ויאמר אדני אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך אל נא תעבר מעל עבדך (יח-ג)
MASHAL: A number of years ago, there were two main bakeries in Monsey: Zishe’s and Glauber’s. Although they were not located right near each other, they were most definitely competitors, especially for challah and baked goods that people would buy in honor of Shabbos.
One morning, there was a fire in Zishe’s bakery. Much of the bakery burned down and the baking facilities were not in usable condition. Coupled with the fact that he was dealing with a burned-out store which needed to be repaired, Zishe in the meantime also had no means of income as his bakery was inoperable.
On Thursday morning, Zishe’s phone rang. “Hello. Reb Zishe? This is Mr. Glauber calling from Glauber’s bakery. I am sorry to hear about the fire that occurred in your store. I know that right now you don’t have a place where you could bake for all of your regular customers. I want to help you, and I think I might have thought of a way. I want to invite you to use MY store for your baking so that you can continue selling your challah and baked goods for Shabbos. Let’s come up with a schedule now so that we can each have adequate time in the Glauber Bakery to do all of our pre-Shabbos baking!”
NIMSHAL: Just as in the previous week’s parsha, this week too we are bequeathed with direction and life lessons from the patriarch of the entire Jewish Nation - Avraham. With love and passion, Avraham Avinu limitlessly sought the benefit of people. His own personal health didn’t stop him or even limit him, and only the choicest and finest goods were served to his guests. This is the incredible power of charity that we - as the Jewish people - are endowed with!