In this week’s Parsha, Parshat Vayerah, three angels sent by Hashem come to see Avraham. Avraham rushes to wash their feet and to give them something to eat. The three angels came to tell Avraham three different things.
The first angel, Michael, tells Avraham that he will finally have a son. Sarah, Avraham’s wife, laughs when she hears this because she is ninety years old, far too old to give birth. However, a year later, she has a son and names him Yitzchak, from the root word “tzahak,” meaning “to laugh,” as Sarah laughed after hearing she would have a baby. From this, we learn to have faith in Hashem, even when something seems improbable. Sarah thought she was too old to have a child, but Hashem showed her that anything is possible. This teaches us never to lose hope because Hashem has a plan for everything, even when we do not understand it.
The second angel, Gavriel, tells Avraham that Hashem will destroy the cities of Sedom and Gomorrah, as all the people there are very wicked. Avraham starts arguing with Hashem, begging Him not to destroy these cities. Avraham starts asking Hashem how many righteous people need to be in the cities before He destroys them. He first asks Hashem: “If there are fifty righteous people, will you spare the city?” Hashem says yes, but there are not fifty righteous people. So Avraham asks Hashem, “If there are forty-five righteous people, will you spare the city?” Hashem says yes, but there are not forty-five righteous people. Avraham keeps trying to save the city, decreasing the number of required righteous people, until he realizes that the cities cannot be saved.
Rashi explains that Avraham started with fifty righteous people because there were five cities, and he hoped that ten righteous people in each city would be enough to save them, since ten Jewish men can make up a minyan. He then asked for forty-five, hoping that Hashem would count Himself as the tenth for each group of nine. When that wasn’t enough, Avraham continued lowering the number to forty, thirty, twenty, and finally ten, hoping to save at least some of the cities. He stopped at ten because he knew from the story of Noach that fewer than ten righteous people would not be enough to save everyone else.
A lesson we can learn from this is that we should never give up on others, even when they have done things wrong. Avraham knew the people of Sedom were wicked, but still tried his hardest to save them. This teaches us the importance of caring for others and always looking for the good in people.
The third angel, Raphael, comes for two reasons: first, to heal Avraham after his circumcision, and second, to tell Avraham his plans to rescue Lot, Avraham’s nephew, from Sedom before its destruction. He also intends to save all of Lot’s family.
Rashi explains that Lot was saved from Sedom because of Avraham’s merit. Even though Lot was living among wicked people, Hashem remembered Avraham’s righteousness and saved his nephew. A lesson we can learn from this is that our good deeds do not just benefit ourselves, but can also help the people around us. This teaches us that being a good person can have a positive impact on others, even when we do not realize it.
