Vayeira 5783: Three Years Later

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November 8, 2022

9 min read

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Vayeira (Genesis 18-22 )

GOOD MORNING! This upcoming Shabbat, the 18th of Cheshvan (November 12th) marks the third yahrzeit (Yiddish for anniversary) of the passing of our beloved teacher Rabbi Kalman Packouz, of blessed memory. Longtime readers of the Shabbat Shalom Weekly may recall that at the end of every column Rabbi Packouz had a picture of his perpetually smiling visage together with his hand showing a big “thumbs up.”

Aside from being one of the most kind and caring people you could ever hope to meet, Rabbi Packouz was a man of remarkable ingenuity and creativity. He was also an inveterate optimist with a wry sense of humor. He loved describing the difference between an optimist and a pessimist: The pessimist says, “Things can’t get any worse.” The optimist says, “Yes, they can!” He would then follow that up with the following social experiment:

“Opportunityisnowhere!”

Did you read that as “Opportunity is nowhere!” or as “Opportunity is now here!”?

In prior columns I mentioned that we have been working on a book detailing the extraordinary life of this brilliant, humble, and unassuming man. The book is being written by Rabbi Shraga Simmons, a highly regarded writer who has authored several books as well as hundreds of news and magazine articles and is still a frequent contributor to Aish.com, which he helped co-found. Most importantly, Rabbi Simmons was a close friend and colleague of Rabbi Packouz. He also wrote a moving piece regarding the passing of his dear friend – you can find it here.

The book is based upon hundreds of interviews, recollections, and contributions from friends, relatives, and students of the good rabbi. The book – under the working title Thumbs Up – is truly a remarkable achievement. I have had the unique pleasure of reviewing some of the early drafts and I was awestruck by Rabbi Simmons’ ability to create such a monumental work. The book recounts over a hundred incredible stories about Rabbi Packouz and while reading I was reminded of the well-known proverb, “The best sermons are lived – not preached.”

The book beautifully weaves together three distinct elements of the good rabbi’s life and each one is worthy of a book on its own. The book follows the chronological timeline of Rabbi Packouz’s remarkable life and is replete with extraordinary stories that demonstrate what an incredibly unique individual Rabbi Packouz was. It takes you on a beautiful journey with an idealistic young man who was basically Jewishly ignorant through to his development into an inspirational rabbi with a passion for the holy Torah and the Jewish people.

(With God’s help, the book will be published in the first quarter of 2023. Dedications are still available, please email me if you’re interested.)

Much like our forefather Abraham, Rabbi Packouz was passionate about spreading knowledge of the Almighty and was a paragon of kindness whose home was open to all. Naturally, this week’s Torah reading contains this very message. This week’s Torah portion opens with:

“God appeared to him (Abraham) in the plains of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day” (Genesis 18:1).

Jewish tradition recalls that this was on the third day following Abraham’s circumcision – when he was in the most severe pain – and God paid him a visit to inquire after his welfare (Talmud Bava Metzia 86b).

According to that passage in the Talmud, even though Abraham was in pain he was sitting at the entrance of his tent to see if there were any wayfarers in the area who he might invite inside. Abraham’s home was well known as a “rest stop” whereby travelers could stay for a respite and enjoy a hearty meal. However, because he was in pain the Almighty caused it to be a blazingly hot day – so that people wouldn’t be out and about and Abraham wouldn’t have to trouble himself to care for them.

When the Almighty saw that Abraham was deeply distressed by the lack of travelers that he could host, He sent three angels in the guise of merchants so that Abraham would have guests upon whom to lavish attention. According to the Talmud, each one of these angels had a special mission to fulfill.

The first angel, Michael, came to inform Abraham’s wife Sarah that she would give birth to a son within a year’s time. The second angel, Raphael, was sent to heal Abraham. Finally, the third angel, Gabriel, was there to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

When Abraham spotted these three “men” on the road he ran out to greet them and urged them to come in to his home to wash, rest in the shade of his tree, and enjoy a nourishing and soul-restoring meal. According to Jewish tradition, Abraham left the presence of the Almighty to run out and invite the wayfarers into his home.

According to one opinion in the Talmud, Abraham made a rather astonishing statement to the Almighty who was there to visit him when he spied the three wayfarers outside on the road; “Please my Master, if I have found favor in your eyes, wait for me while I go and attend to my guests.” In other words, Abraham “abandoned” God Himself to go and serve his guests!

Based on this the Talmud makes a very bold statement: “From here we see that receiving guests into one’s home is greater than being in the presence of God.”

This seems rather difficult to comprehend. While it’s true that it is a big mitzvah to invite guests into one’s home, we must also remember that the ultimate purpose of fulfilling God’s commandments is to serve the Almighty and develop a relationship with Him (Derech Hashem 1:2). If one is sitting in the very presence of the Almighty, how can it possibly be proper to leave His presence to attend to others?

The answer lies in the understanding that the highest level of serving the Almighty is to become God-like. This is based on the teaching, “One should strive toionate” (Talmud Shabbos 133b).

Abraham innately understood that the highest level of serving the Almighty is to become God-like, which is even more important than being in His presence. When God created the world He constricted His own presence, as it were, in order to allow man to exist within His space. Hence the ultimate emulation of the Almighty is to invite others into our space (our homes) and make them feel like it is their own. That is why Abraham left the presence of the Almighty to attend to his own guests.

In my entire life I have never met anyone who tried so hard to emulate our forefather Abraham as my beloved friend of blessed memory. Although many readers of this column may have never had the privilege to personally know Rabbi Kalman Packouz, I have dedicated much of this column to memorialize him. This is not just because I had a deep and abiding love and appreciation for him, because I am not sure that would be reason enough. The real purpose of writing so much about him is to highlight the effect one man can have on the world.

Putting aside all of his other accomplishments for a moment, the Shabbat Shalom Weekly that he created over thirty years ago has positively impacted many millions of people. Today, some 300,000 people all over the world still receive weekly editions. The vast majority of our readers/subscribers are non-Orthodox Jews or non-Jews. Rabbi Packouz succeeded in making the wisdom of the Almighty, as revealed in the Torah, available to all. I know of no other rabbi who can claim such an ongoing achievement.

I want to end by thanking YOU, the hundreds of thousands of people who read this column each week and in so doing bring an everlasting merit to his pure and lofty soul.

Torah Portion of the Week

Vayeira, Genesis 18:1 – 22:24

Abraham on the third day after his circumcision (brit mila), sits outside his tent looking for guests to extend his hospitality. While talking with the Almighty, he sees three visitors (actually angels of the Almighty). Abraham interrupts his conversation with the Almighty to invite them to a meal. One angel informs him that in a year’s time his wife, Sarah, will give birth to a son, Isaac (Yitzchak).

God tells Abraham that He is going to destroy Sodom because of its absolute evil (the city is the source of the word sodomy). Abraham argues with God to spare Sodom if there can be found ten righteous people in Sodom. Abraham loses for the lack of a quorum. Lot (Abraham’s nephew) escapes the destruction with his two daughters.

Other incidents: Avimelech, King of the Philistines, wants to marry Sarah (Abraham’s wife), the birth of Isaac, the eviction of Hagar (Abraham’s concubine) and Ishmael. Avimelech and Abraham make a treaty at Beersheva. Abraham is commanded to take up his son, Isaac, as an offering “on one of the mountains” (Akeidat Yitzchak). Lastly, the announcement of the birth of Rebecca (Rivka), the future wife of Isaac.

Do you want to know the reward for listening to the command of the Almighty? This is what the Almighty told Abraham: “[…] I shall surely bless you and greatly increase your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore; and your offspring shall inherit the gate of its enemy. And all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your offspring, because you have listened to My voice.”

Candle Lighting Times

Do not cry because they are past – smile, because they once were!
— Ludwig Jacobowski

Dedicated in Loving Memory of

Isaac & Nieves Olemberg

two special people greatly missed in our community

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