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GENESIS — 18:2 greet

GEN895 The stranger in our midst. Allied to the kindliness we must show to the weak and the dying, the poor and the orphan, is the sympathetic treatment we must accord to the stranger in our midst.   The command “to love the stranger” occurs at least thirty-six times in the Torah, for “were ye not strangers in the land of Egypt?”   So kind has the Jew been to all in need or who have been alone in a strange environment, that it is no exaggeration to say that the word “stranger” has almost disappeared from his vocabulary. Each was made welcome to enjoy hospitality; each was asked to “feel at home” in our midst. Abraham gladly welcomed the wayfarers, little suspecting that they were angels in disguise [this verse].   The rigorous measures introduced against strangers of another faith in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah Ezra 9:2, 10:3; Nehemiah 9:2, 13:3, 23 were born of the desperate conditions of the times. Judaism had to be saved, a drastic step had to be made; with the result that those homes which were founded on mixed marriages had to be set up anew, divorced of the non-Jewish partner. This cannot be regarded as a measure of exclusiveness and chauvinism with which the Jewish people are credited by their maligners and detractors. The early chapters of the Torah and Books of Ruth and Jonah, with their accounts of men and women of other faiths who embraced the Jewish God, are proof that the racialism of Ezra was the exception rather than the rule. LEHRMAN 214

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GENESIS — 18:2 ran

GEN898 In Judaism, belief is secondary to action, and one is judged on the basis of what one does, not what one feels, thinks, or believes.   There are numerous Jewish sources demonstrating this fundamental viewpoint of Judaism.   Abraham left the presence of God Himself to perform the mitzvah of welcoming strangers into his home.  From here, the Talmud Shevuot 35b learns that performance of a religious action supersedes even the emotional feeling of being with God Almighty.   God says that it is preferable not to believe in God as long as the Jewish people keep the commandments of the Torah Jerusalem Talmud, Chagigah 6b.  (Of course, the goal of Judaism is to accomplish both, but action precedes feeling and belief.)  AMEMEI 39-40

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GENESIS — 18:2 ran

GEN901 Th[e] concept – that inviting strangers is seen more important than a private audience with the Almighty – is not only a Midrashic suggestion, but is brought down as part of normative Jewish law, both in Sephardic Kaf HaChaim 5:6 and Askenazic Rema, Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 33:1 with Mishna Berurah commentary 8 traditions.   AMJV 160

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GENESIS — 18:2 ran

GEN902 The only way to account for the shrillness, the passion, and the near-hysteria of the Hebrew prophets in their denunciation of immorality is to understand that the prophet looks upon the world through the perspective of God, who has a stake in the human situation, who cares for man, who in some sense is involved in the affairs of men. “For I know their sorrows.” Exodus 3:7 If, indeed, God is mercy and love and justice, then any act of injustice anywhere must, in some sense, “affect God.” [By this we are to understand that God is involved in history – in the affairs of men – to a degree which is best described by saying that “He is affected” by the deeds of man.] One poor man cries out and foundations seem to tremble. “And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me, that I will hear.” Exodus 22:26   “The prophet’s word is a scream in the night, … while the world is at east and asleep, the prophet feels the blast from heaven.” A. J. Heschel, The Prophets (New York: Harper & Row, 1955), p. 16. There is another insight which can assist us in understanding the dominant moral passion of the Bible. The rational bias in philosophy, which is our legacy from the ancient Greeks, has influenced us all to assign higher value to the universal over the particular, the abstract over the concrete.   This has its origin in Greek ontological theory and epistemology. Thus Plata had little regard for the visual arts because their artifacts were twice removed from the Ideal Forms, and Aristotle thought more of drama than history because the latter dealt only with particular events while drama is more general, depicting types of character and kinds of events. It is for this reason that general terms like “justice,” “righteousness,” “ethics,” and “morality” seem to possess an air of sublimity and nobility, while particular acts of morality, embedded in all the prosaic details of their concrete situation, may, by contrast, appear trial and insignificant. Yet, when we stop to consider the nature of morality, we find that the very reverse is the truth. Justice and righteousness for all of their sonorous sound are mere concepts – empty and disembodied. Moral reality is achieved only when these moral ideals are realized in human affairs and actualized in concrete human deeds and actual human relationships. It is this emphasis on particular moral acts that characterizes the Torah approach to morality. The very first story told of Abraham after he enters into the covenant with God and becomes, as it were, the first Jew, involves an act of hospitality. Weary strangers appear at Abraham’s tent, and although weak from his recent circumcision and presumably still experiencing the presence of God, the aged Patriarch breaks off the divine encounter and “runs to meet them.” [this verse] After inviting them in, we are told, “Abraham ran to the herd and fetched a calf … and he took curd and mild … and he stood by them under the tree and they did eat.” Genesis 18: 7-8   This wealth of detail describing the personal devotion of the Patriarch in a series of benevolent actions reveals what is the ultimate task of the Jew and the human being: to realize abstract moral concepts in the myriad situations of everyday life. SPERO 122-3

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GENESIS — 18:2 ran

GEN899 It was irrelevant to Abraham whether his guests shared his faith.   According to the rabbinic understanding, when travelers thanked Abraham and Sarah for their hospitality, the couple would direct the guest’s thanks to God, the ultimate source of food Tanhuma Lekh Leckha 12. Through such behavior, Judaism’s premier patriarch and matriarch made people aware of God’s existence and made God lovable to them.   TELVOL1:458-9

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GENESIS — 18:2 ran

GEN896 “Hospitality is even greater than receiving the divine presence” Shabbat 127a.  [See also Shevuot 35b – AJL]. Rabbi Judah, the author of this teaching, derived this conclusion from the behavior of Abraham, who was visited by God, but who immediately broke away when he saw needy travelers in the distance.   The Talmud Taanit 20b records that Rabbi Huna, when making a meal, would open the door of his home and announce, “Let whoever is in need come in and eat.”   This behavior might not be feasible for most of us today, but what we can do is volunteer at a soup kitchen where all who are hungry are invited to a meal.  TELVOL 2:49

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GENESIS — 18:2 ran

GEN900 Jewish tradition derives several still-binding principles of hospitality and good manners from Abraham’s behavior:   Receive your guests warmly and enthusiastically.   … By displaying such enthusiasm, Abraham made his guests feel welcome.  Think first of what your guests most need. [water, food, rest, etc.]   …  Deliver more than you promise. … The Talmud Baba Metzia 87a infers from Abraham’s behavior that one of the “distinguishing characteristics of righteous people” is that “they say little but do a lot.”   [See, also, Avot 1:15 – AJL] In addition, by telling guests that you are preparing only a little, they’ll feel less self-conscious about accepting the invitation.  Personally attend to your guest’s needs.  Abraham had a large staff Genesis 14:14, but he waited on his guests himself Genesis 18:8. We learn from this that even if you have maids and other employees, make sure to do some of the work for your guests with your own hands.   TELVOL 2:44-45

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