Audio of Lavi on Parshat Veyeira: Vayeira (yutorah.org)
Rav Moshe says we learn from ה׳ visiting אברהם that ביקור חולים is helpful even if you are not giving the sick person anything. Also, even if you don’t know the reason for a מצוה, you still need to do it.
Rav Noach Weinberg: We learn from אברהם that הכנסת אורחים is greater than מקבל פני השכינה, but how did אברהם know this? He explains that אברהם knew this from מה הוא חנון אף אתה חנון, מה הוא רחום אף אתה רחום. The best way to cling to Hashem is being merciful and graceful like Hashem is! Rav Shach brings another idea on this: why do we learn from אברהם taking care of the guests that הכנסת אורחים is better than being מקבל פני השכינה, but why don’t we learn that from אברהם taking care of לוט? The answer is because אברהם was doing קירוב on לוט and we know already that for קירוב you might need to not be מקבל פני השכינה, but now we are learning that even the physical needs of someone else override being מקבל פני השכינה.
We learn many lessons from how Avraham served his guests and how he behaved. For ex: the רל״ג explains that אברהם gave the מלאכים a little water for their feet and then sat them under the tree. This symbolizes that to help a person grow give them a little water, i.e. תורה, and then they will sprout into an עץ חיים היא למקחזים בה. As another example, Rav Moshe Shterbach explains that the reason why אברהם brought out each dish as it was made and not at once was because maybe they were hungry and he didn’t want to keep them waiting. As a third ex:, Rav Yosef Rakowsky asks: we learn from אברהם getting up early for the עקידה the idea of זריזין מקדימין למצוות. Why don’t we learn this from אברהם getting up early to do הכנסת אורחים? He answers that by מצוות of בין אדם לחבירו there is no concept of זריזין מקדימין because if you don’t do them the moment your friend needs something then you are being מצער that person. Avraham served the malachim at the moment they needed so was mekayem the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim. As a fourth ex: Rav Moshe Shternbach explains that אברהם didn’t ask the guests to make ברכות before eating because before מתן תורה the מצוות needed to be לשמה and אברהם was worried that they might only make a ברכה to get the food from אברהם, but once they had already eaten then אברהם said that they should make ברכות because then they would be doing it לשמה. As a 5th ex: by bringing people who did idolatry into his house, אברהם is teaching us that you should invite everyone into your house no matter what they believe. As a sixth ex:, Rabbi Baruch Newman asked: how can אברהם offer them meat and milk? אברהם keeping the תורה was a חומרא on himself, but he didn’t impose that on other people. As a last example: Rav Elezer Ginzberg: This week’s פרשה begins with וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ ה֔’ בְּאֵלֹנֵ֖י מַמְרֵ֑א וְה֛וּא יֹשֵׁ֥ב פֶּֽתַח־הָאֹ֖הֶל. Why does the תורה say “והוא” sat outside the אהל? Why doesn’t it say that אברהם sat outside the אהל? Rav Ginzberg answers that in last week’s פרשה we are told that אברהם was named אב המון גוים, the father of all nations, but אברהם didn’t feel he was worthy of this name, he felt that he was just a “והוא”, he didn’t feel worthy of the title of אברהם.
Rav Moshe explains that אברהם had to daven for סדום because we need to daven for people even if they are against our values. The דברי שמואל says that we should not give up hope that people won’t do תשובה. The רל״ג says that the first & last letter of סדום is closed because they were closed off to hearing any מוסר.
The דברי שמואל explains that אברהם telling לוט not to look back is a message for all of us that we shouldn’t look back and get depressed, we should move forward.
Rav Moshe asks: why did ה׳ ask אברהם why שרה laughed and not ask שרה directly? Rav Moshe answers that אברהם should have taught שרה that a Jew never gives up hope.
What do we learn from Akeidat Yitzhak? The חתם סופר explains that it is called עקידת יצחק even though אברהם was the one that got tested because יצחק needed to believe that everything אברהם was telling him was from ה׳. Another thought: Rav Shraga Feivel Mendelovich explained that the איל had to be hard to get from the bushes to show us that it takes hard work to do מצוות.