“And God appeared unto him at the oaks of Mamre, and he was sitting in the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day.” (Bereshit, 18:1) It is written (Malachi, 3:20), “For those who fear My name I will shine the sun of tsedaka (righteousness) and of healing in her wings.” “Those who fear My name” means those who have an understanding of words of Torah and of God. This will necessitate that they have true fear, and this is the explanation of “those who fear My name.” promising them that He will shine the sun of tsedaka upon them, or in other words, refined words of Torah. “Of healing in her wings” means trust, or taking strength in God and in words of Torah, just as wings are the trust and strength of the bird. We find that before God was revealed to him, Avraham Avinu derived no satisfaction from all the matters of this world, and even despised them. His true desire was to know “who is the master of the city [the world].” This is as is written (Mishlei, 15:24), “the way of life is above for the intelligent,” meaning that this quest was his principal concern, as something placed on high. Therefore God appeared unto him and gave him the special strength (tekifut) of refined words of Torah, for “oaks” denotes special strength, and “Mamre” (as in zaken mamre, an elder who refuses to abide by the injunction of the courts) means that he refused all the matters of this world, finding them bitter. “And he was sitting in the entrance to the tent in the heat of the day.” In other words, he was fervent for the love of God that is called day, and it was explicit before him. This is the meaning of “in the entrance to the tent,” meaning that it was open before him. “And behold, three men were standing upon him” means that God showed him that all the world stands upon him, for an angel is one-third of the world, as it is written in the Midrash. (Bereshit Rabba, 68:12, where it says that an angel is the high officer [shalish, see Shirat haYam, Shemot 15:4] of the world, and based on the similarity of the words interprets that the size of an angel is a third [shlish] of the world, using the verse in Daniel when he saw an angel [10:6], “His body was like tarshish [beryl, a brilliant gem in the urim and tummim, on the high priest’s breastplate, and also meaning the finest ship of the ancient world],” and as Rashi notes, like a ship on the high sea, and the ocean is a third of the world.) He showed him that the entire world exists in the merit of Avraham Avinu.

“… and he looked, and he saw three people standing on [in front of] him.” (Bereshit, 18:2) Why did the angels come before the birth of Yitzchak? The world did not deserve to have born into it a soul as precious as that of Yitzchak, for it was as if the very Shechina, the divine presence, were descending into the world. Yitzchak’s attribute is that of Gevurah (strength), and the Shechina is itself called Gevurah, as it says at Mount Sinai, “thus Moshe heard from the mouth of Gevurah” (see Eruvin, 54b). This necessitated the arrival of the three angels in order that the atmosphere of the world would be filled with Kedusha (holiness), for “an angel is a third of the world” (see end of previous passage) and then afterwards Yitzchak could be born.

“And Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh ….” (Bereshit, 18:15) There is a great depth in this matter. The saying of the Gemara (Berachot, 33b), “Rabbi Chanina said, all is in the hands of Heaven, except for the fear of Heaven,” applies only to the extent of the understanding of the mortal intellect. Truly, everything is in the hands of Heaven including the fear of Heaven, yet God hid His way (this consciousness) in the world. The attribute of Yitzchak Avinu was to recognize that even the fear of Heaven comes from God, yet the world was not worthy of a consciousness as precious as this. Therefore Sarah found it necessary to say, “But my lord is old [too old to father children].” Here it seems as if she is denying that all is in the hands of Heaven. Accordingly the Holy One, blessed be He, showed her, measure for measure, that even the fear of Heaven comes from Him, and were it not for the concealment of this understanding from her and from the world, Yitzchak could not have been born into the world. For the preciousness of the attribute of Yitzchak was to clarify and to show that even the fear of Heaven comes from God, and even all the transgressions of Israel occurred under the watch of God’s providence. By means of this God’s great name is exalted and sanctified! Understand this, for it is exceedingly deep. (See in the Gemara [Avoda Zara, 4b], “Rabbi Yehusha ben Levi said, Israel only made the golden calf to support the position of ba’alei teshuva [penitents], as it is written (Devarim, 5:26), ‘would it were that they gave their hearts … to fear Me all the days.’ R. Yehoshua ben Levi said in the name of R. Shimon b. Yochai, David was not capable of this action [his sin with Bathsheba] as it is written (Tehilim, 109:22), ‘my heart is empty [of the evil inclination] within me [and therefore it has no power over me], and Israel was not supposed to be capable of making the golden calf, as it is written, ‘would that they gave their hearts to fear Me.’ So why did they make it? To show you, that if an individual sinned they say to him that it was entirely up to the individual, and if a whole community sinned then it was the responsibility of the entire community.” Rashi comments: “to support the position of ba’alei teshuva,” that is to say that they were courageous and controlled their evil natures, and it was against their very abilities to give in to the evil inclination; yet it was the decree of the King that their evil natures overcome them. Yet it was in order to respond to the penitents, to show that there was value in their return, for perhaps after one sins he would say, “there is no need for me to return to the good, for God would not accept me anyway.” Then they could say to him, “go and learn from the incident with the golden cow, how they made atonement and their penance was accepted.” And if so, what made it so that the tribes would fulfill the mitzvah of giving the half-shekel, it was to atone for their worship of the golden calf, and if the sin of the golden calf caused them to fulfill the mitzvah of the half-shekel, how much more so would be the effect of the merit of the mitzvot that they are doing! And in the Jerusalem Talmud it is written [Shekalim, Ch. 2, halacha 3], “since they sold the first born of Rachel for twenty silver pieces, thus each one must redeem his first born son for twenty silver pieces.” From the emendations of Yerucham Lainer.)

“All who hear will laugh from rejoicing in me ….” (Bereshit, 21:6) “Hearing” means understanding. It is said (Bereshit Rabba, 45:8), “when Sarah became pregnant, many infertile women in the world became pregnant at the same time.” In response to this, many of the scoffers of the generation said, “who is to say that this miracle came about through the power of Sarah, were not many other infertile women answered with children?” So Sarah said, “all who hear,” meaning whoever possesses understanding will know that this was the laughter that God made for me.

“and Avraham returned to his place ….” (Bereshit, 18:33) After Avraham wholly delivered himself over to the cause of saving the people of Sodom, and after most of the prayer that he exerted in order to save them, God answered him that they were hateful of God, and it hurt Him that he would exert so much over those who hate God. Therefore, “Avraham returned to his place,” meaning to his initial place of strength, for then he truly knew that he only really loves the lovers of God, and certainly this contained a depth far greater than his apprehension.

“And Avraham journeyed from there to the land of the Negev.” (Bereshit, 20:1) Avraham Avinu refined all kinds of love in the world so that they be dedicated to God alone. Then, when he saw how an action as the incident between Lot and his two daughters could have occurred, he began anew the entire process of refining love. This is “and he journeyed,” from an action such as this, “to the land of the Negev,” meaning a place so dry that it was as if he had not even begun to refine love whatsoever.

“… for God has greatly closed up all the wombs of the house of Avimelech, concerning [his intentions to take Sarah for a wife] … And God remembered Sarah … and caused her to conceive ….” (Bereshit, 20:18, 21:1) In the Midrash (Tanchuma, Vaye’chi, 8, on Yechezkel 17:24), “I have dried the wet [fertile] wood, and caused the dry wood to blossom. ‘Dried the wet wood,’ is Avimelech; ‘caused the dry wood to blossom,’ is Avraham.” Concerning Avraham it is written (Yechezkel, 33:24), “Avraham was one.” This means that in himself Avraham was not fit to give birth because he was intensely joined to God at the level of the final and most perfect form of simplicity. Whosoever is joined to God in such completeness only contains within him matters of pure simplicity and oneness with true life. Therefore when the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted Avraham to give birth to Yitzchak Avinu, He did so only after the incident with Avimelech. Avimelech wanted to steal all that was in the possession of Avraham, and for this he was judged measure for measure. At that time the Gevurah (strength, severity) of the world was with the Philistines, and thus we find that the mighty Samson was always fighting with them. Therefore this very power of Gevurah was given to Avraham. (See Tsidkat haTsaddik, 249, which says, “Thus I have heard that Avraham Avinu received the spirit of wisdom and understanding from Egypt, and the spirit of counsel and Gevurah from Avimelech. This is the reason why they suspected that Sarah became pregnant from Avimelech [as the Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 1, says, “since Sarah gave birth immediately after the incidents with Pharaoh and Avimelech, they said, ‘from Pharaoh or Avimelech she conceived.’” Then even Avraham began to suspect, so God clarified the matter by making the face of Yitzchak exactly like the face of Avraham] for immediately when the power of birth was taken from Avimelech it was given to Avraham”). When the power of Gevurah was given to Avraham it was without limit. For all the powers of the nations of the world are limited within them, and when these powers are entered into Israel they are without limit, as they are cleaving to God also at their roots and without limit. For this reason Israel is dispersed among the nations in order that they may receive all the powers residing in each of the seventy nations, and once in Israel it will be without limit. Thus it is written concerning King Shlomo (Bava Metsia, 86b), “He took wives from many nations,” for the strength of each nation is principally in its women, and particularly in the princess. Therefore, when all these powers are conquered, they will sprout good among Israel, “the branch of My planting” (Yesahya, 60:21).

“… and God tested Avraham ….” (Bereshit, 22:1) The test of the binding of Yitzchak (henceforth, the Akeida) was in the great faith that Avraham Avinu had in God. God had already said to him, “thus will be your progeny” and “I will keep my covenant, with Yitzchak,” so now, when He said to him, “raise him up on the altar for a sacrifice,” even though he remembered what he had previously been told, still he did not fall from his faith. It is not possible for the intelligence of man to apprehend this kind of faith. Truly, we never find the specific command of God telling him to slaughter his son, so therefore the verse does not say, “and YHV’H tested Avraham” (using God’s name of mercy), but “E-lohim tested” (God’s name of judgment), meaning that the Divine injunction came to him in the aspect of a “mirror which does not illuminate” (a lower level of prophecy) (Zohar Bereshit, 120b) and therefore the name “E-lohim” is used, which denotes tekifut (holy strength). Therefore concerning Yitzchak it was not really a test, for he believed that this was clearly what God wanted Avraham to do, yet for Avraham it was a great trial because he had not received a clear message from God. So if he were tainted in any aspect of his relationship as a father towards his son, then God would have obliged him to have mercy upon him. Truly, it was the direct will of God that he would not slaughter his son, and the trial was only to shine this understanding into Avraham. This is why, when he prayed for Sodom he said (Bereshit, 18:27), “for I am dust and ashes,” for dust represents an action that has not been disencumbered of impurities and needs fixing. It is possible that things may grow out of the dust, where ashes represent something completely lost, God forbid. If he had slaughtered his son then there would not have been any way to repair the damage. Similarly with the people of Sodom, if his prayer had been effective and they lived, and then they continued in their evil ways, then it would have been like ashes from which there is no growth. Thus God showed him that his prayer over them had not been in vain, for as we find in the writings of the Ari’zal (Shaar HaPesikim, Parshat Shemot) the generation of Israel in the desert was born from their souls.

“… and now I know that you are one who fears E-lohim ….” (Bereshit, 28:12) There is a difference between the fear of YHV’H and the fear of E-lohim. The fear of E-lohim is what causes a man to prevent himself from doing something, such as eating and the like. This is because he is not complete, and there is still something lacking in the man, so he constricts himself according to his understanding. This is called “the fear of E-lohim.” The fear of YHV’H means that even if the man deeply understands that it is permitted for him to act, for his soul has been refined from this deficiency, yet still, from God’s point of view it is still forbidden. God commanded straightforward injunctions to each soul, and since there are others in the world who are not refined in this particular aspect, therefore God did not permit this particular action to the individual. As he is not equal with the rest he is still burdened with the prohibition for the sake of his fellow man. This is called fear of YHV’H.