Vayeira 5772

In this week's parsha, Avraham welcomes three guest-angels. "And he [Avraham] lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent and he prostrated himself to the ground...'Please let a little water be taken and bathe your feet and recline under the tree.
And I will take a morsel of bread, and sustain your hearts'…" Later in the parsha, Avraham's nephew Lot welcomes two guest-angels into his home in Sodom, even though Sodom's laws prohibit hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests/hospitality.) "Lot saw and arose toward them, and he prostrated himself on his face to the ground. And he [Lot] said, 'Behold now my lords, please turn to your servant's house and stay overnight and wash your feet'…"

Why did Lot feel compelled to welcome guests even though the laws of Sodom prohibited hospitality?

Rashi writes: "[Lot] learned from the house of Avraham to seek out guests." Lot lived with his uncle Avraham for forty years, and in that time he learned from Avraham how to be a good host. Despite living in a city where evil was the law, Lot could not keep himself from offering hospitality. Even after Lot left Avraham, hospitality was so ingrained in him that he couldn't act differently.

Writes Rabbi Mordechai Rhine on www.teach613.org, "Lot's story provides a great lesson to the field of parenting. The study of one's youth plays an enormous role in a child's behavior later on in life. Even if a child chooses to chart out a different type of life than his or her parents, things that were properly role modeled and ingrained in the child will rarely be forgotten. A child who witnessed great personal integrity will find it difficult to act in a way that is less than honest. A child who experienced a reverence for mentors will retain a respect for mentors (including his own parents) no matter how far he or she may stray. A child who grew up in a house of hospitality will find a natural predisposition to doing kindness even if the environment in which he is does not value such behavior."