5785 - "And He appeared to him in the plains of Mamre". Rashi: "He is the one who advised him about the circumcision, therefore [Hashem] revealed Himself to him in his territory": Could it be that Avraham needed advice? Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld,…

00:02 Speaker 1 “Hashem appeared to him at the terebinths of Mamre, while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day.” Rashi explains: Why at the terebinths of Mamre? Because Mamre gave him advice about the circumcision, so Hakadosh Boruch Hu appeared to Avraham Avinu there. But this raises a question. Avraham Avinu was the foremost of believers. He was ready to give his life to spread awareness of G-dliness in the world; he was thrown into a fiery furnace. When Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells him to perform a bris milah, does he go consult his friend? Ask his friends whether or not to do it? He was ready to give his life! What does it mean that Mamre “gave him advice about the circumcision”? Hakadosh Boruch Hu had commanded him to do it. There are several explanations. According to one, Avraham Avinu’s question was whether to do it discreetly. It says, “Walk humbly with Hashem your G-d”—do it quietly, without publicity. Or perhaps he should make the bris milah public, so the whole world would know, and it would also be a kiddush Hashem. That was what he was uncertain about. He went to ask his friends, and he asked Mamre, who told him: Make it public. In that way, Hashem’s name will be sanctified. And that is what he did. The proof is “Hashem appeared to him”: Avraham Avinu saw that Mamre’s advice was right. Why? Because Hashem appeared at the terebinths of Mamre. Mamre was a righteous man, and the Shechinah rested there. So when Mamre offered him that advice, Avraham did as he said. There is another explanation of what Avraham Avinu was uncertain about. He was wondering which blessing to recite: “Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to circumcise,” or “Who has sanctified us

02:06 Speaker 1 with His commandments and commanded us concerning circumcision.” He was uncertain. The Gemara discusses differing opinions about whether this mitzvah can be performed through an agent, and that was Avraham Avinu’s question. That is why Rashi is precise in saying, “He gave him advice about the circumcision.” Mamre told him: The blessing you should recite is “concerning circumcision,” not “to circumcise.” That is the explanation.

02:32 Speaker 2 Why not?

02:34 Speaker 1 Later in the parsha it says, “He stood over them under the tree, and they ate.” Rashi asks: What does “they ate” mean? Do angels eat and drink? Rather, they made it look as though they were eating. Why did they do that? “When you go to a place, follow its customs.” In this world people eat and drink, so the angels also made it look as though they were eating. My wedding was in New York in 5724, and my parents, of blessed memory, came to the wedding. Before my father, of blessed memory, traveled, he wrote to the Rebbe asking for a blessing for the trip and the wedding. Among other things, he wrote that according to Jerusalem custom, the choice of who officiates at the kiddushin belongs to the groom’s father. It was his decision whom to honor with it, so he wished to honor the Rebbe with officiating. He added that the holy books say that at the time of the chuppah, parents and grandparents who are in the World of Truth also come to take part in the celebration and bless the bride and groom. The grandfather, after all, [unclear], would be there too, and it would be a great honor for him if the Rebbe officiated. The Rebbe replied with a letter blessing him for the trip and the wedding, but wrote nothing about his request. Later, when my father was there and went in for yechidus, the Rebbe received him warmly and with special affection. The first thing the Rebbe said to him, with a smile, was: “When the angels came to Avraham, it also says, ‘And they ate.’” He understood immediately what the Rebbe meant. That was the answer to his request: here, one follows the local custom. And in those years, the Rebbe’s practice was no longer to go out to officiate at kiddushin. Have a good Shabbos and good news.

04:42 Speaker 3 Amen.