Once upon a time, there was a great rabbi known for his ability to fully immerse himself in Torah study. When he opened the Torah and learned from it nothing could interrupt him. And no one dared to disturb him.
Except for one person.
It was his infant grandson who started to cry while the rabbi studied. Without hesitation, without any anger, the rabbi closed the Torah he was studying and rushed to the baby.
While all of this was going on, the child’s father, the rabbi’s son, was also busy studying Torah. So busy that he failed to hear the cries of his son.
Later that day, the rabbi had a talk with his son. “No matter how involved you are in a task,” the rabbi said to his son, “no matter how sacred this task is, you must never fail to hear and respond to someone in need. Never! Your son needed you, but you allowed Torah to fully consume you, putting your child in danger. Torah is sacred. Your son, even more so!”
Abraham had chutzpah – some nerve! He was being visited by Gd, yet he had the audacity to run off, leaving Gd to greet three people he had never met. Some might think Abraham’s actions were offensive to Gd. The Talmud, the great book of Jewish law, sees his actions very differently, stating that “greater than receiving God is the mitzvah of receiving others.” In other words, it was right for Abraham to leave Gd hanging while he fed a bunch of strangers.
Maimonides, the wise medieval Jewish philosopher, finds it remarkable that as Abraham was recuperating in his tent, communing with Gd, he was still capable of seeing the three strangers. In the same way, even while engaged in sacred study, the great rabbi was still capable of hearing the cry of his grandson.
In our noisy world, we need to learn from the great rabbi and from our patriarch, Abraham. It’s easy to become distracted and consumed by all the noise out there, noise that can drown out the truly sacred sounds: the cry for help from those we love and those who, despite being strangers, need our support. “Greater than receiving God is the mitzvah of receiving others.” This Shabbat, give yourself the gift of silence. Use the silence to refocus and begin listening for the sacred noise, the noise that really matters – and make sure you respond to this sacred noise.
Leave a Reply