[Avodah] Avraham's Guests - The Relationship of the Jewish People to Non-Jews

[Yitzchok Levine]

The following is a selection from RSRH's commentary on Bereishis

181 And God appeared to him beneath the trees of 
Mamre, as he was sitting before the door of his tent in the heat of the day.

Please note what Rav Hirsch says about Avraham's 
guests and the relationship of the Jewish people to non-Jews. YL

How maliciously have Judaism and its bearers, the heritage of
Avraham and its heirs, been maligned: “These circumcised ones arrogantly
regard themselves as the ‘only ones’ of their God. The sign of
the covenant, which sets them apart from other nations, removes from
their hearts all cosmopolitanism, all feeling of being united in brotherhood
with the rest of mankind. They reduce the God of heaven and
earth, the God of all human souls, to the God of their tribe, the God
of their small country.”

“Providing hospitality to guests is
greater than standing before the Divine Presence” (Shabbos 127a). And
who were the guests Avraham was expecting? Uncircumcised idolaters!
(He could have expected no others.) For their sake he left God’s
Presence; he ran to greet them, to fulfill the duty of acting with
lovingkindness toward one’s fellow man.
Note the manner in which he fulfills this duty. Avraham here
pursues charity and kindness more eagerly than people pursue monetary
gain! He seizes the opportunity, as the first circumcised Jew, to
show kindness to his fellow man. He involves his wife and his son,
indeed, his entire household, in the fulfillment of the mitzvah. He has
everything freshly prepared — as though he had no other refreshments
at home to offer three wayfarers. This is the reception that was given
to the first guests to present themselves to the first Nemol.

The foregoing demonstrates Avraham’s joy and relief at the dismissal
of his fear that he would be isolated from his fellow men. Our
Sages z"l are the ones who discerned this fear. Their insight reached
into the depths of his heart.

This section is juxtaposed to the section on Mila. The people of
Avraham, isolated by circumcision, are to become the most humane of
men. In essence they are a contrast to the rest of world; nevertheless,
they are to be ready at all times to realize every universal human
value. Toward this end they became a people that dwells apart — to
foster within themselves this pure humanity. As the herald of this
spirit, Avraham became an Av and Avir (wing) of Hamon Goyim, a spiritual
father and a force of moral uplift for a multitude of nations.
Not for naught did Avraham sit before his tent in the heat of the
day; for this spirit of love of one’s fellow man became a legacy that
was bequeathed to his descendants. Throughout the generations, even
the enemies of Israel have not denied that the disparaged Jews possess
this spirit. Wherever open hearts and open hands are sought for universal
humane purposes (thank God, this is one spark from the teachings
of Avraham that has been ignited amidst all of mankind: open
hearts and open hands can be found also outside the sphere of
Avraham), even the disparagers of Judaism turn, first of all, to the
Jews.

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