friendship implies giving more than taking.  AMEMEI 77

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GEN1129 See [[GEN1126]] Genesis 22:1 words GOODSOC 178-9

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GEN1132 There is a concept of urgency and of “rushing” to perform commandments.   Judaism lauds the person who gets up especially early to do a mitzvah as soon as possible. Rosh Hashana 32b, based on [this verse] describing Abraham, who arose especially early to fulfill God’s word in readiness to sacrifice his son Isaac.   Therefore, it is customary to try to do a time-bound mitzvah as early as possible, such as performing a brit milah (ritual circumcision) as early as possible in the morning of the eighth day of a baby boy’s life.  Shulchan Aruch, Toreh De’ah 262:1.  AMEMEI 283

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GEN1130 See [[GEN922]] Genesis 18:6 hastened BOROJMV 89-90

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