Avrohom’s Good-Bye Party To describe Yaakov’s departure from Be’er Sheva the Torah uses the word VaYetzei. Rashi famously comments that a tzaddik’s departure makes an impact as he takes with him the beauty, glory, and luster of the place. When Avrohom left his father’s house it says, “Lech Licha,” why did it not say, VaYeitzei?
The Chassam Sofer answers that Yaakov left a city steeped in Torah and Yiras Shamayim, that were the hallmarks of all those that came far and wide to be under the influence of Avrohom and Yitzchok. These good people appreciated Yaakov, and therefore, his departure was a blow to the entire atmosphere of the city. However, when Avrohom left his city, it was almost entirely under the influence of Nimrod and his heretical beliefs. Avrohom was a pariah. Therefore, his leaving did not impact anyone in the city. In fact, they were quite happy to see him go.
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What Happened To All Of Avrohom’s Geirim? “VaYikach Avraham … ViEs Kol HaNefesh Asher Asu Bi Charan; Avraham took all the souls that he made in Charan to the Land of Canaan.” Rashi explans that Avraham converted the men, and Sarah converted the women. All these Geirim were brought to Eretz Yisrael.
Pirkei Drabbi Elazar asks, “What happened to the descendents of these Geirim? Have you ever heard of someone saying that he is a descendent of Avraham’s Geirim?” He answers that when Avraham died these Geirim went “off the derech” and back to their old ways. Pardas Yosef explains that this was because they did not respect Yitzchok as much as Avraham and, therefore ,”cooled off” in their Yiddishkeit.
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Was Avrohom a Gift Taker or Not? Despite the fact that Avrohom earned all the bounty from Sedom because of his victory over the 4 kings, still, he told the King of Sedom that he will not take any bounty since he didn’t want the king to say he made Avrohom rich. This begs the question of how Avrohom took sheep and cattle from Paroh when he didn’t even deserve it.
Rav Yehonoson Eibishitz suggests that Avrohom didn’t actually take anything from Paroh. Paroh may have appointed him to an important position in his court and, therefore, he earned a great fortune through his position. He points out that the pasuk doesn’t say that Paroh gave him cattle, rather it says, “He was good to Avrohom because of Sarah,” and as a result of this goodness the pasuk,continues, “He had sheep and cattle.” There is never any indication that the sheep and cattle came from Paroh.
The Netziv says that Avrohom knew the personalities of the two Kings. When Paroh offered him riches he felt that Paroh was doing this to make himself feel important and not to feel superior to Avrohom. It was a gift offering to a royal personage. However, Avrohom felt that the King of Sedom was giving this as charity to Avrohom, so he refused to accept.
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Embarassed, Lot Sneaks Away When Lot departed from Avraham and chose to live in the cities of the Kikar HaYarden, the pasuk says, “VaYisa Lot MiKedem; And Lot traveled from East to west.” If one looks at a map of Eretz Yisrael, one will notice that the Yarden is the eastern border of Eretz Yisrael. If so, how was Lot traveling to cities of Kikar HaYarden in a direction from east to west, he should have been traveling from west to east?
The Taz answers that Lot was embarrassed to show Avraham that he wanted to live among the evil people of Sdom. He therefore tried to fool Avraham into thinking that he was headed in the opposite direction (westward). When Avraham was out of sight, he turned around and headed eastward towards the Kikar HaYarden!
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Why A Major War Over Lot? Kidorlaomer and his allies invaded Eretz Yisroel and quickly defeated the local kingdoms. Avrohom then took a few men and decided to fight the mighty forces. Rav Yechiel Michel Feinstein points out that Avrohom should have been happy that the locals were defeated. Rashi in the beginning of the Parsha (12:6) says that Eretz Yisroel was given to Shem but the Kenani chased them out. Kidorlaomer a descendant of Shem, was rightful heir to Eretz Yisroel and his conquest should have been welcome. He answers that the Avrohom initially didn’t have a problem with the war. He only became involved when Lot was captured. Chazal tell us that the entire campaign planned and executed by the four kings was for one reason only, to capture Lot.
Why was this so important to them? A that time the world’s ideology was one of kefira. The only one to challenge this was Avrohom who started a movement to rally the people towards a single Hashem. These four Milachim, one of which was Avrohom’s old nemesis Nimrod wanted to stem the success of Avrohom. Lot was a perfect vehicle for this. Lot had drifted away from Avrohom’s ideology and moved to the sin city of Sedom. We also know (Rashi 13:8) that Lot looked like Avrohom. The four kings wanted to kidnap Lot and have him admit that Avrohom’s ideology is flawed, and claim the kings were right. They would claim that Lot was Avrohom and put an end to his ideology.
Although Avrohom didn’t get involved over the possibility of the four

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