Parshas Vayeira
1. On the verse "And the L‑rd appeared to him…," the Gemara says[1] — and Rashi cites it in his commentary on the Torah (with a change of wording), after explaining the intent of this "appeared" in general, that it was "to visit the sick" —: "That day was the third day of Avraham's circumcision, and the Holy One, blessed be He, came to inquire after Avraham's welfare."
The question is: From where does the Gemara derive that "And [the L‑rd] appeared to him" was on "the third day of the circumcision"?
The question is even greater: Why indeed did G‑d wait with visiting Avraham until the third day, and did not visit him earlier?
Regarding the first day, one can say that when G‑d was with Avraham to help him circumcise himself — as Rashi cites in the previous portion[2]: "He (the Holy One, blessed be He) stretched out His hand and held [the knife] with him" — He also visited him then. And since from the wording of the verse, "And He appeared to him," it is evident that this "appeared" was a new appearance, that G‑d came specifically to visit him — "the Holy One, blessed be He, came to inquire after Avraham" — it follows that "And He appeared to him" was not on the first day.
But the question still remains: From where does the Gemara derive that "And He appeared to him" was not on the second day; and why indeed did G‑d not visit him on the second day?
2. According to the view of the Ran[3], that the danger of circumcision is only on the first and third days but not on the second day, the commentators[4] answer the above question: G‑d did not visit Avraham on the first day because[5] Avraham was then occupied with circumcising Yishmael, "those born in his house" and "all those purchased with his money"; and on the second day He did not visit him because then there is no danger.
But this is not understood:
a) The Gemara's statement, "That day was the third day of the circumcision" — about which we find no dispute — must surely hold true also according to the views[6] (among which is also Rashi[7]) that on the second day too there is danger, and on the contrary (in their view): then the danger is greater than on the third day. How, then, does the Gemara fit according to them[8]?
b) Even according to the Ran, that on the second day there is no danger, it is difficult: the mitzvah of visiting the sick applies also to a sick person who is not in danger[9] — why, then[10], did G‑d not visit Avraham on the second day[11]?
3. The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh answers that G‑d waited with visiting Avraham until the third day because "one visits the sick only from the third day onward"[12]. And although "relatives enter immediately to visit him"[13], and G‑d is indeed a "relative" to the Jewish people (as it is written[14], "For which great nation is there that has G‑d close to it"), nevertheless G‑d did not come until the third day. For the reason relatives enter immediately is that their visit will not publicize that the person is ill[15] (whereas through a visit by those who are not relatives it becomes public — "the matter becomes noised about"[16]); and this reason does not apply to G‑d, for although He is a relative, it is "in public before all the worlds."
This answer, however, is not understood, because[17]: a) G‑d could have come to visit him without publicity; b) "And the L‑rd appeared to him" was also not in a public manner — it was, after all, "in the heat of the day," when there were no passers-by[18]; and from the fact that below it was not public, there is proof that above, too, it was not publicized (and consequently the concern about "the matter becoming noised about" above, for fear of accusers, is also resolved), because since all matters below evolve from the matters above, it is understood that they resemble them.
4. This will be understood by first noting what has already been discussed many times[19]: the power Jews have for fulfilling the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah derives from the mitzvos that the Fathers fulfilled before the Giving of the Torah — "the deeds of the Fathers are a sign for the children"[20].
But since the mitzvos the Fathers fulfilled were principally in spirituality, and did not "permeate" (to such an extent[21]) the physical things with which they were performed (which is why, when Avraham wanted an oath taken while holding an object[22], there was no choice but "Place[23] your hand under my thigh"[24]) — unlike the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah, when the holiness of the mitzvos becomes fixed in the physical things with which they are performed, to the point that the holiness remains in them, inwardly and openly, even after the mitzvah has been performed —
therefore, in order that the mitzvos of the Fathers should have a connection and a bond with the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah, there had to be (among the Fathers) at least one mitzvah resembling the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah; and that is the mitzvah of circumcision[25] — in which the holiness of the mitzvah remained (even before the Giving of the Torah[26]) in the physical object even after the mitzvah was performed — which connected all the other mitzvos of the Fathers with the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah, so that "the deeds of the Fathers" should be "a sign for the children."
From this it is understood that Avraham Avinu's fulfillment of the mitzvah of circumcision (before the Giving of the Torah) had to be in the same manner as the fulfillment of the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah.
5. One of the features of fulfilling the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah is the effort that the mitzvos be performed in the natural way, not through a miracle[27]. For since the mitzvos (after the Giving of the Torah) must bring about a refinement and draw down holiness into the physical things of the natural world, they must be done according to nature — so that the nature of the world, too, should (not be nullified, but) be refined.
Moreover: not only the mitzvah itself; even the preparation for a mitzvah must be according to nature. As is known[28], there is the story of the Alter Rebbe, who waited with the blessing of Kiddush Levanah until he prevailed upon the official to stop the boat (although earlier the Alter Rebbe himself had stopped the boat miraculously). This was because[29] he wanted the preparation for the mitzvah, too, to be clothed in the ways of nature.
And just as this is so with the preparations for a mitzvah, so it is (for the same reason) regarding the results of a mitzvah: the things that must, according to nature, come about through fulfilling the mitzvah — one should not use a miracle to remove them, for then something is lacking in the completeness of the fulfillment of the mitzvah.
6. From this it is understood that when a mitzvah is bound up, according to nature, with certain difficulties (whether the difficulties are in the fulfillment of the mitzvah itself, or in the preparation for the mitzvah, or in the results of the mitzvah), one should not remove or ease them in a non-natural way — for then the completeness of the mitzvah is lacking.
This does not mean that one should seek out difficulties. But the difficulties that do exist according to nature should not be removed by supernatural means.
This is similar to what is stated in the Zohar[30], that mitzvos should not come "for nothing and for free" (for then no "spirit of holiness" is drawn down through the mitzvah) — that is the order of "Egypt," as it is written[31], "which we ate in Egypt for free" — but rather one must "exert oneself in it properly, according to one's strength," and "for full payment."
And this is what is related about the Arizal[32]: he did not bargain over the price of a mitzvah; he paid for it as much as was asked of him.
7. This conduct of the Arizal is alluded to (like all matters of pnimiyus haTorah) in the revealed Torah as well: the Gemara relates[33] of Rabban Gamliel that he bought an esrog[34] for a thousand zuz, "to let you know how dear the mitzvos[35] were to them"[36].
In truth, the Gemara's story contains an even greater novelty than the above conduct of the Arizal:
It is understood that the fact that a thousand zuz was demanded of Rabban Gamliel for an esrog was due to an extraneous cause[37] — for it is inconceivable that, when there are no extraneous causes, an esrog should be worth a thousand zuz[38]. And from the fact that even in such a case Rabban Gamliel paid the full price that was demanded for the esrog, it follows that even when the difficulties in fulfilling a mitzvah come from extraneous causes — even then one should not make any effort to remove them[39].
8. Seemingly one could ask about this: Since the order in fulfilling the mitzvos must be not to remove the difficulties that exist (according to nature) in their fulfillment — and this order also had to apply to the mitzvah of circumcision of Avraham Avinu (as above, section 4)[40] — how is it that the angel Rafael came to Avraham Avinu to heal him[41]? Healing through an angel is, seemingly, something that is not according to nature; why, then, should G‑d send an angel to remove from Avraham such difficulties as must come, according to nature, from the mitzvah of circumcision?
This will be understood according to what the Rambam writes[42], that natural forces, too, are sometimes called by the name "angels."
The reason for this is: every matter below has a root above, as our Sages say[43], "There is no blade of grass below that does not have a constellation above that strikes it and says to it, 'Grow!'" And since natural forces evolve from angels, they are therefore sometimes called by the name of angels — after their root.
Accordingly it is understood that every natural healing derives from the angel Rafael (who is appointed over healing[44]), but this evolves through many stages of descent until it becomes clothed in the particular matter, in a natural garment. With others, only the particular matter in its natural garment is seen, but for Avraham the root shone openly: he saw the angel Rafael — "And he looked, and behold, three…."
Accordingly it is also understood that by the angel Rafael coming "to heal Avraham," he did not accomplish through his coming anything above nature — for a natural process, too, would then have healed Avraham Avinu.
9. On the basis of the above, we will also understand why the Gemara says that "And the L‑rd appeared to him" was only on the third day of the circumcision:
According to what was explained above (section 8), we must say that the angel Rafael healed Avraham Avinu only on the third day — for if he had healed him earlier, when one who has been circumcised is still ill according to nature, it would turn out that G‑d sent an angel to remove from Avraham difficulties that come as a result of the mitzvah.
And since the "three men" came to Avraham on the same day as "And the L‑rd appeared to him," we must say that "And He appeared to him" was also on the third day.
10. All the above is an explanation of why the Gemara says that "And He appeared to him" was on the third day of Avraham's circumcision. But it is still difficult: Why did G‑d wait with visiting Avraham until the third day, and not do so on the first two days?
Simply, one could have said that on the first two days, too, G‑d came to visit Avraham, and the fact that the Torah relates (only) the visit of the third day is because the Torah also writes about other events that happened that day — so the Torah relates the "And He appeared to him" of that day[45], and relies on our learning from this, regarding the first two days, that then too He came to visit him — for there is no reason to distinguish between the third day and the first two days [on the contrary: on the first two days the danger is greater and visiting the sick is more needed].
But from the wording of the Gemara, "That day was the third day… and the Holy One, blessed be He, came to inquire after Avraham," it is implied that the reason "the Holy One, blessed be He, came to inquire after Avraham" is because "that day was the third day of Avraham's circumcision."
11. This will be understood according to the statement of our Sages[46] that through visiting the sick one brings healing to the sick person. And although regarding a visitor in general it is said[47] that he "takes away (only) one sixtieth of his illness," regarding "And the L‑rd appeared to him" the Ramban says[48] "that in the vision of the Shechinah he had healing for the illness of the circumcision"; and the term "healing," unqualified, means that Avraham was healed completely.
And this does not contradict what is stated (and as Rashi also cites right after the verse) that the angel Rafael healed him — for this itself came from the healing that was brought about (at the root and in concealment) through "And He appeared to him": the "healing for the illness of the circumcision" that was brought about through "the vision of the Shechinah" was drawn down below, openly and completely, through the angel Rafael.
Accordingly one may say that on the first two days G‑d indeed did not come to visit Avraham, in order not to remove from him the difficulties that come naturally as a result of fulfilling the mitzvah[49].
12. On the basis of the above, we will also understand the lesson the Torah teaches us by relating that "And He appeared to him" was on the third day:
The lesson of the story of "And He appeared to him" as a whole is, as the Gemara says[50]: "The Holy One, blessed be He, visited the sick, as it is said, 'And the L‑rd appeared to him in the plains of Mamre' — you, too, visit the sick." That is why the verse says "And the L‑rd appeared to him," and not "to Avraham." Had it said "to Avraham," one could have thought that this was because of the special stature of Avraham Avinu, and consequently we could not learn from it that one must visit an ordinary Jew as well. That is why the verse does not write the word "Avraham" — to teach us that this was not because of the particular nature and stature of "Avraham"[51].
But why is it important for us to know that this was on the third day? It is to teach us that the fulfillment of the mitzvos, and the preparations for a mitzvah and its results, must be carried out through the ways of nature — so that out of nature itself one should make a "vessel" for G‑dliness.
(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Vayeira, 5728)
Key Lesson
A mitzvah is meant to refine the natural world, not to bypass it. So we should not look for ways around the effort, expense or discomfort that a mitzvah naturally brings — in preparing for it, in doing it, or in what follows from it. Like Rabban Gamliel, who paid a thousand zuz for an esrog, we pay the full price gladly, and so turn nature itself into a vessel for G‑dliness. And visiting the sick, which we learn from G‑d's visit to Avraham, is a duty toward every Jew, not only toward great people.