Speaker 1Parsha Svayera has 147 verses over five chapters. There are no mitzvos, but there are several iconic episodes in this week's Parsha. It begins with Abraham right after his circumcision. He is visited by God and right away by three angels masquerading as guests. We read about Abraham's unsuccessful intercession on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah, Sodom and Gomorrah. In our Parsha, we also have both readings that we read in Shul on Rosh Hashanah, the birth of Isaac and the banishment of Ishmael, and of course, the binding of Isaac. So there's lots to get to in this week's Parsha. Let's begin. Chapter 18, verse 1 reads almost like it's innocuously setting the stage for the events that happened, but there's a lot of meaning packed into this verse. Hashem appeared to him in the plains of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day. God appears to Abraham, and Abraham's sitting outside. It's really hot, and he's by the entrance of the tent. It says, Rashi, why did God appear to Abraham? Because Abraham was recovering, recuperating from his circumcision that happened three days prior, and God came to visit. And that is evident because even though God appears to Abraham, God does not speak to him until much later in the chapter. So it must mean that God's visit was not about communicating, but just about visiting. Why is Abraham? Why is Abraham sitting at the entrance of the tent, says Rashi, to see if there are any passerby so that he could invite them in to his house and offer them lunch? How does Rashi know that the reason why Abraham's sitting at the entrance of his tent is because he wants to invite in guests? And the answer to that is, of course, that there's nothing trivial in the Torah. If the Torah tells us that Abraham is sitting at the entrance of his tent, it must mean that he's doing that for a reason, and therefore we know that he's waiting for guests. Why? Why is it so hot in that day, says Rashi, because the Almighty removed the sun from its sheath. The Almighty made it very hot. Why? To not inconvenience Abraham. He's recuperating. He just underwent surgery at the age of 99 years old, and every day he's always busy with guests. Let him take a day off to recuperate. But Abraham's so sad that there's no one to visit, and therefore the Almighty sends him angels in the guise of people. So Abraham. Abraham lifts his eyes, and he sees, behold, three men were standing over him. He saw, and he ran towards them from the entrance of the tent, and he bowed towards the ground. As God appears to him, right away three men appear, and he runs over to them to welcome them, and he bows before them. Why are there three men where he thinks they're men, but really they're angels? Says Rashi, one of them to inform him that he's going to have a child, that Isaac is going to be born. One of them to go destroy the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. And the third one is to heal Abraham. And that same angel that was sent to heal Abraham was also sent to save Lot from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that are about to be destroyed. And Rashi tells us an interesting idea that an angel, it's an isolated will of God. If there's three angels, it must mean that there are three tasks that God wants the angels to do, meaning that if there was four things to do, there would be four angels. You cannot separate the angels. The angel has no individual independent identity with the exception of him doing the will of God. Now, it's really noteworthy in this particular verse, verse two of our Parsha, and Rashi points this out, that Abraham, he sees three men, and then it says again, and he sees Vayar, and he runs towards them. This phenomena that an individual, a subject in the Torah, sees something twice in the same verse. That's the verb Vayar. And he saw, appears twice in the same verse, only appears by Abraham in chapter 18 over here, and by Moses in chapter two of Exodus. And Rashi explains, what does it mean that he saw, and then he saw again? He saw from his perspective, and he saw from their perspective, meaning that Abraham and Moses are both unique, that they were able to withdraw from their own little world and see the world, not only from their own perspective. But from the perspective of others. So what does Abraham say? He says, my Lord, if I find favor in your eyes, now, please don't leave your servant. Abraham has three visitors. He's 99 years old. He's recently circumcised. It's very hot. And now he's faced with a dilemma. God appeared to him. But now these three travelers, who he thinks, by the way, are pagans, as we'll see, they appear to him as well. And even though he has all the excuses in the world to avoid the potential guests, Abraham is motivated by some need, by some desire to feed those passerby, that he even tells God, don't leave. Wait a minute. I'm going to deal with these people. I'm going to engage in kindness. Abraham makes the maybe questionable decision to tell God, wait one second, don't leave. Let me tend to these guests. And in our eyes, maybe we would say that it seems like it's a terrible error. You know, someone has an opportunity to talk to the president or to a king or to the pope. And in the middle of their discussion, there's a vagabond panhandler asking for some food. It seems crazy to squander a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to talk to the king, to talk to the president, to talk to the pope, and certainly to talk to God, to tell him, you know what? Wait, wait one second. See, could you please stay? Could you please not leave? And let me deal with this kindness. And it's even more bizarre that the Talmud says that Abraham made the right decision. It says the Talmud, the book of Shavuos, page 35b, it's greater to invite guests into your home than accepting and receiving prophecy. The Talmud, in fact, rules that taking care of guests supersedes receiving God's presence, meaning that in our world, we have responsibilities. We are put in this world to do stuff. What are we put here to do? To do acts of kindness, to do mitzvahs, to actually engage in fulfilling the will of the Almighty. Having prophecy is great. Having spiritual transcendental experiences are wonderful, are memorable, are inspiring. But no matter how transcendental an experience is, the opportunity to actually involve your body in doing the will of God is greater. My grandfather used to tell of a story about the great Rabbi Israel Salanter, the greatest Jew of the 19th century. In the founding of the Muslim movement, he was once in a synagogue in Shul, and he was in the middle of praying, and he hears two people of the Hevrak Hadisha, of the burial society, each one of them arguing, no, no, no, you don't bury this person, I'm too busy. No, no, no, you don't bury this person, I'm too busy. So Rabbi Israel Salanter is in the middle of praying, but he quickly pulls off his tefillin and runs to go bury the dead person. Even though you're in the middle of praying, you're in the middle of talking to God, but there's an opportunity to do a mitzvah, especially a mitzvah like burying someone who has no one to bury them. The mitzvah of a meis mitzvah, meaning a person that has no one to bury them, he ran to go bury the dead. Even though you're in the middle of a mitzvah, of experiencing God, to actually engage your body in an act of kindness, in an act of a mitzvah, will supersede that. So what does Abraham tell them? He says, let some water be brought and wash your feet and recline beneath the tree. So he begins by saying, it's time to wash your feet. Then he says, I'll fetch some bread, you'll have some food, and then you can leave. He tells the guest, listen, let's come, let's clean your feet off, go recline under the tree, I'm going to give you some bread, and then you could leave. So first of all, a few points here, Rashi points out. Number one, it says that he wants water to be brought to wash their feet. Why does he want them to wash their feet? He wants them to wash their feet because he's suspected. These were pagans, and the pagans in antiquity sometimes used to worship the dust on their feet, and therefore Abraham didn't want them to enter his tent with idolatry stuck to their feet, go wash your feet off. Meaning that in Abraham's worldview, the idea of doing kindness to strangers and the idea of faith were interlinked and inseparable. Only after you wash your feet, only after you make sure that there's no idolatry, no shred, no morsel of idolatry in this activity, only then is he willing to do this. Moreover, what does he say? He says, let some water be brought. Even though Abraham himself is going to be very involved in this activity, in this kindness that he's doing to these travelers, here, he outsourced it. He says, let water be brought. Let someone else bring the water. It says Rashi something very frightening. Abraham did everything himself besides for this. Therefore, when the Jewish people, Abraham's descendants, all the way after the Exodus from Egypt, when they're going to need water, just like Abraham outsourced the water for his guests, God is going to outsource the water for the Jewish people. God gave manna directly from him to the Jewish people. Whereas with the water, he told Moshe, he outsourced it to Moshe. Moshe, you go talk to the rock and you extract water from the rock for the Jewish people. Abraham was almost like being punished because you didn't do it yourself. You didn't give the water yourself. Therefore, I'm not going to give the water myself to the Jewish people. I'm going to do it through an intermediary through Moshe. And if we play out the story, we'll realize that there's some amazing eternal consequences. Moshe, of course, walks over to the rock and starts talking to it. It doesn't yield any water. He hits the rock and the water spouts forth from the rock. But God's mad at him and God punishes him. And God tells him, you cannot go into the land of Israel because of this sin of not talking to the rock, only hitting it and extracting water from it. So in essence, what Rashi over here in chapter 18, verse 4 in Genesis is telling us, that the reason why circumstances worked out that Moshe was punished, that he wasn't allowed to go in the land of Israel, that was all a result of Abraham telling these visitors, let some water be brought as opposed to bringing the water himself. Had Abraham brought the water himself, Moshe would have not have been needed to give the water to the Jewish people. Therefore, he wouldn't have sinned. Therefore, he would have entered the land of Israel. But conversely, what we could say is that in the opposite direction, the fact that Abraham did bring the food himself, that earned the Jewish people that they got the food delivered to them directly from God. Now, it is interesting. If you read this whole episode in its entirety, Abraham's going to be very lavish in his generosity towards these guests. But here he says, let some water be brought. A little bit of water. So, it's an interesting kind of comparison here. On one hand, Abraham's going to be so generous with his food. In fact, he's going to slaughter multiple cows to feed only three guests. But with respect to water, he only offers a little water. So, one of the commentaries answered that water, after all, has to be schlepped, has to be brought in from a well. And therefore, Abraham is telling someone else, go get water from the well. But if you're telling someone, to go get water from the well, you can't say, you know, bring tons of water. We need lots of water. If it's on someone else's back, if someone else is shouldering the burden of procuring you water, then you say, give me a little water. In fact, back to Rabbi Israel Salanter, the great Rabbi Israel Salanter, he was once washing his hands before a bread meal, as halacha mandates, and he was doing very little, a minimal amount of water on his hands. Whereas someone who was next to him was pouring a lot, because after all, it's a mitzvah. You're supposed to pour a lot of water on your hands before you eat the bread meal. And Rabbi Israel Salanter tells him, you know, you're using a lot of water, and you think that you're doing a mitzvah, or that you're doing the halacha, fulfilling the requirement in the best possible fashion, but you don't realize that someone else had to go to the well to extract that water, and it's no great mitzvah for you to say, I'm going to use a lot of water on my hands, and thereby force someone else to have to toil much more. So Abraham says, use a little water, wash your feet, recline beneath the tree, I'm going to get you some bread. The Talmud points out, if you actually read the rest of the story, he says he's going to give him some bread, but ultimately he makes them a five-star, 12-course, gastronomical, delightful meal. So he promises the bread, but he delivers a lot more. It says the Talmud, the tzaddikim, the righteous, they say a little, and they do a lot. They under-promise. And they over-deliver. So Abraham ran to the tent, to Sarah, and says to her, hurry, let's make fine flour, let's make cakes. Abraham ran to the cattle, took a calf, tender and good, gave it to the youth who hurried to prepare it. Abraham is in a frenzy preparing this lavish meal for his guests, remember, people that he thinks are pagan. And in fact, the Torah says five separate occasions in this episode that Abraham ran. The Talmud tells us an interesting story. About one of the great sages of the Talmud, Nacham Ish Gamzu, that he was blind with both eyes, he was lame in both feet, both of his arms were cut off, and his whole body was covered in blisters. And the students came to him and says to him, you're a great sage, how come you're suffering so much? So he tells him a story. He says, once I was traveling, and I was taking with me multiple animals, and a poor person stopped me and says, give me some food, I'm hungry. And I told him, says the great Nacham Ish Gamzu, the great sage, he says, give me a second, let me unload myself from the animal to give you food. And by the time he unburdened himself from his travel, the poor person that asked him for food died on the spot. And therefore, says Nacham Ish Gamzu, I prayed that because I was insensitive to the needs of the poor person, I should get punished by becoming blind and lose my hands, lose my feet and be covered in boils. So this is a terrifying story in the Talmud. Again, this is from the book of Tainis, page 21a. But here we see, certainly with Abraham, that the perspective that we have towards Tainis, whenever there's someone else in need, we don't dilly-dally, we don't wait around, we don't outsource, or if we outsource, we outsource a little bit. But right away, we get totally caught up in this activity, doing everything we can at great speed, with great alacrity, to try to help remediate the needs of the people that we're trying to help. Now, Abraham reaches out to Sarah and also to the youth who hurry to prepare him. He also tells his son, Ishmael, says Rashi, he tells his son, Ishmael, to help him prepare the animals for slaughtering, says Rashi. Why did he tell Ishmael to help him? L'chancho b'mitzvos, to educate him in the ways of mitzvos, the father, Abraham, is responsible in priming, in preparing the child for a life of mitzvos. He has a son, Ishmael, he wants him to be trained in the ways of kindness and hospitality, and therefore, he tells him, you help as well. And maybe we could point out from this, that Rashi's telling us that the only reason why Abraham asked Ishmael to help him was because he wanted to educate him, but not because Abraham was lazy. It could have been an alternative explanation. Abraham, listen, I'm doing so much. You know, you shoulder some of the burden too. No, the only reason why Abraham instructed Ishmael to participate in this mitzvah, in this kindness, in this hospitality, was to educate him, but for no other reason. So, okay, the meal's ready. He takes the cream and the milk and the calf, which he had prepared and placed it before them. He stood over them beneath the tree and they ate. So, Abraham finally prepares this whole meal. He gives them the cream, the milk, and the meat, and they eat. Now, the commentaries point out that this meal does not exactly look like it's a very kosher meal. As we know, milk and meat don't really go together in the kosher cuisine. So, why is Abraham taking cream and milk and the calf and the meat, which he had prepared and giving it to the guests? Now, in addition, the Torah does not share this with us. It doesn't share with us Abraham's menu needlessly. There's obviously some sort of lesson that's being conveyed over here. So, there's several answers to this question. So, first of all, the Midrash tells us that if you notice, there's specific order. First, he takes the cream and the milk, and then he gives the meat. And we know that mixing milk and meat is a big no-no, but only when they're either served together or cooked together, or when the meat comes first. But here, because the milk came first, the calf and the calf, the milk came first. So, we know that the milk came first. In fact, the halacha says you're allowed to have an ice cream, a milkshake, or whatever, and then have your steak, but not vice versa. You cannot have the steak and then the milkshake. It has to be the other way around. Provided that there's no residue in your mouth, there's no taste, there's no latent lactose in your mouth, you're allowed to eat the meat right afterwards. That's the first answer. But then the Midrash offers a fascinating epilogue to the story. Maybe that's the reason why we're told this menu. It says that when Moshe, all the way in the book of Exodus, when he goes up to heaven, to get the Torah, the angels mount a protest. They say, no, how could you possibly give the Torah to humans? You're trusting the humans to keep the Torah. Don't you know that the humans are notoriously unreliable? How could you give the Torah to the Jewish people? That's what God is told. That's the protest of the angels. And the response to vanquish the argument is this episode. God says to them, oh, what's the alternative? That we don't give the Torah to the Jewish people? We don't give the Torah to fallible humans? We keep it in heavens? Well, you angels, you're not perfect either. Don't you remember when y'all visited Abraham in chapter 18 of the book of Genesis? After all, you ate non-kosher. You ate milk and meat together. Hence, you, you're not perfect. You transgressed the Torah too. And therefore, there's no reason for the Torah to be limited to the heavens. And in fact, this argument proved winning and the angels relented. So it's like, oh, we don't give the Torah to fallible humans. So it's an interesting little epilogue to this story, a post-trip to the story, to this story on this particular menu that Abraham served to the angels that actually came back sometime in the future. Okay, so they're in the middle of enjoying their meal, and they asked for Sarah. And then they tell Abraham, we're going to return in a year. You're going to have a child. Now, Abraham was already promised this earlier by God. So therefore, to him, this kind of seems very reasonable. Sarah, she has no idea that she's going to have a child. She's about to have a child. She's been barren. She's 90 years old. She's been barren for her whole life. And she hears this, and she starts laughing. It's so ridiculous. She's so old. she's so withered. Is it likely that she'll have delicate skin? Is it likely that she'll have a child? After all, she's so old, her husband is so old. And then the Almighty interjects into the story and tells Abraham, wait a minute, why is Sarah laughing? Doesn't she know that it's possible? Is there anything that's beyond God? Indeed, you will have a child within a year. Now, it's interesting, Rashi points this out, that when Sarah, when she initially laughed, when she scoffed at the idea that she doesn't have a child, she says, how could I possibly have a child? My husband Abraham is so old. But when Hashem, when the Almighty told over this laughter to Abraham, he kind of altered it a little bit. Whereas Sarah says, how could I have a child? My husband is so old. When God told over this to Abraham, he altered it and said that Sarah said, how could I have a child? I am so old, says Rashi, quoting from the Talmud, that there are several instances where someone is allowed to lie moreover, it's actually correct to tell something that's not true. And here, in order to promote peace and love between husband and wife, and that Abraham should not be told that Sarah was musing over her husband's old age, therefore, the Almighty switched it and said that Sarah says that she's old, but her husband is not. Sarah denies it. I don't believe it. And here, in verse 17, something really interesting happens. The Almighty says, should I conceal from Abraham what I'm about to do? I'm about to go to send my angels to go to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy it. How could I not tell this to Abraham? After all, he's going to become a great and mighty nation. All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him. I loved him. He's going to command his children and his household after him to keep the way of God doing charity and justice. I cannot possibly withhold my plans from Abraham. It's interesting that Abraham's greatness is manifest not only by his own personal accomplishments, but by the fact that he's going to impart, that he's going to inculcate that in his children, because he commands his children and his household after him that they keep the way of Hashem. What we're being told here is that the center of the world is going to be the center of the world. And that's what we're spiritual lives is not just someone's own personal accomplishments, but how much they invest towards influencing their children in those same ways of God. So the Almighty says to Abraham, the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great. Their sin is very grave. I'll descend and see if they act in accordance with the outcry that has come before me, then I will destroy them. So Abraham is informed by God. He is going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because their ways are very evil. There's tremendous perversion. He's going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because their ways are very evil. And they are no longer worthy of continuing to exist on God's world. What is their perversion? So Rashi tells us from the Talmud that there was a young girl that they killed in a horrific way because she gave food to poor people. This girl, the Talmud tells us, is the daughter of Lot. Remember, Lot is living in the city of Sodom. And she, when she would go to the well to load it up with water, she would fill the empty pail with water. And she would fill the empty pail with water. And she would fill the empty pail with food. And she would meet the poor person by the well. And she would feed them in a surreptitious way that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah would not notice it. After all, they were not very open to the idea of hospitality. And in fact, that was a punishable crime. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah found out about it, and they killed her in a horrific way. The Talmud also says another story that each person, each resident of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, would have a coin, a special gold coin, minted, emblazoned with their face on it. And then poor people would come, knock on doors, and they would treat them seemingly with lots of kindness. They'd say, hey, come in. I want to take care of you. Here's a gold coin. Good luck. And everyone would go give them gold coins. And the person, the poor person, would be loaded with gold coins. And then he would go to the store to try to buy some food. And the store owner, the shopkeeper, would refuse, to accept this currency. And the poor person would have tons of gold, but no place to buy any food, and would just die. And after the person would die, every resident would go back to the corpse and collect the coin that has their image on them. So we see another level of perversion here in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah that the Almighty can no longer tolerate, and he's going to destroy it. So what does Abraham do? Abraham tries to intercede on their behalf. Now, Abraham came forward, and he said, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you. He came forward and said, will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked? Are you going to kill the righteous together with the wicked? Maybe there's righteous people. Maybe there's 50 righteous people. And therefore, we could save the entire region. Rashi explains that there were five different towns in this metropolis. And therefore, 10 righteous people per town will save all five of them. When he finds out that there aren't 50 righteous people, he says, well, maybe there's 40. We could save four towns. Maybe there's 30. Maybe there's 20. Maybe there's 10. And finally, when Abraham came forward, he said, I'm going to kill you. Abraham finds out that it is futile. He stops his prayer and returns home. Now, there's an interesting idea here that if there would have been 10 righteous people, 10 tzaddikim in each city, their merit would have spread out and actually saved the entire city from destruction. After Abraham is told that there aren't 50 righteous people in the city, he responds, behold now, I desire to speak to my Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. Abraham is displaying tremendous humility. He's nothing but dust and ashes. And all he wants to do is beg and plead on behalf of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah and its people. It's interesting that Abraham tells God that he's but dust and ashes. And maybe that's the proper approach between man and God. But of course, we are encouraged to not just dwell on our own pitiful reality, but also to focus on our own greatness. After Abraham's intercession on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah is unsuccessful, he returns to his place. He concedes defeat. And chapter 19, we'll read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, it's interesting. The Mishnah tells us that we are encouraged to be students of Abraham and not students of Bilaam. In the book of Numbers, we're going to read about Bilaam, who is a prophet of the non-Jews, who was hired to go destroy the Jewish people. And in the book of Numbers, that is unsuccessful. And here we see these polar opposites, Abraham and Bilaam. Abraham is praying to save his enemies that are going to be destroyed. Bilaam does the opposite. Bilaam prays to destroy his enemies. Both of their prayers are unsuccessful. But it's interesting, when Bilaam, when his prayer falters, he doesn't acknowledge defeat. He doesn't concede that that's not the will of God. He says, you know what, let's go to a different place. And he tries a different counter and chooses a different vantage point. Never did he consider that God did not want to give in. Whereas Abraham is unsuccessful with his intercession. And he does not say, you know what, let's try to get off with a technicality. Maybe, maybe we could go to a different place. No, Abraham concedes, and he returns home. Now, chapter 18 is very interesting, because, you know, these two episodes really are the two quintessential archetypical episodes of kindness in Abraham's life and in his narrative in the Torah. And what I find quite fascinating is that both episodes of kindness were essentially fruitless. After all, it turns out that those three strangers that he fed were angels. Angels don't need food. Therefore, that kindness didn't yield any positive results for the kind thing that Abraham did was to try to intercede on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. And, well, we see that Sodom and Gomorrah were not saved. And I think maybe there's a lesson here. The Torah is specifically highlighting the episodes of Abraham's chesed, his kindness, that did not yield any positive results for the recipient to tell us maybe a deep lesson. The kindness is about changing yourself, not necessarily about helping others. If the whole objective was to try to benefit the recipient, if that was the entire reason why we did kindness, well, you know who's a lot better at helping those in need than we are? It's the Almighty. So if it's all about helping the needy, well, then the Almighty should do it himself. Why does he outsource it to us? In Jewish philosophy, we say that the Almighty deliberately makes people needy in order to afford us the opportunity to help them. The Talmud says, more than the good that the donor does with the pauper, the pauper does with the donor. Meaning, who changes when there's an act of kindness, when a benefactor gives someone a need? Who changes more? The benefactor. And that's why specifically, or maybe that's my theory, that that's why specifically the Torah tells us that Abraham's kindness in an instance where his kindness didn't yield any practical, tangible results for the recipient. Chapter 19 begins, the two verses, When the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. them. He bows before them. He says, come to my house, spend the night with me, wash your feet, wake up early, and then go your way. I'm going to take care of you. Lot spent a long time influenced by Abraham. And just like Abraham was renowned for his kindness and hospitality, Lot seems to be following the same model. But if you'll notice, there are slight differences. Whereas Abraham told him, wash your feet and then come into my house, Lot says the opposite. Spend the night and then wash your feet and then wake up early and then go on your way. Abraham was very concerned about them worshiping the idolatry, so to speak, on their feet, whereas Lot wasn't so concerned about that. Moreover, Rashi tells us that there was another reason why Lot did not want them to wash their feet. And that would be that if they washed their feet and then he was caught, by the people of his hometown, they'll say, hey, look, their feet are even washed. They must have been here for a long time. Lot wanted that their feet should still be dusty. So that way, if he is caught with this crime of inviting guests, he could say, hey, they just got here. Look, their feet are still dusty from the road. So in essence, we have two reasons why Lot switched the order. Number one, because he didn't care so much about idolatry. Number two, because his commitment to kindness was not complete. He wanted to protect his own skin. As well. And maybe we could say that these two ideas are connected. Abraham, like we mentioned earlier, his kindness was rooted in his faith. And therefore, he was doing kindness because he was trying to fulfill the will of God. And therefore, how could he bring in a guest to his home who has the idolatrous dust on their feet? You got to wash your feet first. Whereas Lot was not kind of that. He was kind, independent of his relationship with God. And therefore, he didn't worry him. The fact that these pagans, so to speak, are going to be walking into his house with their dusty feet. But here we see more that someone whose kindness is rooted in faith will actually be more dedicated in their kindness. The only reason why Lot was trying to shield himself, he wasn't fully invested in the kindness. He said, oh, you know, let's keep their feet dusty. So it'll save me from any retributions if the people, Sodom and Gomorrah, find out. Where was that rooted? That was rooted in Lot's severing of kindness from faith. So initially, the angels refused to spend the night with Lot. He urged them very much. And finally, they agreed. He made them a feast. They baked matzos. They ate. But what happens? The people of Sodom and Gomorrah find out. And young people, old people, they rush to Lot's house and they mount a tremendous, tremendous protest and a riot, saying, how could you do this to us? How could you invite guests? How could you engage in hospitality? That is not the way of our city. Give us those people. Let us know them. Rashi says that's a euphemism for sodomize them. And it's amazing, this episode, it really shows just the perversion of the city. Young people, old people, everyone, the whole people of this town came to protest the kindness that Lot was doing. So Lot goes, tries to calm down the mob, shuts the door behind him. He says, listen, I beg of you, my brothers, don't act wickedly. I have two daughters that are virgins. They've never known a man. I'll bring them out to you. You do with them as you please. But to these men, do nothing in as much as they have come under the shelter of my roof. Lot is trying to appease the mob by throwing them, his two daughters, as bait for the mob, just to make sure that his children are safe. And he says, I beg of you, my brothers, don't act wickedly. I have two daughters His precious guests are untouched. We see that Lot has this warp vision of what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to invite the guests, but in his mind, that even warrants forfeiting his daughters to the mob. And my grandfather used to explain this, that Lot, after all, was a student of Abraham, but he was a student who didn't quite get it. He wasn't able to operate on his own. He was able to try to mimic Abraham, but he wasn't able to operate on his own. But he didn't internalize Abraham's worldview. And therefore, when he had to make a judgment call, when he was tasked with the responsibility of determining the proper way, he made a blunder. And here we're told, Lot was an improper student of Abraham. He didn't really internalize the message. And therefore, he was able to make this warp decision to forfeit his daughters to save his guests. So, of course, these guests are actually angels. So they take charge. Take command of the situation. They tell him, stand back. They pull Lot inside. They strike all the people outside with blindness and they get down to business. It's an urgent matter. They tell Lot, who do you have here? Your children, your sons, your daughters, your children-in-law. Let's go. We're about to destroy the city. The outcry has become great before Hashem. Hashem sent us to destroy it. So Lot tries to speak to his children-in-law, his son-in-law, and he tells them, listen, these angels are coming from God. We're about to destroy this. God's about to destroy it. It's time to leave. And he sounds like an absolute fool, but he seems like a jester in the eyes of his son's-in-law. And just as dawn is breaking, the angels urge Lot saying, get up, take your wife and your two daughters, whoever's here, lest you be swept away because of the sin of the city. Lot, of course, wanted to try to grab as many stuff as he could. And the men just grasped him by his hand, took his wife's hand and the hand of his daughters, and they took him fleeing. From the city, they made a warning, don't turn back. Don't look, don't see in the destruction of the city. You are being saved, not because of your own merit, but because of Abraham. Therefore, you don't have the rights to look at the downfall of your fellow Sodomites. It's interesting, Rashi points out that this destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah happened at daybreak. Why? Because that's the time where the moon is still visible at night, but the sun has already risen in the morning. And there were people, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were idolaters. Some of them worshipped the sun, some of them worshipped the moon. Therefore, if the city was destroyed at night, when there was just the moon, the people who worshipped the sun would have said, well, if the sun was present, then he would have stopped it. If it was done during the day, when the sun is present and the moon is obscured, well, then the people who worshipped the moon would have said that had the moon been present, it would have stopped this destruction. Therefore, God awaited until the sun and the moon were both visible in the sky. And there, when the, so to speak, idols of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were present, God flipped over the city. God destroyed the city. The sun arose upon the earth and Lot arrived in Zoar, the city of Zoar. Now Hashem has caused sulfur and fire to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah. From Hashem out of heaven, he overturned these cities and the entire plain with all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the soil. His wife, Lot's wife, peered behind him and she became a pillar of salt. Rashi explains that these cities, four of the five cities that were supposed to be destroyed, were all sitting on one slab of stone, like one tectonic plate, and that the Almighty lifted it up from the bottom and flipped it over on its head and then pushed it in. I have a theory about this. You know, if you go visit this area, this region, we know where this region is near the Dead Sea. Actually, it's the lowest point on earth. The lowest point with respect to sea level on earth is in the Dead Sea in Israel. Why? My theory is because of this episode. The Almighty had taken the previous civilization that had flourished along that area, taking the actual crust of the earth under it, flipped it on its head and smashed it deep into the ground, so to speak, and therefore all we have left is the crater of this destruction. Now Lot's wife, she didn't follow the rules. She turned around, she looked, and she became a pillar of salt. Why did she? Turned into a pillar of salt, says Rashi, because she sinned with salt, therefore she was punished with salt. When Lot would feed the guests, he would give the guests salt, and she said to him, even this terrible policy, this terrible behavior you want to bring to this place, to give them also salt, and therefore, because her opposition to kindness was manifested in this episode of salt, therefore her punishment is also manifested in salt. And I find it remarkable that someone who could be as steeped in kindness as Lot can have a wife that was so antagonistic to kindness that she even was like, how could you possibly give salt to them? How could you do anything more? What are you doing? We're in this place of Sodom and Gomorrah, and you're opposing the mores of the city. She was clearly influenced by the ways of the people around her to have a disdain for kindness. Abraham wakes up in the morning, and he's he overlooks the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and he sees the tremendous destruction. There's smoke rising from the earth, like coming out of a furnace. God destroyed the cities of the plain, and God remembered Abraham, so he sent Lot from amidst the upheaval when he overturned the cities in which Lot had lived. So there's an interesting juxtaposition here. God remembers Abraham, and therefore, he made sure that Lot is spared from this upheaval. Why did God remember Lot? Sarashi explains that when they went down to Egypt, Abraham, Sarah, who was then called Sarai, and Lot. And then Abraham told Pharaoh and the Egyptians that Sarai was his sister, even though she really was his wife. Lot, of course, knew the truth. He knew that Abraham and Sarai were married, but he didn't reveal it. And therefore, in that merit, i.e., God remembered Lot, but he really remembered Abraham, the episode of Abraham. That's why God saved Lot from this destruction. So it's interesting, the commentaries point out that Lot, after all, we see he was very dedicated to kindness. And he did kindness with total strangers. And he even taught his daughter the ways of kindness. But when we need to find a merit to save him from the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, the only episode that we could find is when he didn't oust his brother-in-law and sister, Abraham and Sarai, when they lied to the people of Egypt. It seems that Lot's kindness was him copying Abraham. And therefore, spiritual mimicry does not save him. It's only something that he did on his own. Only how he developed himself personally, only those things are a merit worthy of saving him from destruction. Now, Lot settles in the city of Soar. He refuses to go close to Abraham. He doesn't want to be compared to Abraham. He reasons that the only reason why he was saved was because in comparison relative to the sinners around him, he was worthy. And therefore, he made sure that he doesn't move next to Abraham. He settles in a cave. His family, his daughters, and his wife is gone. Their whole hometown is gone. The whole region has been destroyed. They're convinced that the whole world has been destroyed. It's an apocalyptic end of the world kind of event. And his daughters imagine that they're the only women left in the world. Their father is the only man left. They give him wine. He gets drunk. And in successive nights, he sleeps with his daughters. Both of them become pregnant. The older one has a child, Moab. Of course, we're going to meet the Moabites later on in the Torah. And the younger one has a child. She names him Ben-Ami. That's the Ammonites. We meet them as well later on. Chapter 20 begins with Abraham, moving again. Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the south and settled between Kadesh and Shur. And he sojourned in Gerar. Why did Abraham move? Rashi explains that his job, quote unquote, relocated. Why? What was Abraham's job? Abraham's job was kindness, was hospitality, was reaching out to the people around him, giving them kindness, giving them hospitality, giving them generosity, and teaching them about God. Well, where was he located? He was located in the region near Sodom and Gomorrah. Not in Sodom and Gomorrah, but near it. Now, that place has been destroyed. There's no longer any passerby. So therefore, Abraham had to move to a place with greater foot traffic to continue doing what he did. But the problem is, is that now he's in a new place, and his wife is again kidnapped. This time, it's Avimelech, the king of Gerar. He kidnaps Sarah, and he tries to sleep with her. It does not work so well for him. He is being punished. He has a dream where God tells him, how could you touch this woman? She is married to a great prophet. You're going to die unless he prays for you. Avimelech wakes up, and he runs over to Abraham. How could you do this to me? How could you give this woman and not tell me that she's your wife? Abraham says, listen, I was worried that you'll kill me. After all, I get to a new place, and they don't ask me about what do you need, how can I take care of you? They say, who is this woman? Is she your wife? Is she your sister? I was worried that this is a place free of fear of heaven, and therefore, I told you that she is my sister. And the truth is that she actually is my sister. Regardless, Avimelech doesn't want to deal with him. He gives him animals and flock and cattle and servants and maidservants, and he tells him to go settle wherever they want in the land. No one will touch them. The commentary explains that the punishment, the harsh punishment that Avimelech and his people received was that every single one of their orifices was sealed up. They no longer go to the bathroom, and their ears were stuffed up, their nose was stuffed up, every one of their orifices were stuffed up. Abraham, at the end of the chapter, prayed to God, and he healed Avimelech, his wife, and his maids, and they were relieved. After Abraham prayed on their behalf, they were able to relieve themselves. Why? For Hashem had completely restrained every orifice in the household of Avimelech because of Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Chapter 22 is the chapter that we read on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and it begins, Hashem had remembered Sarah as he had said, and Hashem did for Sarah as he had spoken. Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the same time where God had foretold a child. As he was instructed by God, he named him Isaac. Isaac is circumcised at eight days. Abraham is a hundred years old when Isaac is born. His wife, Sarah, is 90. Says Rashi, what is the meaning of this juxtaposition between the episode of Avimelech kidnapping Sarah, having all their orifices sealed, Abraham praying, having them healed, and then Sarah conceiving? Says Rashi, a very fascinating idea. If someone prays on behalf of their fellow, and they need the same thing, their prayer is answered first. Abraham and Sarah, they were always praying to God to have a child. But until this point, that prayer did not yield any results. But now they're praying for Avimelech and his family to have their orifices opened. Because in the merit of Abraham praying that Avimelech's orifices opened, as a result, his original prayer that he had done for Sarah, that her orifices opened, that her be able to bear a child, that was answered because he prayed for someone else. Therefore, his prayer gets more power, more potent. And one of the ideas behind this is that ideally, we're supposed to pray not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of heaven. And when someone prays for someone else, they are demonstrating that they're praying for the right reasons, and therefore their own prayer becomes more efficacious. Now, the commentaries explain why is this particular Torah portion read on Rosh Hashanah. So there's several answers given. But the Talmud in the book of Rosh Hashanah, page 11a, tells us that Sarah conceived on Rosh Hashanah. Moreover, not only Sarah conceived on Rosh Hashanah, Rachel, we'll read in a few parts of this, Hannah, Hannah, the mother of Rachel, they also conceived on Rosh Hashanah. Maybe there's a deep point here. Maybe it's not a coincidence that they conceived on Rosh Hashanah. Quite to the contrary. Because it was Rosh Hashanah, they were able to transform their physiology. Sarah, previously, she didn't have the hardware needed to produce a child. But the idea of Rosh Hashanah, the transformation of Rosh Hashanah, this is the day where man was created. This is the day where man is recreated. And therefore, on Rosh Hashanah, Sarah was recreated in a way, she was reborn, so to speak, in a way that she was able to have a child. And that is indeed the power of the day. And that's why we read it on Rosh Hashanah. Rashi tells us that it wasn't only Sarah who was healed. She opened up a pipeline of salvation for all of humanity. Many women who were barren, many women who were barren, many women who were children in that day. Many people who were sick were healed in that day. Many prayers that were unanswered previously were also answered on that day. The child grew up. He was weaned. So Isaac is a small child. He is two years old. His brother is 14 years older. That's Ishmael. So Ishmael at the time is 16 when Isaac is weaned. And Sarah sees the son of Hadar, the Egyptian, whom she had born to Abraham, laughing. He's mocking. So Isaac is two. Ishmael is 16. And Sarah notices that her son's half-brother, Ishmael, is laughing. He's not behaving in the proper way. What does this mean that he's laughing? So Rashi gives us three interpretations. Either he was doing idolatry, or he was engaging in sexual perversion, he was murdering. So the big three, idolatry, adultery, rape, and murder, all those three things Sarah was able to witness in Ishmael's behavior. The commentaries explain it wasn't that Ishmael was actually engaging in those behaviors, but his mockery, his laughter, was something that Sarah was able to interpret from, that from his laughter, from his levity, destined to go on to ways of idolatry, adultery, and murder, and therefore she wanted a not have this influence around her son Isaac, and therefore she said to Abraham, send him away. So she said to Abraham, drive out this slave woman with her son, for the son of that slave woman should not inherit with my son, with Isaac. Abraham is greatly distressed, but God tells Abraham, don't be distressed over the youth. Whatever Sarah tells you to do, listen to her, since through Isaac will offspring be considered yours. But the son of the slave woman as well will I make into a nation, for he is your offspring. Abraham, even though he recognized that Sarah had a point, that there's some nascent character flaws being exhibited by Ishmael, he thought, well, I shouldn't send him away. If I send him away, for sure he's going to go down that path. Let him stay in my household. And maybe we could avoid him turning into a terrible sinner. Maybe he'll rectify his ways here under my tutelage. And God tells Abraham, no, listen to Sarah. Sarah is a greater prophet than you, and therefore whatever she tells you to do, you should do. So Abraham wakes up in the morning, he gives Hagar and Ishmael some provisions, some bread, some water, and says, okay, you should leave. And they leave, and bad things start happening. And Abraham, he's like, I'm going to leave. And he's like, I'm going to leave. And he's He shows her a well of water, she goes, she fills up her pitcher, she gives the youth to drink, and he is healed. And he grows up, he lives in the desert, becomes an accomplished archer, and he married a woman from the land of Egypt. This is another theme that we revisit on Rosh Hashanah. Even though Ishmael is destined to cause all kinds of trouble for the Jewish people, not only him but his children, still, God listens to his prayer and to his mother's prayer, and he is saved from devastation. The Talmud explains that the angels petitioned to God, how could you save Ishmael? Let him die. All kinds of terrible things are going to happen to the Jewish people from his descendants. And God responded to them, well, what's his status today? Is he righteous or is he wicked right now? And they respond, well, he's righteous now, but he's going to be wicked in the future. God says, I'm only judging him with respect to his current status. Now he's righteous, I'm going to judge him as such. And therefore, even though in the future he's going to go down the wicked path, I will only judge him as righteous and I'm going to save him. And that is a theme that we revisit on Rosh Hashanah. Even though we may have had a wicked past and we're destined for a wicked future, if on Rosh Hashanah we are righteous, God will judge us as per our status of that time and judge us favorably. Rashi points out in addition here that God listens and heeds to the prayer of Ishmael, not to the prayer of Hagar. Says Rashi, from here we see that the prayer of the sick person themselves is more effective than the prayer of others for him. Perhaps the reason behind that, why is Ishmael's prayer more effective than Hagar's prayer? Maybe the idea is that prayer is the cognition and acceptance of the notion that we are powerless. Everything we have is from God. We're in God's hands. We're at God's mercy. The sick person truly senses their vulnerability. They realize that they have nothing, that they're totally in the hands of God. And therefore, that prayer, a prayer done with the recognition that you are totally in the hands of God, that prayer is very powerful. Chapter 21 ends with Abraham making an alliance with Avimelech. He signs a peace accord with Avimelech and his descendants. And Abraham also plants an Eshel in Be'er Sheva. Abraham builds another hospitality center where he proclaims the name of God. Rashi tells us, quoting from the Talmud, that what Abraham used to do is he would use his kindness to influence people in the ways of monotheism. He built a hotel and he would give free food, room and board to all the people that came to visit. In fact, we're told in the Midrash that Abraham devised a new kind of tent, a tent that had four entrances, meaning that whichever direction the passersby are coming from, they'll be welcomed into Abraham's home and be fed and taken care of adequately. And once someone would be there, they'd be wined and dined by Abraham. And when they would leave, they would want to show their appreciation. Thank you so much, Abraham. You've been so kind with me. And Abraham says, wait a minute. Why are you thanking me? You have to thank God. It is God, not me, who made this food. And Abram would use this kindness to influence other people. So a few points here. First of all, my grandfather used to say that Abram had a four-door tent, but really all of us, all of us who have cars also have a potentially four-door tent of kindness. We have a car. We see someone walking to synagogue or back home or whatever. we have the opportunity to use our car that also has four doors in the ways of our forefather, in the ways of Abraham, in the ways of kindness. But here we see another powerful idea, that if you want to influence someone, it's probably a very effective way to not just give lectures or be very stern in your admonishment of their ways, rather to feed them, take care of them, give them love, show them love and kindness, empathy, care, concern, be generous and benevolent. And then when they're appreciative, you redirect that kindness towards faith. And Abraham lived there for many years. And many, many years later, we arrive at chapter 22, which is the final chapter of this Parsha and a very pivotal event in Jewish history and certainly in the history of Abraham and his son, Isaac. And that is the episode of the binding of Isaac. And it happened after these themes that God tested Abraham, and he said to him, Abraham, and he replied, here I am. And Abraham is told by God, take your son, your only son, the son that you love, take Isaac, go to the land of Moriah, go to Jerusalem, bring him up there as an offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you. This is going to be the 10th trial, the trial known as the Arcade of the Binding of Isaac on the altar. Abraham is going to be given a test. Take your son, bring him up as a sacrifice, offer him to me. Of course, this is a test not only for Abraham, it's also a test for Isaac. And Rashi, in fact, tells us that Ishmael would gloat to Isaac by saying, Hey, Isaac, you're only eight days old when you were circumcised. You had no ability to refuse. I was 13 years old and I'm so much better than you because even though it was quite painful, I did not protest and I was willingly allowed myself to be circumcised. And Isaac responded, well, you committed yourself to God in one organ. But if God told me to sacrifice my entire body, I wouldn't stop him. And therefore, we see that this is not only a test for Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice, but a test for Isaac, too, to see if he's willing to give up his life for God. So Abraham wakes up early in the morning, he saddles his donkey, Rashi points out that he was acting with total devotion to God, he himself saddled his own donkey, he was so excited to fulfill the will of God, he didn't outsource that to someone else. And he takes his two young men with him, i.e. Ishmael and Eliezer, and he takes Isaac, he takes the wood for the offering, and they travel in the direction where God tells him. On the third day, Abraham looks up and he sees the place from afar. He sees a cloud hovering over the mountaintop in Jerusalem. He asks his children and Eliezer, do you see it? Eliezer says, I don't see it. Ishmael says, I don't see it. Isaac says, yeah, I see it. So those two, Abraham and Isaac, they head out towards the mountaintop. And they tell the other two, stay here by yourself with the donkey while I and the land will go there. We'll worship and we will return. It's interesting the commentaries point out that Abraham tells Eliezer and Ishmael, stay here with the donkey. Let me and Isaac go and worship and return. But of course, in the next verse, we read that Abraham has to take the wood for the offering and he has to take the knife and the fire. He has to take all kinds of provisions with him. So why does Abraham not take the donkey with them? If Abraham and Isaac are traveling up the mountain and they have all kinds of stuff, they're carrying it by hand, why do they tell them, you know, stay here with donkey? Why don't they take the donkey to help them schlep all those provisions? So the Maharal says a fascinating idea. He says that the donkey, after all, in all of Jewish literature, represents the idea of materialism. That's what a donkey is. A chamor in Hebrew, the donkey, It's related to the word chomer, which means materialism. And sometimes, says the Maharal, sometimes when we're about to partake in a spiritually uplifting activity, we cannot bring the donkey with us. We have to leave the donkey behind. We cannot take materialistic interests to a spiritual opportunity. When you're communing with God, it has to be without the donkey. Even if you're in control of the donkey, even if you're someone like Abraham, who was a master of his materialistic self, when he's going to have this amazing transcendental experience with God, he can't bring the donkey with him. Now, if you'll notice, when he speaks to Ishmael and Eliezer, he says, we're going to come back. Stay here by yourselves with the donkey. We're going to go. We're going to worship and we will return, says Rashi. A spark of prophecy was manifested by Abraham where he prophesied. He prophesied that even though at the time Abraham was under the impression that he was going to sacrifice Isaac, his words were prophetic, even without him realizing that they're actually going to return. So, Abraham takes the wood and the fire and the knife and they walk together. Then Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, Father. And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, so Isaac says, Here's the fire and the wood, but where's the lamb for the offering? We're missing a critical point. We're missing a critical component of a sacrifice. There's no animal. So, Abraham responds, God will seek out for himself the lamb for the offering, but if not, then you're going to be the offering. And the two of them went together. And this shows, Rashi points this out, that even though Isaac is apprised of Abraham's plans, he doesn't rebel. He's willing to walk with Abraham together towards this horrific destiny. They finally arrive on the mountaintop. This place is, of course, the holocaust. This is the holiest place in Jewish history. This is Temple Mount. Abraham builds the altar, arranges the wood. He binds Isaac, his son, atop the altar. Abraham grasps the knife. And at the last second, the angel of God calls out to heaven, Abraham, Abraham, here I am. The angel says to him, don't stretch out your head against the land. Don't even make a small nick in him. Now I know you've proven yourself that you are a God-fearing. Man, you have not even withheld your son, your only son, from me. Abraham lifts his eyes and sees, behold, there's a ram caught up in the shrubbery, in the thicket by its horns. Abraham takes the ram, offers it up as an offering instead of his son. And Abraham renames the mountain Hashem Yerayet, God will appear. That is the name of the mountain until this very day. We blow a ram's horn. We blow a shofar. We blow a shofar on Rosh Hashanah to invoke this episode, to earn atonement, to show, to remind God, so to speak, of this tremendous act of self-sacrifice and dedication by Abraham and Isaac that they were willing to give up their lives for God. Now we find out something very interesting from Rashi here. Rashi says when Abraham discovers the ram, behold, a ram, actually that ram was locked up in that location. Since the six days of creation. For thousands of years, the ram was caught up in the thicket in its horns, waiting for the day where Abraham would use it as a sacrifice on that mountaintop. Something really remarkable emerges here. You know, if you were that ram and you've been stuck in the shrubbery, caught up in the thicket in your horns for hundreds of years, for thousands of years. You're thinking, my goodness, it's terrible. Why did God put me here? I'm stuck. I cannot move. But now we find out, years later, that the ram was not stuck. It was positioned there. Sometimes we think, oh, why did God put me in this place? Why am I stuck here? But we don't realize this is actually us being set up to achieve our destiny. Abraham renames the mountain Hashem Yira'eh, says the Talmud. What is the name of that city? What is the name of that mountain? It's called Jerusalem or Yerushalayim. Last week's Parsha, we called it Shalem, Salem. This week's Parsha, Abraham names it Hashem Yira'eh. If you take Yira'eh and Salem, you put those two together, Yerushalayim, Jerusalem. Abraham is given another blessing. Because you have done this thing, I have not withheld your son, your only one, that I shall surely bless you and greatly increase your offspring like the stars of the heaven, like the sand of the seashore. Your offspring shall inherit the gate of its enemy. All the nations shall bless themselves by your offspring because you have listened to my voice. Abraham returns to Ishmael and Eliezer, and they stood up and they traveled back to Beersheba, and Abraham settled in Beersheba, and the Parsha ends with the birth of Rebekah. Rebekah is going to be Isaac's wife, and right after this tremendous episode where Isaac was almost offered as a sacrifice before God, right afterwards, his future spouse is born. And, of course, their courtship and marriage is going to be the centerpiece of next week's Parsha. Now, these two events that ended the Parsha, number one, Abraham's banishment of Ishmael, and number two, Abraham's offering of Isaac as a sacrifice, of course, raise some very deep questions. And maybe these things should be discussed at greater length on their own podcast. But we see here something that, again, is one of the themes that's been strung throughout the Parsha. Abraham is a paragon of faith and of kindness, but really those two are interlinked. And here we see that Abraham is acting in a most unkind way. He's banishing his son Ishmael. He is offering his son or trying to offer his son Isaac. Those things are very unkind. But the reason why they're a test, the struggle here, what's the conflict? The conflict is God says banish Ishmael. God says offer Isaac as a sacrifice. What Abram is demonstrating when he is indeed fulfilling the will of God, what he's showing us is that his kindness ultimately sees its roots in his faith. The reason why Abram was kind was because that was the will of God. And therefore, if the will of God is to be unkind, he acted unkindly with the same devotion as he acted in a kind manner. The one person who is missing from the whole episode of The Binding of Isaac is, of course, Sarah. And in next week's part of the show, we're going to find out what happens to Sarah once she discovers what happened or what was about to happen on the mountaintop on Temple Mount when Abraham was going to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.
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