The Greatness of Avraham: Parashat Vayeira

0:03Now, the Chatam Sofer says an extraordinary Chiddush. It's worth a million dollars at minimum. Certainly something you've never heard and something I only learned now. The Chatam Sofer in his introduction to his sefer in Yoreh De'ah He says something that if he didn't say it, you couldn't even think of it. He says, of course, the level of prophecy that Avraham Avinu had was no less than the later prophets, who were his descendants like Yeshayahu, Yirmiyahu, and Yechezkel. They all spoke to Hashem. They had messages of what's going to happen in the future. So of course, Avraham was no less than them. Yet Avraham Avinu did not attain access to this prophecy. Why not? Because he did not have time to do the preparations that are required to receive prophecy.

1:33Because prophecy is not like in people's imaginations where you're sleeping and all of a sudden God comes to you and talks to you, or you're walking around and suddenly you hear a message. Yes, yes, who is it, who is it? It's your son. Why do you have that voice? Oh, I had something in my mouth. Oh, okay. People think sometimes people are talking to them. Usually, it's either they have Shedim in their mind because of all the Tumah or because their kids are playing a joke on them. In discussing prophecy, it's important to understand the true nature of how it was experienced by our forefathers and the prophets. Avraham Avinu, Avraham Avinu, this is Kodesh Kodashim, our forefather. Certainly, he had no less prophecy than his descendants who were prophets. But yet he did not attain it because he did not have time to prepare himself. You have to clean yourself, you have to purify yourself, you have to meditate, and do all types of things in order to receive prophecy. This is also one of the things that distinguished Moshe Rabbeinu from everyone else. All of the other prophets received their prophecy while they were lying down, while they were out. Whereas Moshe Rabbeinu was able to walk around.

2:43and speak to Hashem, something unlike anybody else before or after him. But even Moshe Rabbeinu had to prepare before Hashem would speak to him. This is the reason why Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu, and he's the only one He told this to, that he should leave his wife, Tziporah, the Tzadekes. Why? Because the preparation that's required if you're married takes longer than the preparation if you're not married. Because of the issues of purity and impurity. And Hashem says, I want to talk to you all the time. Whenever I feel like it, I want to talk to you. I don't want to wait for you two days, three days, for you to prepare. I want to talk to you whenever. So, I can't have anything get in the way, leave your wife. Therefore, you're always pure, and I can talk to you all the time, like we're friends. If you read some of the things that are written in the Gemara, the Midrash, and the Pirkei Rabbi Natan, you will be amazed by the depth of this relationship. the Gemara, the Midrash, and Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, along with many Chachamim, discuss the relationship and conversations between Hashem and Moshe Rabbeinu. It's literally an unbelievable relationship. This was due to the sacrifices that Moshe Rabbeinu had to make on a daily basis, living without a wife.

4:08Who can do that, by choice? So now, Avraham Avinu, Avraham Avinu—Avraham, my father, my beloved—as great as he was, and despite the access to prophecy that he had, he did not attain it because he didn't have time to prepare himself. Why? Why didn't Avraham Avinu have time? I mean, these are great things. You can elevate yourself. You can do all types of amazing things. You can learn, elevate your Torah. Avraham, what are you doing that is keeping you so busy that you cannot talk to Hashem? Says the Chatam Sofer. Avraham Avinu did not have time to prepare himself to receive the prophecy because he was always teaching and serving his students and helping the masses get closer to Hashem.

5:19In fact, even when HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself came to speak to Avraham Avinu, in the middle of the conversation, in the middle of the prophecy, Avraham Avinu says, "One second, Hashem, I have three guests. I have three Arabs that came to me." He didn't know they were angels; he thought they were three Arabs. They could have been part of any group. Of course, they weren't modern entities like those that exist today, but nonetheless, to Avraham, they were people in need of hospitality. Hashem, one second, I have to go attend to these guests. You're talking to Hashem, the King of Kings. What are you doing? If someone is in the middle of a conversation with their boss who gives them $15 an hour, they wouldn't walk away. Here, Avraham Avinu is talking to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He says, one second, Hashem, I have to go. have three people. I don't know if they're Arabs; they may be idol worshipers who pray to the dust on their feet. So, I have to wash their feet to see if they'll allow me. If they let me wash their feet, then they're not idol worshipers. But if they don't allow it, it means they might gather the dust on their feet, which walked in the desert all day, and pray to it. In that case, they are idol worshipers. So, I have to leave you, the King of Kings, to go attend to them and then give them some food.

6:37the whole bull for each of them; each one gets his own tongue. So I'll be back whenever I finish —five, six, seven, or even ten hours— Paskened that it's greater to host the guest in order to bring them closer to Hashem and do kiruv. to speak to HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself. Where did Avraham Avinu learn that? From Hashem Himself. How so? Hashem obviously knew that He was going to talk to Avraham, but it was possible that Avraham was going to leave to go... Attempt to guess like he does every day. So what did Hashem do? He took the sun out of its shell to stop guests from coming. So even Hashem paskens the same way as Avraham Avinu—that if guests come in the middle of our conversation, in the middle of the prophecy, Avraham is going to have to go. So let me just stop the guests from coming by putting out the sun, so nobody's coming. And that way, Hashem and Avraham can have a chavruta. That's where Avraham got it from.

7:57Abraham's wisdom was beyond comprehension already at three years old. He knew more than we could ever imagine in our wildest dreams. Also, another point is that the chokhmah of Shlomo HaMelech, as great as it was, is not compared to the chokhmah of Avraham Avinu. Chazal said that Avraham Avinu was greater than Shlomo. Despite all of his greatness, Avraham Avinu decided that in order for him to serve Hashem, he had to leave the conversation every single day, leave the books, leave the elevation of himself and prophecy, and go teach the lowest level of students who Hashem is. Decided that in order for him to serve Hashem, he has to leave the conversation every single day, leave the books, leave the elevation of himself and prophecy, and go teach the lowest level of students who Hashem is. That's what the Chatam Sofer says. He says, he didn't have great students that were extraordinary Talmidei Chachamim. No, he's telling them, listen, Hashem. Oh, you mean the idol? No, not the idol. Not the idol. Hashem. Where's Hashem? What's Hashem? Hashem, the God. God is the one that created the world. Not the idol. Idol, you made it. You bought it from Walmart. That's not God. That's nothing. That's garbage. Hashem. Hashem.

9:25He created the world. Okay? Say, thank you, Hashem. Okay, thank you, Hashem. Buy a t-shirt from the B'ezrat Hashem shop. It says, thank you, Hashem. Okay, I'll buy a t-shirt. Buy a cup. It says, thank you, Hashem. Okay, I'll say, I'll... Thank you, Hashem. Okay. Next day. Alright, now we're going to learn Aleph Bet. That's the language that Hashem created the world with. He took these letters and He created the world with them. Aleph. Aleph. Bet. Bet. Gimel. Gimel. Dalit, Aleph. No, not Aleph. Dalit, Dalit. Teaching him Aleph Bet. He's dealing with people who are full of immorality. "Hey, Rabbi, listen. I love you and everything, but I need help." "What happened?" "I can't stop wasting seed. I can't stop cheating on my wife. I can't stop stealing in my business. I can't stop driving on Shabbat." That's who Avraham Avinu is dealing with every day. He's dealing with idol worshippers, with immoral people. He's dealing with people who are clueless about Hashem.

10:27That's who he's busy with, and that's who he decided to leave prophecy behind for. That's who he sacrificed everything for, and therefore, says the Chatam Sofer, Hashem in His goodness says that it's not possible for Avraham to lose out on... in attaining a higher level of prophecy as a result of his sacrifice for My children, for My creation, he is My servant, so there's no need for preparations. What does that mean? Hashem, yishtabach shemo la'ad, says to Avraham Avinu, "Avraham, my child, Avraham, my son, he doesn't need preparations. I'm going to him. All the other prophets have to prepare to speak to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, sometimes for a few days or longer, with all types of meditations, readings, elevations, and words."

11:43Avraham Avinu, no preparation. Right now, he just finished making some shish kebab for a few Arabs that came to him. So, a few times, okay, this guy said, "Baruch Hashem." That guy, he's still working on benching. He still has a little bit of the sauce on his head. He's telling Sarah, make some cakes. We have some guests. Right now, Avraham still has the apron around him, running the house. Hashem says, I'm going now. Yeah, but he didn't prepare. No preparation for Avraham. Why? Avraham cannot lose as a result of serving Me, as a result of his sacrifice for My children. I'm going to Avraham to tell him My plans with Sodom. Because it cannot be. that since such a tzaddik, he's such a tzaddik that he would lose out as a result of his inability to elevate himself, to learn more Torah, to pray even more. He can't do it, not because he's playing basketball, not because he's sleeping all day.

13:06Not because he wants to watch the stock market. No, he can't do it because he's constantly toiling in getting my children to do teshuva. He doesn't have a minute to breathe. There's a new message coming every second. There's a new person. There's a new problem. There are shalom bayit issues. There are avodah zarah issues. There are all types of non-stop people coming to him. That's the reason why he can't. So I'm making an exception for Avraham Avinu. No preparations needed, Avraham. I'm coming to you. I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do with Sodom. I'm going to tell you the whole plan. I'm going to tell you the whole prophecy without any necessity for you to prepare. Because you sacrificed for My children. You are My beloved. We see here, Rabbi, so many things. First and foremost, we see that

14:12Anyone that makes a sacrifice for the sake of getting Am Yisrael closer to Hashem, for the sake of getting the world closer to Hashem, closer to His Torah, will never lose out as a result of it. It's not possible. It's not possible for them to lose out as a result of real sacrifice. Whether it's major sacrifice, donations, support, time, teaching, or effort—whatever you commit as a major sacrifice for the sake of HaKadosh Baruch Hu's children, you will certainly never lose as a result. It's impossible. Even if it's a prophecy that all other prophets will require preparation. There are Chachamim who have written about prophecy. I believe it was Bichayim of Volozhin, in his sefer, who outlines the entire roadmap of how to attain Ruach HaKodesh and even prophecy, detailing the necessary steps at each level. I believe it was Reb Chaim of Volozhin who has in his sefer the entire roadmap of how to attain Ruach HaKodesh and even prophecy, what you need to do at each level.

15:20Each level of preparation literally has instructions just like when you buy Legos. They give you, okay, step one: take the Lego out. Step two: get these pieces. Step three: take these two pieces and put them together. Step four: it has literally a step-by-step process of how to attain prophecy. When a person learns even the first step, they realize, okay, it's pretty much impossible for me to learn any of the other steps. I can't even do the first step. All of the prophets had to do this. Avraham Avinu, no. Why? He doesn't have time. Why doesn't he have time? Tough luck, not tough luck. He doesn't have time. because he's answering WhatsApp messages about broken homes. He's addressing messages from people struggling with addiction. He's responding, he's intervening, he's visiting homes. He's doing whatever he possibly can with all of his time to glorify My name. That's why he doesn't have time. You want Me to judge that My son, My beloved, will suffer as a result of sacrificing his time, his effort, his benefit, and his well-being?

16:36For the sake of my children? No, the opposite. He is my beloved. He is a true servant. So, the first thing we see is that you can never lose as a result of sacrificing for the sake of kiruv, for the sake of publicizing Hashem's name. Number two, we see who Hashem calls His beloved, who Hashem favors. Number three, we see The clearest difference you could ever imagine that distinguishes the Jewish leaders who follow the Torah from everyone else, whether they are Jewish or Gentile leaders, is that those others are following politics, their own opinions, popular opinion, votes, and likes. We are meant to be a light unto the nations, not to follow their misguided practices. Remember, every Jew has to remember that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless. unto the nations not to follow their misguided practices. Remember, every Jew has to remember that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless.