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Biography of Yehuda Katz | Archives | This Week's Parsha

VEYEIRA

" And G-d appeared unto (Abraham).......as he sat in the door of the tent...............................(18:1)

Rashi comments that Abraham sat at the door of the tent in order to see if there were any potential guests for him to take into his house. (see Rashi) Abraham actively pursued the Mitzvah of inviting guests. A rightous man creates opportunities for Miztvath ,and does not passively wait for Mitzvath to come to him. Perhapes it would have been sufficient for Abraham to allow guests to knock on his door for assistance, while he sat comfortably in his house. Yet, this was not Abraham's way. ..................

He instead actively created opportunities to discover good deeds wherever they may be found. Abraham understood that the world is full of opportunities. This is why Abraham's greatness was trully unique................In Genesis1:27, it states the following: "And G-d created the man in His image..........................................." Man has within himself G-dliness.................Just as G-d is a Creator, man also has the ability to create. Man ,however, creates opportunities to pursue rightousness and good deeds. In this sense, Abraham had surely tried to fulfill the "image of G-d" that he had discovered within himself. Abraham created opportunities for Mitzvath.........................He ,therefore, actively stepped out of his domain to find guests..........Perhapes this is the meaning behind Medrash Bereshis Rabbah 12:9 when it states the following: "The world was created for the sake of Abraham"(end of quote). Once Abraham become a creator for good, perhapes G-d's purpose for the world was being actualized .

We must realize that Mitzvath are to be found every where, but its our purpose to create the opportunities for them to be actualized. Perhapes this is why the Torah states that Abraham sat at his door step to teach us that the opportunities for good deeds are literally "at our doorsteps".

We do not need to go far to discover the hidden potential for Mitzvath that are so abundantly close to us. The question to us still remains, how can we actively create the opportunities to discover Mitzvath that are dormant at our door , and thus fullfill our purpose????Have a good Shabbos

 


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