Abraham is sitting in the highest state of Divine meditation with God. He spots some dusty travellers, pauses his conversation, and rushes to wash their feet and feed them.

Why pause a conversation with God for some travellers?

Furthermore, if the goal of doing the mitzvot is to connect to God, then Abraham was definitely already connected and didn’t need to do this mitzvah of welcoming guests?

Yet he does it. Why?

The Talmud learns from here, “It is greater to welcome guests than to welcome even the Divine Presence” (Shabbat 127a).

An important principle.

Even more spiritual than talking to God is to be LIKE God. (Rabbi Noach Weinberg). (And the more we are like Him in this world, the more we will be with Him in the next.)

Since God is the ultimate Giver, one of the most powerful ways we can emulate Him is by giving!

Abraham is the prime example of someone who does exactly that. Old and weak from his circumcision, despite having servants, he runs to personally choose the animals so that his guests could partake in not just a basic, but a sumptuous meal.

Being like God is an essential step towards achieving closeness to Him.

Having been blessed to have been created in God’s image (Bereishit 1:26) when we give to others we tap into that Godly part of ourselves, allowing ourselves to actually become ‘God like’.

As Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen says, “Closeness in the physical world is measured by proximity; closeness in the spiritual world is measured by similarity.”

Shabbat Shalom!