Parshat Vayera 5786
Rabbi Jablinowitz
This week’s parsha begins with the words וירא אליו ד' באלוני ממרא. Rashi comments that Hashem came to visit Avraham who was recovering from his Bris Milah. This is why no conversation takes place; Hashem appeared to Avraham to be with him, teaching us the importance of the mitzvah of visiting the sick. And the following pasuk describing Avraham greeting the three travelers is a separate matter. This is how Rashi and Ramban learn these pasukim (unlike the Rambam in the Moreh Navuchim, which the Ramban rejects).
Rashi continues and explains that the timing of Hashem’s visit was precisely on the third day from the Milah. This is based on the Gemara in Baba Metzia 86B and the Mishnah in Shabbos 134B that the third day is the most dangerous as the pasuk says by the people of Shechem (Chapter 34, Pasuk 25), ויהי ביום השלישי בהיותם כאבים. This is why our parsha, which follows the end of Lech Lecha where Avraham gives himself a Bris Milah, begins with Hashem visiting him to check on his wellbeing on the third and most painful day following the Bris Milah.
The Sfas Emes has a different interpretation. As we described last week, the mitzvah of Bris Milah and the removal of the Arlah allows for the inner Kedushah to be expressed. But before the mitzvah of Milah, and when totally submerged in physicality, one doesn’t even realize he has any sense of spirituality. He feels himself as a totally physical being, no different than an animal. He has no awareness of his holiness, of his Neshamah.
The physical and the spiritual parts of man parallel each other in the physical body. The Arlah is contained in the most physically desirous part of the body. But when this covering is removed, the opposite occurs. The removal of the Arlah opens up access to the holiness within man and creates a longing and a desire for a spiritual connection to Hashem. The Medrash Rabbah (41,1) teaches on the pasuk in sefer Tehillim (Chapter 92, Pasuk 13), צדיק כתמר יפרח, just as a date has a תאוה, a great desire and longing to be grafted onto the special date palms of Yericho, so too the Tzadik has a תאוה, a great longing and desire to be connected to Hashem. This longing is also referred to by Chazal as a תאוה. We need to exchange our desire for physical pleasure to one for spiritual connection.
The pasuk in Shir HaShirim (Chapter 2, Pasuk 5) describes the longing Bnei Yisrael have for Hashem as כי חולת אהבה אני. Bnei Yisrael are described as being lovesick for Hashem. This is the meaning of וירא אליו ד', לבקר את החולה. After Avraham Avinu performed the mitzvah of Bris Milah, his true desire for a connection to Hashem was felt. Once the Arlah was removed, Avraham truly longed for Hashem, and there was a proper opportunity for וירא אליו ד'. And since Avraham was sick with longing, חולת אהבה, Hashem’s being with Avraham was a means of visiting with and comforting the sick.
The same thing is true of Shabbos. The whole week we are fully engaged in our worldly pursuits. We too often ignore our need for spiritual fulfillment and don’t sense the internal longing for connection to Hashem. This changes with the onset of Shabbos. The Zohar Hakadosh teaches that the yetzer hara disappears on Shabbos. This allows us to feel our Neshamah on Shabbos, which is why on Shabbos Chazal teach we have a Neshamah Yeseirah (Beitzah 16A).
The Sfas Emes learns an original interpretation of the pasuk in parshat Bereishis (Chapter 2, Pasuk 1), ויכלו השמים והארץ וכל צבאם ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי. The word ויכלו indicates that the creation was completed with the onset of Shabbos. But the Sfas Emes teaches that the word ויכל means a longing, as the pasuk says in Tehillim (Chapter 84, Pasuk 3), נכספה וגם כלתה נפשי; my soul longs and desires. When Shabbos comes in, there is a longing for a connection to Hashem. Though this awareness was dulled during the six days of the week, when Shabbos comes in there is a reawakening of the desire and need to feel connected to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Shabbos in time is the equivalent of Milah in the body; opening access to our inner soul and allowing our need for a connection to Hashem to be expressed. And this is why as Shabbos comes in, the custom is to read from Shir HaShirim, including the pasuk which declares כי חולת אהבה אני.
Good Shabbos
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