Musar su Genesi 21:33

The first quality: Know that the love of Abraham, peace be upon him, was to teach all those who came into the world the service of the Creator, blessed be He, and proclaim His name always, as it is said (Genesis 13:4), “And Abraham called there on the name of the Lord.” It is also said (ibid., 12:8), “And he built an altar unto the Lord, Who appeared unto him.” And it is said (ibid., 21:33), “And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord.” These verses are to let you know that every place that Abraham went he would call on the name of the Lord and would occupy himself with service to Him. He was not restrained from doing so by the fear of the nations of the world.

The Holy One, Blessed be He, said : "Be jealous for My sake, were it not for envy, the world would not stand. A man would not plant a vineyard, marry a wife or build a house (Shoher Tob 37a). For all of these matters come about because one man envies his companion. If he builds a house, then another person will have it in mind to do likewise, and thus it is concerning a wife. And since the perpetuation of the world depends upon envy, let him dedicate all these envious qualities to God. If he builds a house let him build in it room for the study of Torah, a gathering place for the wise, a place where guests are welcomed, and a place where he does kindness to men. And thus did they say (Shohar Tov ibid). Had not Abraham been jealous he would have not acquired both worlds. And how was he envious? He asked Melchizedek¹See Nedarim 32b, where Melchizedek is identified with Shem, the son of Noah., "How did you emerge from the Ark?" And Melchizedek answered, "Because of the charity that we did there," Abraham said to him, "What kind of charity could you do in the Ark; — were there any poor people there? There was no one there except Noah and his sons, so to whom were you doing charity?" Melchizedek answered him : "With the animals, with the beasts and with the fowl. We did not sleep but were constantly giving food to all these living creatures all night long." At that moment Abraham said, "If these people had not done charity with the animals, beasts and fowl, they would not have emerged from the Ark, but because they did justice with them, they did emerge safely, then I who will do justice with all the children of man who are in the image of the Holy One, Blessed be He, will not this be all the more favorable in God's eyes?" At that moment "And he planted a tamarisk (eshel) in Beersheba" (Gen. 21:33). (The sages take each letter of the Hebrew word Eshel and they say that the word Eshel means a place where strangers can eat, drink and lodge.) In this manner, a man ought to, indeed, increase his zeal.

If these men indeed were angels, the meal that Abraham prepared for them has to be understood as an offering, whereas if they were Arabs, i.e. men, the meal represented an act of hospitality in keeping with Abraham's character. Abraham afterwards performed an act of kindness vis-a-vis his Creator, as was his wont, when he tried to introduce these strangers to the realisation that they had eaten from G–d's property, not from his, and that therefore they should say grace. Rashi quotes this view on Genesis 21,33 where the Torah describes Abraham as planting an orchard in Beer Sheba. When the Torah adds ויקרא שם בשם ה' א-ל עולם, "He called there in the name of the Lord, the Lord of the universe," this means that Abraham had asked all the people who enjoyed the fruit of that orchard to bless the Lord for His bounty. He explained to one and all that they would have been mistaken if they had thought they had partaken of Abraham's generosity; what they had partaken of was G–d's bounty since it was He who called the universe into existence. Thus Rashi. In the event these people were humans, Abraham's intention was to introduce them to the ways of G–d. We find Abraham first performing an act of kindness by offering food and drink to fellow- humans, and subsequently he performed acts of piety vis-a-vis G–d by trying to bring these people nearer to Him.

There are three kinds of generosity : generosity with money, generosity with one's body, and generosity with one's wisdom — and all three were found in Abraham, our father. He was generous with his money, as it is written, "And he planted a tamarisk" (Gen. 21:33). He was generous with his body, for he saved his nephew, Lot, and fought for his sake. He was generous in his wisdom, for he taught everyone the right path until they became converted, as it is written, "And the souls that they had gotten in Haran" (Gen. 12:5).