VaYera
The pasuk writes in the Navee regarding Avraham Aveenu, "Titain Emet LiYaakov, Chessed Li’Avraham". The pasuk emphasizes Avraham’s exceptional level of Chessed, goodness, benevolence, charity, and kindness. I heard this week from the current Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Shlomo Amar, may he live and be will, the following explanation to show how Avraham’s Chessed and kindness were boundless.
In Parashat VaEra we read the story of how Avraham Aveenu prayed on behalf of the plight of Sidom even though its inhabitants sinned and morally went against all that Avraham believed in. The people of Sidom were corrupt and sinful, and they were simply cruel people. We can say that the people of Sidom were the exact opposite of what everything Avraham Aveenu stood for. While Avraham Aveenu was the epitome of kindness, the people of Sidom were the epitome of cruelty. Moreover, the people of Sidom held fundamentally that their way of life was correct. They didn’t give charity on purpose. They didn’t help others on purpose. Maybe it was because they didn’t want a welfare society on their hands, or maybe it was because they did not want to create parasites. Or maybe it was because they did not want to take away motivation from people, and wanted to make sure that everyone learned how to fend for themselves and support themselves. This way of life differed completely from Avraham Aveenu’s approach to life. To Avraham Aveenu, Chessed and helping others was everything.
Now when one is defeated, it is the nature of the victor to rejoice and state how he was right all along. In the case of Sidom, Avraham should have been thrilled at the outcome and the repercussions faced by Sidom. Avraham could have said that his methodology was right and that Sidom deserved to face the consequences. Avraham could have gloated that his Chessed approach was right and that selfishness and cruelty of Sidom was wrong. It is the nature of a person to bask in glory when he sees his adversary lose. But Avraham Aveenu was so great and his Chessed was so limitless that he started to pray for these people, rather than revel in victory. These people were his enemies in ideology and in way of life, but yet, Avraham Aveenu prayed for them that they should have life. Avraham Aveenu did not get swayed from Chessed even when it involved people who held the exact opposite of his own beliefs.
The Midrash says that we have an obligation to emulate our forefathers- Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. So the lesson we learn today is about Chessed. It is not enough to simply perform acts of kindness when justified, but we must rather follow Avraham’s lead and perform acts of kindness even when it is not justified, and when it goes beyond rationale and beyond understanding. That is what it means in the pasuk "Chessed Li’Avraham". It is declaring the unique caliber of Chessed exhibited by Avraham Aveenu. And it is his character trait in this regard that we must follow.
