Weekly DAFootnotes Bava Metzia 86-92 Issue #30 4 - 10 Adar 5762 / 16 - 22 Feb 2002 By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions ===================================== NEW! Don't miss the new book by Rav Mendel Weinbach "The Weekly Daf" on Daf Yomi by Targum/Feldheim ===================================== FEET FIRST INVITATION Three tales of hospitality to strangers are related in the early chapters of the Torah: Avraham invites three disguised angels to his home in Alonei Mamre; his nephew Lot invites two of them to his home in Sodom; and Lavan invites Yitzchak's servant Eliezer. Both Lot and Lavan ask their guests to first enter their homes and then wash their weary feet (Bereishet 19:2 and 24:32). Avraham, on the other hand, says to his guests: "Let some water be brought to wash your feet and then you can relax beneath the tree" (Bereishet 18:14). This deviation from the norm of hospitality by making the washing of the feet a precondition to entering his home led our Sages to conclude that Avraham suspected these strangers of being Arabs who used to worship the dust of their feet. Since he did not wish to have anything worshipped as idolatry enter his home he asked them to wash their fee before entering. The angels whom he thus suspected, says Rabbi Yannai, sensed that he had thus misjudged them and declared: "You suspected us of being Arabs who bow to the dust of their feet? From you there has come Yishmael!" Although this statement does not appear in the Torah, it is implied, explains Maharsha, by the fact that Avraham was affected with a son who was the father of an Arab nation which would indulge in the idolatry of which he suspected them. This is based on what our Sages taught us (Mesechta Yoma 19b) that one who unjustly suspects another, who is really innocent, will be afflicted physically, as Moshe was stuck with tzara'at (a spiritual leprosy-like affliction) for suspecting that the Children of Israel would not believe him that Hashem had sent him to liberate them from Egyptian bondage (Shmot 4:1,6). Bava Metzia 86b THE DIPLOMACY OF HOSPITALITY "Say little and do much." This is the counsel offered by the Sage Shammai in Pirkei Avot (1:15). In our gemara Rabbi Elazar tells us that it is indeed the way of the righteous. The model for such behavior is Avraham. When he was visited by the three disguised angels Avraham ignored his post-circumcision weakness and demonstrated his classical hospitality. When they hesitated to enter his home because of his condition he entreated them with an invitation in which all he offered them was, besides an opportunity to wash and rest a bit, that "I will bring you some bread" (Bereishet 18:5). No sooner did they accept this modest invitation than Avraham began preparing a sumptuous feast which began with his running towards three animals whose tongues flavored with mustard would provide a delicate dish for his guests. Thus the Torah teaches us the importance of saying little and doing much which is the way of the righteous. This is in sharp contrast to the way of the wicked which is to say much and do little. The model for the negative behavior is the Hittite Ephron from whom Avraham purchased the Machpela Cave in Hebron as a burial plot for his wife Sarah. After first refusing payment from Avraham with the boastful statement of "What is a land worth 400 silver Shekel between you and me!" he ended up insisting on a heavy price (Bereishet 23:15-16). But what is the reason for offering little in the way of hospitality if everything really depends on what ends up being done for the guest? Maharsha explains that a guest is often reluctant to accept an invitation to hospitality for fear that he is imposing on a generous host. It is therefore wise for the host to play down what he intends to do for his guest in order to put him at ease. After the guest has accepted the invitation of "little said," the host has the opportunity, like Avraham, to deliver "much done" hospitality. Bava Metzia 87a ===================================== If you like this e-mail please share it with a friend. ===================================== To subscribe to this list please e-mail DafYomi-subscribe@ohr.edu To unsubscribe e-mail DafYomi-unsubscribe@ohr.edu Weekly DAFootnotes is now available as part of the Ohr Somayach Interactive AvantGo channel! See www.ohr.edu for details. ===================================== (C) 2002 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.