A. Hospitality is greater than welcoming the Divine presence.
Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent, in pain from the circumcision, when G-d came to visit him. When G-d saw that he was in even more pain because of the lack of guests, he sent him three guests (Source 1). From this the Talmud learns that “hospitality is greater than welcoming the Divine presence.”
Lesson: The importance of the mitzvah of hospitality.
B. Fake Hospitality
Was the hospitality in vain? After all, the guests were angels, who only acted as if they were eating (Source 2). Did Abraham really fulfill the mitzvah of hospitality? And could he have erred, even if inadvertently, in leaving the Divine presence for pretended hospitality?
Lesson: It is not enough to have good intentions, the mitzvah must actually – and properly – be fulfilled.
C. Physical Mitzvot and Spiritual Mitzvot
Our holy ancestors fulfilled the mitzvot in the spiritual sense, and we, “the children,” fulfill them in the physical dimension. It was the fulfillment of the mitzvot by our ancestors that paved the way for us to observe them after the giving of the Torah.
Insight: With holy people there is no “I made a mistake”, “I erred”. When one guards himself to the best of his ability to do everything right, G-d protects him from mistakes.
D. Abraham Gives Energy for Our Hospitality
Abraham’s observance of the mitzvah of hospitality is what paved the way for us to fulfill this mitzvah after the giving of the Torah. Therefore the fact that the angels did not actually eat is irrelevant. Since Abraham entertained them wholeheartedly, he thereby paved the way for his descendants, the Jewish people, showing them how to properly fulfill the mitzvah of hospitality, and therefore, the fact that he left the Divine presence for hospitality, was justified.
