Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Halakhah הֲלָכָה
At the beginning of the parashah, Avraham is talking to God, but interrupts the conversation and runs off because he sees strangers he wants to invite as guests to his home. From Avraham’s eagerness to welcome guests, we can learn about the importance of הַכְנָסָת אוֹרְחִים (hakhnasat orhim, welcoming guests).
וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו ה' בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב פֶּתַח־הָאֹהֶל כְּחֹם הַיּוֹם׃ וַיִּשָּׂא עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים נִצָּבִים עָלָיו וַיַּרְא וַיָּרָץ לִקְרָאתָם מִפֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אָרְצָה׃
God appeared to him by the oaks of Mamrei, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent when the day was hot. He lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he bowed to the ground.
Avraham welcomes the guests inside, allows them to wash off from their travels, and, together with Sarah, serves them a large meal, standing by them like a waiter to provide for their needs. The Talmud learns a number of important aspects of hakhnasat orhim from Avraham’s behavior.
- Bava Metzia 87a: “Say a little, and do a lot.” Avraham first tells the guests he will serve them “a loaf of bread” (Bereishit 18:5), but ends up serving them a full meal with lots of delicious food (Bereishit 18:7). From this, we learn to go above and beyond—to do kind things for people even without talking about it.
- Shabbat 127a: From the way Avraham rushes to greet the guests even after God appeared to him, Rabbi Yehudah says we can see how hakhnasat orhim is even greater than welcoming God’s presence.
Why do you think hakhnasat orhim is treated as such an important mitzvah?
Making our Guests Comfortable
The mitzvah of hakhnasat orhim is not just about inviting guests into our home— it’s also about how we treat them while they’re there to ensure they feel truly welcome.
- Sefer Hasidim (312) says that one should not ask a guest to share a dvar Torah unless one is certain that the guest will be comfortable doing so.
- The Rambam (Hilkhot Avel, 14:2) writes that escorting guests after a meal is the most important aspect of hakhnasat orhim.
- True hospitality is not only about providing a meal, but also about welcoming guests who need a place to sleep (Rema, Orah Hayyim 333:1).
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