Interrupting Conversation With God

And (Abraham) said: “My God, if indeed I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass away from Your servant.”                                         Genesis 18: 3

            Abraham interrupted his conversation with God in order to fulfill the mitzva of hachnasat orḥim (bringing in guests).  From this verse, we learn that greeting guests is greater than receiving the Shechina.

            My father explained that this is true because of the primacy of bein adam l’ḥavero (between man and fellow man) over bein adam laMakom (between man and God).

            We saw this primacy two weeks ago in Parashat Noaḥ. The generation of the flood was dealt with more harshly than the generation of the Tower of Babel, which had rebelled against God. This is because the generation of the flood quarreled among themselves, while in the generation of the Tower of Babel there was love and friendship.

            It is noteworthy that the same distinction applied between the generation in which the First Temple was destroyed and that of the Second Temple. Our Sages tell us that the First Temple was destroyed because the Jews violated the three cardinal sins: idolatry, adultery and murder. The Second Temple, though the generation was observant of mitzvot, was destroyed because of needless hatred among the Jews. The first destruction lasted seventy years, while the second destruction has lasted 1936 years.

            Perhaps this distinction between bein adam l’ḥavero and bein adam laMakom explains the discrepancy in Abraham’s behavior in our parasha. When God told Abraham of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, he immediately launched an impassioned plea on behalf of the residents of the evil cities. Yet when asked to sacrifice his beloved son, Abraham responded in action, getting up early to saddle the donkey and prepare whatever will be necessary.  Here is Abraham, fighting to save a society whose ideals are the antithesis of what he has spent his life teaching, and yet not arguing to save his own son. (As our Sages pointed out, Abraham could have presented convincing arguments.) Perhaps the distinction is that the request to offer Isaac as a sacrifice is essentially between Abraham and God, bein adam laMakom, while saving the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah is a matter of bein adam l’ḥavero.