Date: November 2nd 2017

PARSHAT VAYERA – THE TRUE VIP


Parshat Vayera begins by describing that Avraham (the Forefather Abraham) “Was sitting in the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.” Quoting the Talmud, the Commentary of Rashi writes that Avraham had recently circumcised himself, and at that moment, his post-operative pain was at its height.

Why did the Torah mention that it was “At the heat of the day?” Rashi presents the well-known Talmudic explanation that Avraham was normally most hospitable. However, due to his discomfort, Hashem (G-d) made the day particularly hot so that wayfarers would not be up and about. This would spare Avraham the toils of serving guests and thereby enable him to rest and recover.


The Midrash Rabbah (48-8) offers an entirely different explanation for why Hashem made that day particularly hot. It was then accepted medical fact that exposure to extreme heat was beneficial for healing wounds. (This may or not be true at present, but even if no such reality currently exists, things may have changed since then.) To quote the Midrash, “Rabbi Yannai said, He (Hashem) made an opening to this world) from Gehennom (Hell) and greatly heated up the entire world upon its inhabitants. Hashem said, 'The righteous are in pain, and the world is in comfort?!' ”

The Commentary of Etz Yosef on the Midrash explains the matter further. Hashem utilized the extreme heat to cure the tzaddik (highly righteous individual) Avraham and the members of his household who were circumcised together with him, even though it cast the entire rest of the world into a state of extreme discomfort. The Heavenly Morality and Logic deemed it worthwhile to inconvenience and greatly pain the rest of the world, just so that Avraham would be more speedily cured.

This would be more understandable if Avraham’s life was being saved by the intense heat. Were that the case, it would justifiable to heat up the world, for when necessary, we inconvenience many people in order to save even one life. Alternatively, if the world’s populace had all somehow deliberately caused Avraham’s pain, it would make sense that they must endure the suffering necessary to rectify the harm they caused. Yet, it appears from the Midrash that Avraham’s life was not in any way endangered. The heat was merely utilized to ease his discomfort. Additionally, the Midrash does not indicate that the rest of the world was in any way complicit in bringing about Avraham’s agony. Why then did Hashem see it fit to make the entire rest of the world suffer so that one individual would suffer less?

Rabbi Alter Chanoch Henach Liebowitz (1908-2008) often said that, as a rule, when something in this world is accomplished by a group of people, in reality, it is mainly being done by one person. He would observe that even the largest yeshiva or business generally has one lone individual who is the one truly in charge. All other members of the group then take their cues from that leader. The history of the world is thus more a story of what singular people did rather than a recounting of how countries acted.

Similarly, just as the thoughts and actions of millions of people can, in fact, be less significant than what one person thought and did, the same can hold true when it comes to piety. The importance and impact before Hashem of one single person’s merit can outweigh that of the entire rest of the world.

When viewed from this perspective, why Hashem heated up the world to benefit Avraham alone is now more understandable. All humans are entitled to special consideration because of their unique status in the Creation. They are endowed with a mind and a Heavenly Soul, through which they have the ability to elevate themselves to prophetic G-dliness. But if a single person like Avraham attains a level of righteousness that entirely overshadows that of the rest of humanity combined, it becomes just and proper to inconvenience and pain them all so that Avraham would have a speedier recovery. It is an outgrowth of the vast difference between the personal righteousness attained by Avraham and what they reached as a group.

Humans are incapable of judging who has attained true piety. Numerous factors that go into this determination can only be fully evaluated by Hashem. Accordingly, we generally cannot be certain of whose inconvenience should be considered more significant. So, as a practical matter, the Midrash’s concept pertaining to inconveniencing others cannot be applied by people in real life.


This is, however, another significant application of the Midrash’s idea. It should serve to energize people to personally aspire to however much piety and nobility of soul that is personally attainable. People should remember that, to a greater or lesser extent, single individuals who attain genuine piety may be more beloved and cherished by Hashem than myriads of others combined.

To illustrate through a hypothetical example: it was supposed to be a hot and sunny Saturday, and hundreds of thousands of people were, therefore, planning to picnic and go to the beach. There was, however, an elderly tzaddik who, because it was Shabbat, had a half hour walk to the synagogue, and for him, the heat and the blazing sun would make the trek most uncomfortable. As in the case of Avraham, Hashem might say, “The righteous are in pain, and the world is in comfort?!” Hashem might, therefore, alter the weather and make the day unusually cool and cloudy in order to make the tzaddik’s walk more comfortable, notwithstanding the hundreds of thousands of outings that will be ruined as a result.

One should never willingly ruin the outing or otherwise pain even one single individual. Nevertheless, people should be cognizant that in becoming righteous like that elderly tzaddik, one will be especially beloved, esteemed, and cared for by Hashem – even, if necessary, to the detriment of cities full of people; Hashem’s Divine Wisdom will attach more importance to that one tzaddik and his or her well-being than to all of those others combined. This realization is a powerful impetus to climb the ladder of genuine personal piety.


This is a much-edited version of the Dvar that was previously emailed on November 2nd, 2012.

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