Drawing close to Hashem by receiving His chesed

אברהם אבינו ע"ה היה מכניס אורחים והאכילם והשקם ועי"ז קירב אותם להמקום ב"ה.

Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, would bring in guests and feed them and give them to drink, and through this he drew them close to the Omnipresent, may He be blessed.

The Sefas Emes opens with Avraham's hachnasas orchim (hospitality): by giving his guests food and drink, he brought them near to Hashem.

דאיתא במדרש ובו תדבק.

For it is brought in the Midrash on the verse "and to Him you shall cleave." (Devarim 10:20)

He cites the Midrash's question on the command to cleave to Hashem.

וכי אפשר לידבק בשכינה רק המשיא בתו לת"ח ומהנהו מנכסיו כו' שעל ידי שיש לו התקרבות אל הצדיק יש לו דביקות אל הקב"ה וזה מדת הצדיק להעלות הנדבקים אליו אבל אברהם אע"ה נקרא חסיד לפנים משורת הדין והאכיל והשקה ומהנה מנכסיו לכל באי עולם וכמו שיש התקרבות מהנותן אל המקבל כן מן המקבל אל הנותן ועי"ז קירב אותם לפי שנהנו ממנו והוא באמת מדת הקב"ה וב"ש שגדלו וטובו מלא עולם והכל לכבודו ברא ורצה לזכות את הברואים שיהי' להם התקרבות אצלו ע"י קבלת הטובה.

"Is it then possible to cleave to the Shechinah? Rather, [cleave to a talmid chacham] — one who marries his daughter to a Torah scholar and lets him benefit from his possessions, etc." — for through having closeness to the tzaddik one attains deveikus to Hashem, and this is the trait of the tzaddik, to elevate those who attach themselves to him. But Avraham Avinu was called a chassid, one who acts beyond the letter of the law (lifnim mishuras hadin): he fed and gave drink and let all who came into the world benefit from his possessions. And just as there is a drawing-close from the giver to the receiver, so too there is from the receiver to the giver, and through this he drew them close, since they had benefit from him. And this is in truth the middah of Hashem, may He be blessed, whose greatness and goodness fill the world, and He created everything for His honor and desired to grant merit to His creatures, that they should have closeness to Him through receiving His good.

The Midrash asks how one can literally cleave to the Shechinah, and answers that one cleaves by attaching to a tzaddik and benefiting him. The Sefas Emes turns this around: Avraham, the chassid who gives beyond the letter of the law, was the one bestowing the good — and just as benefiting a tzaddik creates a bond, so too receiving good from a giver creates a bond back toward him. This is precisely Hashem's own middah: His goodness fills the world, and He created everything so that His creatures, by receiving His good, would draw close to Him.

והרי הכתוב אומר ואהבת את ה' אלקיך.

And behold, the passuk says: "And you shall love Hashem your Elokim." (Devarim 6:5)

He raises the mitzvah that obligates us to love Hashem.

ומהראוי הי' שאדם יעשה מעשים שיזכה שהקב"ה יאהב אותו אבל מי יוכל לזכות לזה רק ההתקרבות ע"י קבלת הטובה ממנו ית' באהבה.

It would have seemed fitting that a person should perform deeds whereby he would merit that Hashem love him — but who can attain to this? Only the drawing-near that comes through receiving His good, may He be blessed, with love.

One might think we must earn Hashem's love through our deeds, but no person can truly merit that. The accessible path is the reverse: by gratefully receiving Hashem's goodness with love, we draw close to Him.

וע"ז כתיב אני אוהבי אהב והוא מדת טובו של הקדוש ברוך הוא שע"י קבלת טובתו באהבה יתקרבו אליו.

And concerning this it is written: "I love those who love Me." (Mishlei 8:17) And this is the middah of the goodness of the Holy One, blessed be He, that through receiving His good with love, they draw close to Him.

The verse "I love those who love Me" expresses Hashem's goodness: when we receive His chesed with love and reciprocate that love, He in turn draws us near and loves us.

ומעין זה היה מדת אברהם אע"ה שהחסד מתגלגל בעולם בשבילו:

And a semblance of this was the middah of Avraham Avinu, for through him chesed cycles through the world.

Avraham's middah was a reflection of Hashem's own: he became the conduit through whom chesed flows and circulates throughout the world, drawing all creatures close by means of the good they receive.

Summary: Avraham's hachnasas orchim was a model of how a person draws close to Hashem. The Midrash teaches that one cleaves to the Shechinah by benefiting a tzaddik — but the Sefas Emes explains the deeper principle: just as the receiver becomes bonded to the giver, so Hashem created the world and fills it with His goodness precisely so that His creatures, by receiving His chesed with love, would draw near to Him. We cannot earn Hashem's love through our deeds alone; we attain it by lovingly accepting His good. Avraham embodied this divine middah, becoming the channel through which chesed cycles through the world.