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Avraham Avinus are everywhere

Translation by Yehoshua Siskin

Liron Tzedakah, a teacher from a religious public school in Sderot, near the Gaza Strip, sent me the following text message:

“I saw them leap into action again, as if a hidden button had been pushed in their hearts. This happens every time there is another round of missile attacks on our community. Immediately we are inundated with a flood of announcements and telephone calls. We are talking about people and places, too many to count — up north, in Yehuda, Shomron, along the coastal plain, and everywhere from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, all extending invitations to their brothers and sisters in Sderot to come to them as guests and enjoy ‘a relaxing day’ and ‘a quiet night,’ to rejuvenate themselves a little. Hotels, guest houses, and hostels generously offer, with open hearts, lodging and meals in a quiet place where you can rest and relax. They even send us free tickets, or with a steep discount, to travel to them – ‘just come and relax.’ Regular people open their homes, prepare a room with extra beds, and set a table full of delicacies. And I can see Avraham Avinu looking down at all of this from above, where he is surely thinking: ‘How delightful it is to see my children going out to their brothers, running to them and offering them the best of everything. And bringing others – friends, neighbors, children – to join in the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, of welcoming guests into their homes. Exactly as we did it 3,000 years ago in my tent. Standing over their guests, concerned only with how they can satisfy their precious visitors’ every need. And I can hear the heroes of Sderot, the angels who live among us, tired and a bit confused by all this kindness, ceaselessly thanking their hosts. And I, your father Avraham, look down at all this kindess and laugh. It gives me so much joy to see that actions of ancestors are truly an inspiration to their children.’ It’s exactly as G-d said it would be: ‘For I (Hashem) have known him (Avraham) because he commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord to perform tzedakah and justice.’ Thousands of years later, we continue along the path of Avraham and make him proud to be our father.”

 

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