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What do a baker, sailor and Arab have in common? No, this is not a joke, it’s a Parsha Question! The Midrash Rabbah (48:9) is apt on filling us in on the details of how the three angels that visited Avraham appeared. One looked like a baker, another like a ship’s captain and the last appeared as an Arab. What is this costume party all about?!

Rabbi Tzaddok HaKohen from Lublin (1823-1900) tackles this issue and provides much insight. Tosfos in Pesachim states that the world is divided into three parts: one third is water, one third land and one third desert (an elaborate discussion of this phenomenon is beyond the scope of this article). These three areas represent the three portions of our Holy Torah: (1) the Written Law, (2) the Oral Law, and (3) the secrets which Mashiach will reveal. The Patriarchs represent the transmission of Torah to the Jewish Nation, thus:

1-Avraham lived in the desert and represents the Written Law that was given to the Jews in the Sinai desert. Avraham shared his chessed with the wayfarers in the desert.

2-Yitzchok lived only in Eretz Yisrael (dry land) and represents the Oral Law which is said to be studied with great toil and sacrifice and primarily in Eretz Yisrael, a fitting description of Yitzchok’s personal life.

3-Yaakov is the epitome of depth and truth and thus represents the secrets of Torah that will be revealed in the future. This material is described as, “knowledge will fill the world as water fills the sea (Isaiah 11:9).”

This directly connects to the three visitors. The angels came to tell Avraham that the Jewish Nation was about to be conceived.

1-Michael (angel of water, chessed) came to inform Sarah that she and Avraham would have a child and appeared as an Arab who dwelled in the desert. Just as Avraham was the foremost Patriarch, so too, Michael was the primary angel and thus Avraham addressed him.

2-Gavriel (angel of fire, din) came to utilize fire to overturn Sedom and appeared as a baker who provides sustenance to people on the dry land. Additionally, the Gemara calls an expert in the Oral Law, the owner of a bread store (Berachos 64a).

3-Refael (angel of balance)  came to cure Avraham and to save Lot, the grandfather of Mashiach Ben David. He appeared as the captain of the sea. [Just as Yaakov didn’t die (Taanis 5b) so too David is considered to live forever (Rosh Hashanah 25a).]

Thus, Chazal reveal to us the depth and beauty of how to view a “story” in the Torah!

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Categories: Parshas Vayeira Tags: Patriarchs, The Three Angels, Three Avos