Avraham and Sedom: How Humility Leads to Respect for Others

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. The Hinei Vesov Divrei HaToimed Veira, he says an interesting thing at the end. HaMechaber habriyos yirafei Micholi hagaiva, v'yikaneis bishaarei haanavah. He will be healed from gaiva, and he will go into the gates of humility. Those that are mechaber all creations, all people. Where does lack of kavod habriyos come from? Gaiva. Where does a perfection in kavod habriyos come from? Anav, humility. Now let's see Avraham and why Avraham is such a mechaberes habriyos. Let's look into Avraham's middos. Avraham Avinu, he's taking these Yishmaelim, and he calls himself avdacha. His kavod habriyos is based on his humility. Notice even further when he davens for Sedom, he emphasizes, Vanochi afar vaefer. Pashut, he's saying is, and therefore I humbly ask in front of HaKadosh Baruch Hu to continue davening. But it's possible that's part of the tefillah. That's why he's davening for Sedom, Vanochi afar vaefer. He was so humble, his humility, and therefore he had love and kavod for briyos, even those that were anti him. They were his antithesis. They were his enemy. For everything that he stood for, and he still was able to have feeling, to want them to have a yeshuah, to be saved, to be salvaged. Anochi afar v'efer. Anavah and humility produces Avraham Avinu and his chesed and what he produced in this world, a world of tov, of kindness and goodness. Sdom. Sdom, it turned into lower. How does Sdom? Let's look at Chatas Sdom. What was the sin of Sdom? What was their middah? Pasuk in Yechezkel, perek tezayin, pasuk mem tes: Hinei zeh hayah avon Sdom. This is the sin. What do you mean by this is the sin? This is the underlying, the root. What produces a society like Sdom? Gaon, sivas lechem. Gaon, says the Metzudas, means gaivah. They were haughty, sivas lechem, that they had a lot of food. They had a lot of parnassah. They had a lot of bread. They were rich, and therefore they had gaivah. You have gaivah, you had oni lo yechazikah. You don't respect people. You don't care for people. Humility, kavod avas habriyos, feeding people. Gaivah, then you don't feed, then you do even worse. It disintegrates till you start killing people. A society which has humility is Avraham Avinu and his hachnasas orchim. Is anyone set, and a society that's gaon, that's haughty. It's very simple. Look around. Humble, you respect people. You're a bal gaiva, you start not respecting, and it's kulei ra. It turns bad from day to day. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.