Parashat Vayera: On Strangers and Angels

Sometimes the people we think of as strangers turn out to be angels in disguise. Avraham saw three people in the distance. He did not know they were angels; he thought they were just weary travelers in need of hospitality. They turned out to be angels sent by God to bless him and Sarah with a child.

Maybe strangers are sent to us as a test -- a test our openness and generosity and faith in the bounty of God’s gifts to us. If we treat them like Avraham treated them, with an open tent, a warm meal and a welcoming heart, then they become blessing angels, sent to bring us blessing and fruitfulness. But if, on the other hand, we treat them like the people of Sodom treated strangers – we take advantage of their vulnerability to harm them – then they become divine agents not of blessing, but of destruction.

I am reminded of all those childhood stories about the ugly hag who stops the child on his journey, asking for a little bread or some assistance. The old hag turns out to have magical abilities and she then curses or blesses the child depending on the child’s reaction.

Perhaps we too are tested in this way, and when we give to those who are strange and unknown to us then we discover that they are angels who carry blessings, and when we don’t, we find that they are criminals sent to hurt us.

Many are the strangers in our lives – those from other countries or cultures, those with different political views, even those closest to us have aspects of the stranger in them. If we can somehow keep our tent open and invite them in, we will turn those strangers into angels of divine blessing; they will teach us something we need to learn and we will grow and be fruitful.