Torah says vayera elav and God revealed Himself to him (Abraham).
Usually it says God spoke to Abraham, God spoke to Moses. Here it says
vayera, He revealed. If I meet a friend and I have to tell him
something very important we are not real true friends yet. If I just
want to see you even if I really have nothing special to tell you, I
just love you and I want to see you. Before Abraham entered into the
covenant with God, God spoke to him when He had something to say. After
the covenant God said, "I really have nothing special to tell you,
let's just look at each other. I want to reveal Myself to you,"
This is very
deep. Some people are in contact with God, but the only contact is when
they have something to tell God, or God has something to tell them.
It is a stock exchange that is going on. It's the highest, holiest stock
there is, but it is still on the level of business. Being in the covenant
with God means the relationship with God has nothing to do with anything
in the world. It doesn't depend on anything.
Sometimes you meet little people who really know there is one God They
do everything right and good and sweet, but their knowing of God is
only that they know exactly what God wants of them at four o'clock,
at five o'clock at eleven o'clock. They know everything exactly, but
God never revealed Himself to them. They may know God's will, but not
God Wants are just a manifestation of self. There is something beyond
wanting. If your deepest depths which are beyond wanting are a vessel
for God, then God reveals Himself. If your relationship to God is only
to doing His will, which is very holy, then God tells you His will.
Being in the covenant with God is beyond will, beyond wanting, beyond
everything. If you enter a covenant with God it means your entire being
is turned to God and, so to speak, God turns to you also.
The Talmud says
it was the third day after circumcision and Abraham, being an old man
already, was a little bit sick. It is really beautiful how the Midrash
Commentaries and says, "Why did God come to see him? God came to
visit the sick." How do friends visit each other? How do people
console each other? People came to visit me when I was sick. They would
say, "You think you have back trouble? I also had back trouble,
and my aunt had back trouble, and you should have seen ... This is not
consolation. It is even worse if more people are sick. What kind of
consolation is that? God said to the prophet Isaiah "nachamu,
nachamu ami" Console, console my people. Could you please console
my people with consolation - not with other tragedies.When God visits
Abraham to visit the sick He doesn't say anything. He just sits there,
He reveals Himself to Abraham, I am here.
