Loving Your Neighbor

A guest walked into the synagogue one weekday evening. Somebody came over and asked him if he had a place to sleep. He replied that he did not have one. "No problem, come to us, we have a spare room we always keep ready." The grateful guest came home with his kind host, was shown to a lovely bedroom and, being exhausted, quickly fell asleep. At four o'clock in the morning he woke up, thirsty. He tiptoed down to the kitchen for some water. Who should he see but the host and his wife, sleeping upright in hard kitchen chairs! They had given him their only bedroom! Had he not been thirsty he would never have even known the extent of their kindness.

In this week's parsha, G-d appears to Abraham. In the midst of this Divine Revelation, three guests arrive at his house and Abraham asks G-d to wait while he attends to their needs. The Talmud praises this action, the placing of others' welfare before his own spiritual needs, in the highest possible terms.

Everything was created for a reason. What about atheism? It seems totally contrary to G-d’s will, yet He created it. From an atheist, we learn how to help another person. We should act as an atheist would – rather than relying on G-d, do everything we can to practically and materially help them. Praying or reciting psalms - this we may prescribe for ourselves. For another we must do all we can materially to help that person as if they are totally reliant upon us for their needs. This is the positive lesson we can learn from atheism!

It is said that another person's gashmiyus (physical material needs) is your ruchniyus (spirituality). In other words by our helping another person in "real", physical-material terms, we are actually also helping ourselves

If I really love somebody, I must also love whoever they love. According to this, it is explained in Chassidic thought that even higher than loving G-d is loving your neighbour whom G-d, of course, loves. This we learn from Abraham's asking G-d to wait. Looking after somebody else’s needs is actually a greater deed than even speaking to G-d!