Vayeira: Avraham’s Tefillah for Sedom—Praying for Those He Opposed

Transcript

Parsha, Parshas Vayeira. Find an interesting limud by Avraham Avinu when he davens with S'dom. It states in pasuk that the Ribono Shel Olam tells Avraham Avinu, זעקת סדום ועמורה כי רבה, וחטאתם כי כבדה מאד. ארדה נא ואראה הכצעקתה הבאה אלי עשו כלה. So the minute Avraham Avinu hears this, it states in pasuk chav gimmel, ויגש אברהם ויאמר. So Rashi, what's vayigash? He was talking to the Eibishter, so what's vayigash? So Rashi, vayigash, even though he was talking to the Eibishter, still pasht vayigash because מצינו הגשה למלחמה, like it says, ויגש יואב, הגשה לפיוס, ויגש אליו יהודה, והגשה לתפילה, ויגש אליהו הנביא. ולכל אלו נכנס אברהם לדבר קשות, לפיוס ולתפילה. Interesting that if you realize the backdrop Avraham Avinu was in, this was שלישי למילתו. This is outside, because the pasuk says that he was melamed. He was melamed. He was being melamed the malachim. Lavrom, he was being melaveh the malachim. Aye, you'll say that maybe he went back inside. If you look later, Sippurna says that Avraham Avinu, Vayashkem Avraham baboker el hamakom asher amad sham. Says afterwards, Vayashkem Avraham baboker el hamakom, Vayashkem Avraham el hamakom asher amad sham es pnei Hashem. Says the Sippurna that that's the makom that the Eibishter was niglah to him, and it was over there that he's mispallel. That's the el hamakom asher amad sham es pnei Hashem. So the makom asher amad sham es pnei Hashem was b'makom livui hamalachim, as he says the Sippurna. So he went outside to the same place of the malachim, and that was the place that Hashem was niglah to him. It was boiling hot. We don't find anywhere in Chazal that the Ribono Shel Olam made it cool afterwards. And it was after he was ois geharevet, with hachnasas orchim. And who does he hear that there's a problem with Sdom? Sdom steht a klotz. Sippurna was hepech Beis Avram, was mamash the antithesis. Of everything Avram stood for and everything Avram was fighting for. And later on, if you take a look, it says, Vayashkeif Avram. Avram looks on Sdom. Zogt the, here, pasuk ches, Vayashkeif al pnei Sdom. Zogt the Siforno, Vayashkeif is a loshon of shkafa l'ra, like Rashi says over here, that the Ribono Shel Olam was vayashkeif. So the same thing says the Siforno over there, Vayashkeif, hashkafa l'ra mitoch eiva. Because be'emes, for us, the pasuk's saying, Vayashkeif al pnei Sdom. Vayashkeif Avram baboker. What's it again? Vayar v'hinei alah kitor ha'aretz k'kitor ha'kivshan. So the Rashbam learns he wanted to see if his tefillah was niskabel, if the Eibishter didn't destroy it. But the Siforno learns Vayashkeif is mitoch eiva; he פשוט hated Sdom. And yet, Vayigash. So Rashi, lamilchamah, l'piyus, ul'tefillah. Chap a zach. Another person says, You know what, I'm going to go back home, I'll daven for them. Even if he does, most people wouldn't daven for Sdom, and most definitely if it's not, if it's the oyev mamash, that he hates.

To me is contempt for them. Avraham Avinu goes and he davens for them. נכנסים לדבר קשה, it's mamish to golem a milchama for them. And שלישי, המילוסי מתוך כאב, and it was hot outside. And nishto dem, if you look at the pshat, the hemshech of that sipur that I began with, you see that what's pshat takke went to that place, אשר עמד שם פני אלקים, that the Ribono Shel Olam was nigleh to him, במקום לגי המלאכים. So he says that the pshat is because the day before he tried bedin that they should be zoche. And he figured that if it's not going to work bedin, maybe the next day he should try b'rachamim. They should try to be mispalel that the Ribono Shel Olam should have rachmanus on them. So he went to that place where the Ribono Shel Olam was nigleh to him, because he figured it's a makom mesugal. It's a makom mesugal. So pashut he learned by asking Avraham Avinu, a makom shemosham is a makom kavua. For the sipur is mashma he didn't go to his makom kavua. He went outside back to the original place where he was melaveh the malachim, and who knows how far he was even melaveh the malachim. זעמענדיק וויפל עבודה טער איינגעלייגט, דאוונען פאסדיין. And yet, he hated them. He hated what they stood for. So a Yid, here is a tzarah by another Yid, even if he doesn't like the Yid, kol shekein if he likes the other Yid. So there's genug machachrechts צו גיין ווייטער, but today you tell a person, yeah, tzarah, this, he gives, ah, if he's a good person he goes, ah, and if he's a real good person, he gets a tzvei krechts, ah, ah. Tvei mol. S'mashma mit afs chayn legen in them, afs chayn legen in tefillah helfen. Kam choyv chavom Avinu, be'emes we don't find anywhere in the Torah mefurash, that Avraham Avinu davened far zich. We don't find anywhere that Avraham Avinu davened far zich. Gam, there's a loshon of Chazal that tzarach ta'anis l'Avraham, lo yishma Elokecha lefanecha, that you daven, that you should have children, you daven for me to have children. Ober in pasuk steht doch nisht klar that Avraham got up, pashtus vayashke Avraham baboker, was hashkamas boker far tefillah. Fun di rishonim iz mashma, from the Seforim iz mashma, that the vayashke Avraham baboker is a tefillahs geven far Sdom gor, and he left his makom kavua to go to the street to daven for Sdom, in the place where he thought there would be more rachamim for them. Avodas ha-tefillah, far yedns problem, iz zehr klar in their parshah. Kol shekein mit rachamim vekamah fun Avraham Avinu, vos hot mispalel geven far Sdom.