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.

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!