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In this week’s Parsha, Rashi tells us that Avraham was bothered by the fact that there were no guests coming to visit him and he couldn’t do the mitzvah of hachnasas orchim (inviting guests into our homes). However, this is difficult to comprehend. When there are no guests, there is no mitzvah. Why was he so upset? This would be like someone saying on Tuesday that they are bothered by the fact that they can’t keep Shabbos today. How are we to understand this?

R’ Moshe Feinstein offered an answer to this question which gives us an insight into doing chesed. Someone who has a craving for a steak will not be satiated, even if he knows that there is no chance that he can get one. He will continue to obsess over it until he gets it or forgets about it. Similarly, Avraham had such a desire to perform chesed that he was in pain when he was unable to do it, even though he knew that he wasn’t obligated. Doing chesed was like eating a juicy steak.

We should all learn a valuable lesson from Avraham. A lot of times we are satisfied when we perform a chesed, and sometimes we may feel relief at not having to do one. We should realize that there is a level of chesed performance where it isn’t enough to do chesed when it arises. The highest level of doing chesed is when we go out of our ways to look for acts of chesed that we can do for others. Let’s all try to look to go out of our ways to perform at least one chesed for someone else this week. Have a wonderful Shabbos! 

Rabbi Rafi Rosenblum received his BA and Semicha from Yeshiva University, where he also spent four years as a member of the Wexner Kollel Elyon. After completing his time at the Kollel Elyon, Rabbi Rosenblum taught at a number of schools, including Bat Torah in Paramus, New Jersey and the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls in Hewlett, New York. Rabbi Rosenblum made aliyah this past summer and currently lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife and four kids.