27 Oct PARSHAS VAYERA LET THEM EAT LEFTOVERS

“Please take a bit of
water, wash your feet,
rest under the tree, and
I will give you a little
bread” [Bereishis
18:4]. We would think
that the person who
epitomized welcoming
guests into his home would speak differently.
Rather than promising a bit of water and a
little bread and offering them rest under the
tree, we would have expected that Avraham
would invite them directly into his house,
promise them a nice meal, and put them up in
the finest accommodations.
Rav Nissan Alpert explained that many times
we are hesitant to take guests into our house.
Our excuse is that we really cannot do them
justice. We cannot serve a meal that is
appropriate for them. “We are having leftovers
tonight.” “We cannot serve tuna fish to the
guests!” “We cannot give them the
accommodations that they deserve.” “I would
rather not invite guests at all than invite them
and not give them the honor that they deserve.”
We learn just the opposite from Avraham
Avinu. Proper hospitality (Hachnasas Orchim)
is to invite the guests when they “show up”.
Let them eat Rice Krispies — a bit of water, a

little bread — but invite them in. The lesson
that our patriarch is teaching us regarding
Hachnasas Orchim is to always be ready to
have guests. People do not need sumptuous
meals. They do not need meals akin to the
meal of Shlomo in his heyday. People are even
happy with tuna fish. They do not need more.
They do not want more.
Rabbi Alpert said that his father used to say
“One should never PREPARE for company;
but one should always BE PREPARED for
company.” The quintessential host tells us to
have the company. Even if we cannot provide
them with our “knock-out” recipes, have the
company, nevertheless.
Avraham’s Prayers For Sodom Did Help –
They Helped Avraham Himself
When G-d was about to destroy Sodom, He
said “Will I hide from Avraham that which I
am about to do?” [18:17]. He then told
Avraham about the imminent destruction of
Sodom. Avraham prayed…50, 40, 30,…
Ultimately G-d decided to destroy Sodom
anyway.
This narration is hard to understand. G-d knew
that he was going to destroy Sodom. G-d knew
up front that Sodom did not possess 50 or 40
or even 10 righteous people. So what was He
doing? Was He playing games with Avraham?

It seems as if He was dangling a little prize
called Sodom in front of Avraham, challenging
him to save the city. It seems as if He was
teasing Avraham, because there was no way
that Avraham could win the prize! Avraham
grasped for the prize, as it were, but could
never catch it! It appears as if G-d was setting
Avraham up for disappointment.
The fact is that it is possible that G-d was
actually doing a tremendous service to
Avraham. This exercise helped Avraham to
become the pillar of Chessed that he would
ultimately represent. We fail to realize that
when we pray for something or for someone,
those prayers have an effect on us regardless
of whether those prayers are answered or not.
How many times have we come together as
individuals or as a community and poured out
our prayers for somebody? There are
unfortunately times when “it did not work”
and the effort was seemingly to no avail. We
ask ourselves, “What did we do?” We did what
we could. We fasted. We cried. We gave
charity. But it did not help!
This is a tremendous mistake. It did help. Even
if it did not help anyone else, at least it helped
us! We became better people because we were
concerned about somebody else — a neighbor,
a friend, a member of the community. We

prayed and we gave our hearts. We did
something. We became better.
This is what G-d was telling Avraham. “Pray!
I will not destroy Sodom until you pray. Why?
I know your prayers will not be effective. I
know Sodom is doomed. But that is irrelevant.
You, Avraham, will become a different person
as a result of those prayers. You will perfect
your attribute of Chessed, your attribute of
caring and compassion. That is what it is all
about.”
This is so important when we pray for
something or someone. We should never think
that the prayers are for naught. We do not
know what the prayers accomplished — even
for the person for whom we are praying.
Maybe, somehow, they lightened the load. We
can only speculate about that. But there is one
thing regarding which we can be certain — we
became different people as a result of those
prayers.