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Why does Lot's hospitality seem quantitatively greater than Avrohom's—inviting guests to stay overnight versus just a meal—yet the Torah (תורה) credits only Avrohom? The shiur develops a Maharal-based yesod distinguishing pre-sin Adam (pure intellect directing the body) from post-sin Adam (body and soul must both benefit). Brit milah restores Avrohom to Adam's original state, enabling genuine hachnasas orchim—giving that diminishes the self, not the accommodation-based chesed (חסד) Lot was capable of.
The shiur opens with a striking question: Reading the text objectively, Lot's hachnasas orchim appears superior to Avrohom's in every measurable way. Lot invites the guests to sleep over (a greater commitment than Avrohom's daytime meal), insists emphatically when they resist (Avrohom had no such opportunity), prostrates himself fully (Avrohom bows but does not fully prostrate), and performs this chesed (חסד) in Sedom at mortal risk (Avrohom hosts in the safe environment of Mamre among allies). Yet Chazal declare "gedolah hachnasas orchim yoter mikabbalas pnei hashechina" specifically about Avrohom, and Lot is saved not by his own merit but solely in Avrohom's zechus. How can this be? The answer begins with a Midrash on the pasuk "Mizbeach adamah ta'aseh li." Why does the Torah (תורה) call the Mishkan's altar a "mizbeach adamah" when it was constructed of copper? The Rambam (רמב"ם) in Hilchos Beis HaBechirah explains that the mizbeach in the Beis Hamikdash stood on the exact spot where Adam was created—"umimakom kaparaso sham nivra," from the place of one's atonement is the place from which one was created. Kapparah is thus a recreation of the self, returning to Adam's state before the sin. In the Mishkan, which moved from place to place, earth was placed inside the copper altar ("sidna de'ara kachada"—all earth is considered unified) to symbolically connect it to that original place. The essence of korban is returning oneself to pristine Adam.
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Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Parshas Vayeira 18:1-8
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What is the primary purpose of the cities of refuge - protecting the accidental killer or something else? The shiur argues that creating respect for law takes precedence over providing sanctuary. True deterrence comes from recognizing the gravity of murder itself, not fear of punishment.
