Faith through hospitality – Lech L’cha
How did Abraham bring others to the belief in God?
He went out of his way to offer hospitality to passers-by – a meal, a bed, friendship, even mediation when there were conflicts. Having enjoyed his hospitality, they naturally thanked him; Abraham, however, said, “It is not me whom you should thank, but God, the provider of food for all His creatures, the creator of the whole universe”.
What brought non-believers under the wings of the Shechinah was not preaching or argumentation, but the experience of practical ethics in a home that breathed a spirit of faith.
In our generation when, thank God, there is a visible trend of return to Judaism, what is often decisive in accepting the ways of religion is a Shabbat or yom-tov in an observant Jewish home. There is nothing as impressive as a home pervaded in a natural, relaxed, unthreatening way by the joyous spirit of Judaism.
What you see in such a home is not an arid philosophical theory or a joyless form of puritanism. It is a way of life full of love, faith and kindness.
Thank God we have such homes and that they radiate the spirit and example of the patriarch.
