Why Welcoming Guests Is Greater Than Greeting Hashem

In this week's Torah portion, Parashat Vayera, we read:

“And he said: My Lord, if I have found favor in Your eyes, please do not pass by from upon Your servant.” (Genesis 18:3)

Rashi explains that Avraham Avinu (Abraham) was speaking to Hashem, asking Him to wait while he welcomed the guests who had arrived at his tent.

From this extraordinary moment, our Sages teach an important principle: Welcoming guests is greater than greeting the Divine Presence (Talmud, Shabbat 127a).

But how can this be? Surely there is no greater spiritual experience than being in the presence of Hashem. Why would Avraham interrupt such an encounter to attend to three strangers?

The Rebbe of Slonim, in his work Netivot Shalom, raises this very question. Not only did Avraham ask Hashem to wait, but he seemed to understand instinctively that welcoming guests took precedence. How did he know that an act of kindness could be even greater than greeting the Divine Presence?

The Netivot Shalom offers a profound explanation that goes to the very purpose of creation.

The World Was Created Through Love

The Netivot Shalom explains that love and kindness are not simply admirable qualities. They are the very foundation upon which Hashem created the world.

As King David declares in Psalms (89:3):

“For I said: The world shall be built with kindness.”

Hashem could have established the world upon fear and judgment, but He chose love and kindness as the foundation of its existence.

In the words of the Netivot Shalom:

“The entire order of the world's creation, and its continued existence throughout the generations, comes about through the trait of love. For it was within the ability of Hashem, blessed be He, to bring this about through the trait of fear, but it is Hashem's will that the foundation of the world be the trait of love, for that is what sustains the world.”

This also explains Rabbi Akiva's famous teaching: “Love your fellow as yourself — this is a great principle in the Torah.”

Love is not merely one mitzvah among many. It reflects the underlying purpose of the Torah and the kind of world Hashem wants us to build.

When we show kindness to another person, we are doing more than performing a good deed. We are helping fulfill the very purpose for which the world was created.

Why Hatred and Conflict Are So Destructive

The Netivot Shalom takes this idea a step further, explaining why hatred and conflict have such devastating spiritual consequences.

Our Sages teach that the Second Temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam, baseless hatred. According to the Netivot Shalom, this was not simply a failure in how people treated one another. It represented a rejection of the very foundation of creation.

“Baseless hatred runs contrary to the purpose of creation, and it undermines the very foundation of the world's existence, which rests on the trait of love — ‘for I said: the world shall be built with kindness.’”

He uses this principle to explain the severity of Korach's rebellion against Moshe. The dispute was not merely a disagreement between individuals. It stood in opposition to Hashem's desire for a world built upon love, unity, and kindness.

The Netivot Shalom explains that Hashem created the world because He desired a dwelling place in the lower realms, a place where His presence could be revealed through human actions. Conflict and hatred undermine that purpose, while love and kindness help bring it into reality.

How Can We Develop Love for Hashem?

The Netivot Shalom teaches that Avraham Avinu marked the beginning of a new spiritual era, one founded upon love.

He also explains that when a person awakens feelings of love and kindness toward others, a corresponding measure of love and kindness is awakened toward that person from Heaven.

This is why the Yesod HaAvodah teaches that even one moment of teshuvah (repentance) motivated by love is worth more than a hundred fasts. When a person returns to Hashem out of genuine love, rather than fear alone, that person connects with the very purpose of creation.

But this raises another question: How can a physical human being develop such a deep love for Hashem?

The Netivot Shalom explains that for most people, the path begins with yirat Shamayim, reverence for Hashem.

As the verse teaches, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem.”

This reverence helps a person overcome the influence of physical desires and purify the heart, creating the foundation for a higher level of spiritual connection: love of Hashem.

Avraham, however, was different.

According to the Netivot Shalom, Avraham reached such an extraordinary spiritual level that he was able to begin his service of Hashem through love itself.

He explains this through the tradition of Avraham's miraculous survival in the furnace of Ur Kasdim. On a deeper spiritual level, Avraham had become so completely devoted to Hashem that his physical existence was transformed by holiness.

The Netivot Shalom describes him as having become entirely spiritual, invoking the verse, “Is not My word like fire, says Hashem.”

This spiritual transformation enabled Avraham to serve Hashem through an exceptional degree of love.

Avraham's Love Remained Even Through His Greatest Test

The Netivot Shalom also draws attention to the binding of Yitzchak (Isaac), one of Avraham's greatest tests.

The Torah introduces the episode with the words, “And Hashem tested Abraham.”

Citing the Torat Avot of the Rebbe of Lechovitch, the Netivot Shalom explains that this test involved a profound spiritual challenge. Avraham's elevated spiritual feelings and attainments were temporarily withdrawn from him.

He was being tested to see whether his devotion to Hashem would remain just as strong even without the spiritual inspiration he had previously experienced.

When Hashem called to him, Avraham answered, “Here I am.”

The Netivot Shalom explains the deeper meaning of his response: Even when I no longer feel the spiritual heights I once experienced, I am still here. I am just as ready to serve Hashem and make sacrifices for Him as I was before.

Avraham's love was not dependent on spiritual excitement, inspiration, or personal reward. It was rooted in an unwavering commitment to Hashem.

And this was the quality he would pass down to future generations.

The Greatest Legacy Avraham Left Us

We can now return to the question raised at the beginning: Why did Avraham ask Hashem to wait while he welcomed his guests?

The answer lies in understanding what it truly means to serve Hashem.

Avraham recognized that loving another person is itself an expression of love for Hashem. By welcoming strangers into his home, feeding them, and caring for their needs, he was fulfilling the very purpose of creation.

He did not need to know who his guests were, where they came from, or whether he would ever see them again. It was enough that they were human beings created by Hashem and deserving of kindness.

As the Netivot Shalom concludes:

“And this power Avraham Avinu implanted in the Jewish people — the trait of love, love of Hashem and love of all people, so that even when a person does not know at all who the guests are, only that they are children of the Omnipresent, he loves them. And this awakens mercy and kindness.”

This is the extraordinary legacy Avraham left us: the ability to love Hashem by loving others, to recognize the value of every person, and to extend kindness even to those we do not know.

Every time we welcome a guest, help someone in need, or treat another person with compassion, we continue Avraham's mission.

And through these seemingly simple acts, we help fulfill the divine purpose expressed in the words:

“The world shall be built with kindness.”