Sitting in Judgment

By Rabbi Joshua ( judicially known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

Parshas Vayera begins with God appearing to Avraham whie he is stting at the opening of his tent in Elonei Mamre. The midrash, as cited by Rashi, learns from this opening verse that God stands amongst the judges when they are sitting and adjudicating cases in Jewish law.This is derived fromthe fact that the word ' yosheiv,' sitting, which is in the prresent test, 'is written defectively- without a 'vav- and so culd be read as 'yashav,' in the past tense. Rashi explains that Avraham had been sitting, but started to stand up in deference to the divine presence. However, God told him to sit down,and that He would stand. This, God told Avtraham,would be a sign for his descendants,that He would stand in the assembly o judges while they would sit and judge, as it says, "God stands in the divine assembly" (Tehillim, 89:1).This midrash is rather enigmatic. What does Avraham's sitting at the opening of his tent, waiting for guests to appear, have to do with judges handling cases of Jewish law? I have heard, in hte name of Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt'l, that this was, in fact, a case of judgment, because Avraham, who was recuperating from his bris mila which he had undergone just three days earlier, was actualy obligating all future Jews to attend scrupulously and generously to the needs of guests and needy people,, since he did so under such trying circumastances. I would like to discuss another explanation, given by Rav Mordechai Rov, zt'l in his Ateres Mordcahi to parshas Vaeura.

Rav Rogov says that when a person tends to the needs of a guest, or a poor person, he is engaging in an activity that carries with it great responsibilty. In some cases, the person standing before him may seem to be unworthy of receiving his kindness. In the case of the three people standing before avraham, he suspected them of being idolaters, and, in addition, they are dewscribed by te Torah as standing over avraham which Rav Rogov points out, is a sign of arrogance. avraham could have simply dismissed these people as being unworthy of his attention. That is why God stood over Avraham, and told him to sit down and judge the matter seriously, comnsidering how best to treat these men. Deciding such matters, God was saying, must be treated with the same seriuosnesswith which a judge decides cases of Jewish law.

This explanation of Rav Rogov gives us an appreciation of the importance of ther mitzvah of welcoming guests. I believe, however, tgat there is an additional message, one which is addressed to future dayanim, or judges of Jewish law, That message is that just as avraham considered the treatment of the three guests with utmost seriousness, assuming that their continued well- being was in his hands, so too much dayanim approach their case-work with utmost seriousness. The same empathy that Avraham displayed in deciding how how to treat these men must be conferred by the dayanim t othe litigants of the cases brought before them.This is a message that dayanim need to be reminded of constantly, in order to avoid some of the abuses that beis din may be prone to. By avoiding such abuses, they will carry on the tradition avraham, of whom said, later in the pasha, "For I have loved him, because he cammands his children and his household after him that they keep the way of the Lord, doing charty and justice", (Bereishis, 18:19).