Vayera: The More You Give

Dear friends, welcome to this week's virtual drussa. This week we have the incredible privilege a paras and the para opens up three days after underwent circumcision. Remember again the end of last week's parabu accepted upon himself the mitzvah of and advanced age. Three days later is in the midst of his recovery and the Torah says chapter 18 verse1 was sitting outside his tent by the entrance of his tent the heat of the Hashem appeared him. Why did Hashem appear to him? So the Gimar explains to visit the sick and then the Torah launches into a very interesting story is sitting by the tent and he's looking around. Heb lifts his eyes and he sees three men standing in the distance. What does he do? This elderly man who is recovering from bism from circumcision runs runs out from his tent in middle of the day heat of the day to go and to greet these individuals. Of course, we know they're not regular individuals. They're malim angels dispatched by for a variety of different missions and invites them into his home. Again this was exceptionally paradigmatically Abrahamic was all about and one of the ways in which he really personified this hospitality's tent was open on all four sides because understood extend basic human kindness to another individual and they will be receptive to your spiritual messages as well and it's interesting to note that the Torah goes into incredible detail regarding the story right it's fascinating again where is sitting at the entrance way of the tent it's hot outside. He's looking around. He sees three men. He runs after the men. He invites them in. Not only that, but then the Torah goes through the whole menu. He goes to Sah Squ make bread slaughter animals. And then the Torah in fact tells us about when he brings the food to the guests to the And the Torah says, he brought butter and milk and the meat. He placed everything before them. and he's standing over them and they ate it. And the obvious question is why is the Torah going into such incredible detail regarding this story? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's interesting and it's fascinating and I got it. The point over here is these malim were coming because each of them had a dramatic mission to execute, right? One of them had to announce the birth of one of them was to destroy stone. One of them was to save lot. So obviously again this is a buildup to what's about to occur afterwards. But so much time, so many details regarding this story of hospitality. Again, we're here sitting, he's looking, he's running, he's bringing them in the whole menu, ordering of the menu, the bringing out of the menu. Why all of these details regarding this story of hospitality? And the Gar says something very beautiful, a famous 127a. And the Excuse me. So says in Shab and in that hospitality is even greater is even greater than than receiving the divine countenance. You hear what this you already hear this having people in your home hospitality is even a greater mitzvah even a greater spiritual accomplishment than receiving the divine presence. Now where does the gimar get this from? So the understand because remember at the beginning of the para is sitting talking with hashem and then when sees the opportunity for hospitality he runs out. He runs out. So like literally puts on hold. He says, "Yeah, God, thank you for coming. Just stay right here. I'll I'll be right back." And he runs out to greet three strangers. So the says, "You see from here that obviously welcoming guests, hospitality is even greater than receiving the divine countenance." And it sounds so beautiful, but it doesn't really seem to make sense really. Really, everything we do is to create the relationship with In other words, mitzvos are not in ends. They're a means. Every single thing we do in our spiritual lives is for one purpose and one purpose only to create a relationship with every mitzvah is a building block in the fabric of that relationship. That's the goal. The goal is the goal is to receive to have a relationship with Hashem. Says I have one request. I want to dwell in your house relationship. So how does the say that hospitality right having guests in your home is greater than receiving the divine countenance. The whole goal of hospitality the whole goal of every interpersonal between us and God are all to build relationship. So what is the mean? How do you understand it? And there's an incredibly beautiful insight by the divino. The direit of harit who lived from 1766 to 1813. And the divina says something incredibly beautiful. He says in general when you give something to someone else by definition you no longer have it. Right? So if I if I have a if I have a piece of cake and I decide to be a nice guy and give you my piece of cake you have it. I don't. That's the way it normally works in the material world. There's a finite object, a finite item. And again, there's one of it, there of whatever number it is. And if I give you the whole half, whatever I give you, there is by definition less for me. The says, interestingly enough, there's one exception to that in the physical world. What's the one exception? The says a nursing mother. a nursing mother that has work with a nursing mother. If the mother doesn't feed her child, then the milk supply dries up. But the more the mother nurses, ultimately again, the more milk her body produces. And says Deb Alba something amazing. He says, if you notice, the first form of sustenance that we have in this world is mother's milk. That's the first form of sustenance, right? before a baby begins to eat anything else ultimately even even like in today's incredible right maybe I have this formula of this this that but even so before any of that right they're always going to try to see could the mother nurse her child the first form of sustenance says something so beautiful because wants our first lesson to be in this world that the more you give the more you get human nature always tells us that the more we give, the less we have. And therefore, the first lesson that literally as babies we ingest in this world, the message of a mother's milk is the more you give, the more you get. The more I'm willing to do for the other, the more I'm willing to give to the other. It's true. Perhaps in the moment now there's less for me but in the grand scheme of things in the big picture the more I'm willing to do and give for you the more ultimately again I will receive from and this lesson says that is so important you know you ever wonder to yourself like what's the first lesson that a child receives when it comes into this world. So we often like to think oh it's but is something that a parent teaches a child when a child's a little bit older at least able to say the words Mosha gave us the Torah from beautiful that's not the first lesson says the first lesson that a baby learns the first nugget of of Jewish education that every single infant it's not just Jewish it's a humanity education is the lesson of the mother's milk the more you give the more you get, the mother sees it, the baby sees it or at least understands it on some level. And this is the first building block of says that conveys to us in this world. And ultimately again says something so beautiful. He says this is why ultimately again began with milk. If you notice by the way in the lion of the p. So the P says he gave them he gave them butter, milk, dairy products ultimately again and then the meat. Of course it could very well be that was on also. So they didn't want to give milk and meat together. Okay. But on a on a more like like level first gives them the milk almost as if to say to them don't worry maybe you're going to feel a little bit strange about eating my food that if you eat my food I'm going to have less. I'm going to say that's not how it works. Let me teach you the lesson of the milk. Let me teach you the lesson of the mother's milk. The more you give, ultimately again, the more you get. And the Reb says something so beautiful. He says that's the he says we're reading the gimar wrong. We all read the as so we read it as hospitality is greater than receiving the divine, the divine countenance, the divine presence. The says that's not how to read it. Rather again you have to go ahead and put a com a little bit differently where why is so great because the more you give the more you get the more you're willing to be there for the other the more you will receive from the more you're willing to put yourself out there for the other to extend yourself for the other the more you will have again often Our finite level of human comprehension understanding says well again there's a finite amount of stuff finite amount of money finite amount of food finite amount of time finite amount of kawak and if I'm giving it to you by definition I don't have it but that's not the way it works. Do you know why opening your home and opening your life to another Jew is so incredibly important? Yoser like the mother's milk. The more you give the more you will get. And where else do we see this modeled? The other place we see this modeled ultimately again the paradigmatic representation of this is our relationship with Hashem. Because the way it works is the more I'm willing to put into the relationship ultimately again the more I will get out. Not to go ahead and make our relationship with like a quid proquo. That's not what it's saying. But at the end of the day to recognize that you know Yiddish kite demands self-sacrifice that that's right from the beginning of the day right the alarm goes off in the morning and like in that moment I have like that that that decision that seems like one of the most important decisions of the day I could sleep and that's for me or I could get up whether I'm getting up to go to shir I'm getting up to dabin what whichever form of spiritual service and in that moment I'm like one sec I I I need my sleep and ultimately again if I give up my sleep there's less for me. It's not true. The more you give to the more ultimately again you will receive in return. In the short run it may feel like I'm giving up a lot. We work very hard for our money. We all work very hard for our money. And the notion sometimes of having to part with it even if it's for a good cause a little difficult. I don't know. Maybe I'd like a little more for myself. I'd like to have a little bit more of a cushion. And I like that. But again, understand the more you give, the more you get. It's the lessons lesson of the mother's milk. And it's the lesson ultimately again of that's the great because doesn't just represent having someone over for a meal. It represents doing for the other. The more you do for the other, the more you will get from. And ultimately, where else do we see that? The more you're willing to give up of yourself, the more you're willing to sacrifice for says, "I promise I got you. I got you." And the more you give me, the more I will emit Hashem over time in some way somehow give back to you. This was the lesson that Armavinu was teaching us, lesson that Khazal are teaching us and a tremendous lesson. It was the guiding light principle of Armavinu's life. But I think something really profound for us to contemplate as well. Often Yiddesh kite demands of us to make sacrifices whether they're sacrifices of our time, of our resources, of our shabas table. But just understand that whatever sacrifice, and I put that in quotations because it's not really a sacrifice. Whatever you have to quote unquote give up of yourself in the different arenas of life, whether you're giving it up for your fellow Jew or whether you're giving up, always remember one word, you will always get more than what you gave. Just like a mother teaches her infant child, the more I the mother give to you my baby, the more I will have. Our first nugget, our first morsel of of education in this world is that nugget of education, that nugget of hash that needs to follow us throughout our entire lives. The more we give to the other, the more we get. The more we give to ultimately the more we get. The lesson of the mother's milk, the lesson of yoser, the lesson of mayashem to inculcate it within ourselves and use it as a guiding light principle in our relationship with one another and our relationship with hashem. Wishing everyone a good night of Shabas and a beautiful Shabas Kodesh.