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Why does the Torah (תורה) change from "Vayeira Hashem (ה׳) el-Avrohom" to "Vayeira elav Hashem"? The grammatical shift reveals that Avrohom's condition drives this divine visit. The shiur explores how Mamre's perception of Avrohom as a choleh enabled the bikkur cholim, and how the angels' presence signals Avrohom's transition into Hashem's beis din.
The shiur begins with a fundamental grammatical question about the opening of Parashas Vayeira. While previous divine appearances use the standard formulation "Vayeira Hashem (ה׳) el-Avrohom," here the Torah (תורה) writes "Vayeira elav Hashem," creating an unusual word order. This grammatical change reveals that Avrohom's situation, rather than Hashem's initiative, drives this divine visit. Rabbi Zweig cites the Ramban (רמב"ן)'s approach that Hashem appears when "rotzeh es maasecha" - when someone has done something significant that draws divine closeness. However, Rashi (רש"י)'s interpretation that this represents bikkur cholim gains additional support from the textual structure. The pronoun "elav" forces us back to the previous mention of Avrohom at the end of the previous parsha: "nimol Avrohom," connecting the divine visit directly to Avrohom's circumcision.
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Parshas Vayeira 18:1
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