(1) The LORD appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot. (2) Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them and, bowing to the ground, (3) he said, “My lords, if it please you, do not go on past your servant. (4) Let a little water be brought; bathe your feet and recline under the tree. (5) And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves; then go on—seeing that you have come your servant’s way.” They replied, “Do as you have said.” (6) Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quick, three seahs of choice flour! Knead and make cakes!” (7) Then Abraham ran to the herd, took a calf, tender and choice, and gave it to a servant-boy, who hastened to prepare it. (8) He took curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree as they ate.
פתח האהל AT THE TENT-DOOR — that he might see whether anyone passed by, and invite him into the house
§ The Gemara expounds another verse involving Abraham: “And the Lord appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day” (Genesis 18:1). The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of “the heat of the day”? Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: That day was the third day after Abraham’s circumcision, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, came to inquire about the well-being of Abraham. The Holy One, Blessed be He, removed the sun from its sheath in order not to bother that righteous one with guests.
Rabbi Yochanan said: Welcoming guests is as great as rising early to go to the house of study, as it was taught: "because of the guests and because of missing time in the house of study."
Rav Dimi of Nehardea said: Even more so than rising early to go to the house of study, as it was taught: Because of the guests, and then it returns and says because of missing time in the house of study.
Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Welcoming guests is greater than receiving the presence of God, as it says: My Lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, pass not away, please, from your servant.
Rav Yehudah son of Shila said in the name of Rabbi Assi who said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: There are six things of which a person eats the fruits in this world, and the principal remains for the world to come, and they are: Welcoming guests, visiting the sick, being focused in prayer, rising early to go to the house of study, raising children to study Torah, judging one's companion favorably...
All the names [of God] that are stated in the Torah with regard to Avraham are holy, except for those which are secular. As it is said, "My Lord, if now I have found favor in your sight...".
Chanina ben Achi Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah in the name of Rabbi Elazar HaModai said: This too is holy. Who do they follow? As Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Welcoming guests is greater than receiving the presence of God.
דכתיב (יחזקאל מא, כב) המזבח עץ שלש אמות גבוה וארכו שתים אמות ומקצעותיו לו וארכו וקירותיו עץ וידבר אלי זה השלחן אשר לפני ה' פתח במזבח וסיים בשלחן רבי יוחנן וריש לקיש דאמרי תרוייהו בזמן שבית המקדש קיים מזבח מכפר על אדם עכשיו שלחנו של אדם מכפר עליו:
The verse [“The altar, three cubits high, and its length two cubits, was of wood, and so its corners, its length, and its walls were also of wood, and he said to me: This is the table that is before the Lord” (Ezekiel 41:22).] began with the word “altar” and ended with the word “table,” both words describing the same item. Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish both say the following exposition: When the Temple is standing the altar atones for a person; now that the Temple has been destroyed, it is a person’s table that atones for him, for his feeding of needy guests atones for his sins.
(א) קְבוּרָה הָאֲמוּרָה בַּתּוֹרָה, הִיא שֶׁיִּתֵּן אֶת הַמֵּת בַּקַּרְקַע מַמָּשׁ. וּבְהַרְבֵּה מְקוֹמוֹת נוֹהֲגִין לְהַנִּיחַ אֶת הַמֵּת בְּאָרוֹן הֶעָשׂוּי מִנְּסָרִים וְכָךְ קוֹבְרִין אוֹתוֹ... כְּשֶׁעוֹשִׂין אָרוֹן, יֵשׁ לִזָּהֵר בְּשִׁיּוּרֵי הַנְּסָרִים, שֶׁלֹּא לַעֲשֹוֹת מֵהֶם אֵיזֶה תַשְׁמִישׁ, וְיֵשׁ לְהַסִּיק בָּהֶן תַּחַת הַכְּלִי שֶׁמְּחַמְּמִים אֶת הַמַּיִם לְטָהֳרָה. טוֹבֵי לֵבָב שֶׁהֶאֱכִילוּ עֲנִיִים עַל שֻׁלְחָנָם, יֵש לַעֲשוֹת לָהֶם אָרוֹן מִן הַשֻׁלְחָן, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב, וְהָלַךְ לְפָנֶיךָ צִדְקֶךָ.
(1) The burial mentioned in the Torah, means actually placing the body in the earth. In many places it is customary to place the deceased in a wooden coffin, and he is buried in that manner...When making a coffin, care must be taken that the remnants of the boards not be used for any other purpose. They should be burned for fuel to heat the cauldron in which water is warmed for the ritual purification of the deceased. Good hearted people, who in their lifetime fed the poor at their table, should be buried in a coffin made of boards from the table, as it is written, "And your righteousness shall go before you."2Isaiah 58:8.
.3 רמב"ם הלכות אבל פרק יד
הלכה א מצות עשה של דבריהם לבקר חולים, ולנחם אבלים, ולהוציא המת, ולהכניס הכלה, וללוות האורחים, ולהתעסק בכל צרכי הקבורה, לשאת על הכתף, ולילך לפניו ולספוד ולחפור ולקבור, וכן לשמח הכלה והחתן, ולסעדם בכל צרכיהם, ואלו הן גמילות חסדים שבגופו שאין להם שיעור, אע"פ שכל מצות אלו מדבריהם הרי הן בכלל ואהבת לרעך כמוך, כל הדברים שאתה רוצה שיעשו אותם לך אחרים, עשה אתה אותן לאחיך בתורה ובמצות.
הלכה ב שכר הלויה מרובה מן הכל, והוא החק שחקקו אברהם אבינו ודרך החסד שנהג בה, מאכיל עוברי דרכים ומשקה אותן ומלוה אותן, וגדולה הכנסת אורחים מהקבלת פני שכינה, שנאמר וירא והנה שלשה אנשים, ולוויים יותר מהכנסתן, אמרו חכמים כל שאינו מלוה כאילו שופך דמים.
הלכה ג כופין ללוייה כדרך שכופין לצדקה, ובית דין היו מתקנין שלוחין ללוות אדם העובר ממקום למקום, ואם נתעצלו בדבר זה מעלה עליהם כאילו שפכו דמים, אפילו המלוה את חבירו ארבע אמות יש לו שכר הרבה, וכמה שיעור לויה שחייב אדם בה, הרב לתלמיד עד עבורה של עיר, והאיש לחבירו עד תחום שבת, והתלמיד לרב עד פרסה, ואם היה רבו מובהק עד שלש פרסאו.
3. Rambam Yad, Laws of Mourning
Law 14:1 It is a positive commandment of the sages to visit the sick, comfort the mourners, carry out the dead, accompany guests on their way, organize the burial of the dead, carry the bier on one's shoulder, to walk before the casket, to eulogize, dig the plot and bury the dead and likewise, to gladden the bride and groom, and to help them put together their new home. All these, are acts of loving-kindness accomplished by one's body and there is no limit to our practice of them. Even though all over these specifics are defined by the sages, they are all under the rubric of “love your fellow as your self.” All of the things that you would want others to do for you, do them for others.
Law 14:2 The reward for accompanying a guest along his/her way is greater than the rest [of the other mitzvot mentioned]. It is the law that Abraham, our father, established and it is the way of kindness that he practiced—to feed travelers and give them drink and accompany them on their journey. Greater is receiving guests that receiving the presence of the Shechina (Divine Presence), as it says, “And he looked up, and behold, there were three men.” And accompanying them is greater that receiving them. Our sages said: Anyone who does not accompany the stranger who is your guest it is as if you spilled blood.”
Law 14:3 ... And what is the proper distance of accompaniment that a person is duty bound to travel? When master to the student, till the end of town; a person and his friend, till the end of the Sabbath boundary (2000 cubits/~.6mile beyond the city limits); the student to the master, a mile (~.6 mile) ; and if the master was his primary mentor, then 3 miles.
Rav Soloveitchik, Abraham's Journey
The Almighty is the great makhnis orchim. His hospitality made it possible for humanity to exist, for the world to come into being. "To be" means to share in the infinite being of the Almighty. The Almightly, like Abraham, invites people to partake of His boundless existence. Creation is an act of haknasat orchim. Our sages (Berakhot 7b) said that Abraham was the first person to invoke God by the name A-donai. This name is of juridic origin; God owns the world in juridic terms...We are just strangers whom the Almighty has invited into his "tent," which is the universe. How beautiful is the doctrine of tzimtzum, of contraction....What is hakhnasat orchim if not withdrawal by the master from a part of his home so that a stranger can occupy the empty part he vacates?
A PARABLE ON PERSECUTION, Benjamin Franklin
1. And it came to pass after these things, that Abraham sat in the door of his tent, about the going down of the sun.
2. And behold a man, bowed with age, came from the way of the wilderness, leaning on a staff.
3. And Abraham arose and met him, and said unto him: “Turn in, I pray thee, and wash thy feet, and tarry all night, and thou shalt arise early on the morrow, and go on thy way.”
4. But the man said: “Nay, for I will abide under this tree.”
5. And Abraham pressed him greatly; so he turned and they went into the tent, and Abraham baked unleavened bread, and they did eat.
6. And when Abraham saw that the man blessed not God, he said unto him: “Wherefore dost thou not worship the most high God, Creator of heaven and earth?”
7. And the man answered and said: “I do not worship the God thou speakest of, neither do I call upon his name; for I have made to myself a god, which abideth alway in mine house, and provideth me with all things.”
8. And Abraham’s zeal was kindled against the man, and he arose and fell upon him, and drove him forth with blows into the wilderness.
9. And at midnight God called unto Abraham, saying: “Abraham, where is the stranger?”
10. And Abraham answered and said: “Lord, he would not worship thee, neither would he call upon thy name; therefore have I driven him out from before my face into the wilderness.”
11. And God said: “Have I borne with him these hundred and ninety and eight years, and nourished him, and clothed him, notwithstanding his rebellion against me; and couldst not thou, that art thyself a sinner, bear with him one night?”
12. And Abraham said: “Let not the anger of the Lord wax hot against his servant; lo, I have sinned; lo, I have sinned; forgive me, I pray thee.”
13. And Abraham arose, and went forth into the wilderness, and sought diligently for the man, and found him, and returned with him to the tent; and when he had entreated him kindly, he sent him away on the morrow with gifts.
14. And God spake again unto Abraham, saying: “For this thy sin shall thy seed be afflicted four hundred years in a strange land.
15. “But for thy repentance will I deliver them; and they shall come forth with power, and with gladness of heart, and with much substance.”