PARSHAS וירא

We read at the beginning of the sedra in the second posek
וישא עיניו וירא והנה שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו וירא וירץ לקראתם מפתח האהל וישתחו ארצה
He (Abraham) lifted up his eyes and saw and behold there were three people standing next to him and he saw and he ran towards them at the door of the tent and bowed down to the ground.


It is brought in the name of numerous tzaddikim in the sefer ליקוטי יהודה that Avrohom Avinu saw into the future and the generations that were going to come. by his deeds he installed in later generations the strength to be able to keep the Torah and mitzvos and perform good deeds. This is implied in the expression מעשה אבות סימן לבנים namely that the strength and religious direction of the children (ourselves) came from the Ovos, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov.

Rashi explains that the three people were in fact angels who looked as if they were people and they each came with a different job to carry out. Namely, the first to heal Avrohom, the second to tell the good tidings that Soroh would have a child in a year’s time and the third to destroy סדם.

I believe that by examining the פסוק from a different angle one can also find an allusion to a different happening that took place 1,294 years later on.

We find that King Nebuchadnezar besieged Jerusalem some years before the Temple was destroyed. He ransacked the city and took away, as prisoners to Bovel with him, the cream of society החרש והמסגר . Among them were three youths of princely lineage, namely, חנניה מישאל ועזריה Chananiah, Mishoel and Azariah. The story of what happened to them and their colleague דניאל Daniel, is told in detail in the section of נ''ך known as דניאל. They were given name changes and the whole emphasis was to try and convert them to Nebuchadnezar’s religion and utilise their talents and skills for the good of his kingdom.

They were given food from the king’s kitchen but, as we read in דניאל they clung steadfastly to the laws of Torah and refused to eat anything which was not kosher. They requested from the chief of the kitchens that they should not eat anything other than vegetables and water. The official was very concerned that they would not maintain their health and that the king would take it out on him. But they persuaded him to let them try the new diet, by which they would not have to eat anything that was not kosher, and he agreed. Meanwhile, their great wisdom and knowledge was utilised by the king and they found favour in his eyes and in fact their physical appearance, if anything, improved.

Shortly after this, Nebuchadnezar had a dream which he forgot and he also forgot the interpretation. He called his advisors, soothsayers, astrologers etc., the chief of which were the כשדים, Chaldeans. They were aghast when he told them that they had to tell him what the dream was and also the interpretation and they could not help. However, דניאל, after praying to Hashem, had revealed to him the dream and the correct interpretation and he gave this to Nebuchadnezar who, therefore, elevated him above all other of his advisors. He, in turn, placed, חנניה מישאל ועזריה into very high positions. The Chaldeans and other advisors were very upset and looked for a way of having our four heroes removed.

Meanwhile, Nebuchadnezar had erected a very tall gold statue in a place called בקעת דורא Bikas Dura. He then instructed all of the officials, generals and other leading figures to come to the consecration of this large statue.

Following this, a proclamation was issued that all the populace should also come and pay their respects and bow down to this large statue. There was a warning that anybody who did not come and pay the necessary respects would be thrown into a burning furnace.

Dutifully, people came and did as they were told.

However, Jewish people, and in particular דניאל, and חנניה מישאל ועזריה did not come. The Chaldeans seized the opportunity to report them to the king. Nebuchadnezar, of course, was most upset and called חנניה מישאל ועזריה in and told them in no uncertain terms that he had heard that they had not bowed down and that he wanted them to do this immediately in public with accompanying music (the word symphonia סימפוניה is used obviously meaning a symphony). He also warned them that if they did not listen to his instructions, they would be thrown into the burning furnace.

They answered Nebuchadnezar, “the king”, as follows “We only serve one Hashem in heaven and if He wishes to save us from such a fate, He will do so. We will not bow down, in any circumstances to the statue”. Nebuchadnezar became very angry and ordered them to be thrown into the flames.

Nebuchadnezar was not present whilst this was being done. The palace was not in the immediate vicinity of the furnace, but he ordered the soldiers to chain the three together and throw them all in at once. This was done and a miracle took place. The people who threw them in were burnt by the flames that were going up and the three of them חנניה מישאל ועזריה, could be seen walking around in the furnace, apparently unharmed.

Nebuchadnezar was informed and immediately came to see himself. In a state of wonder, he said “I can not only see that the three who were chained are walking around I can even see a fourth one walking with them together.” He ends by saying ורוה די רביעיא דמה לבר אלהין and the appearance of the fourth one is similar to that of an angel. The Gemora, in fact, says that this was the angel Gavriel. (When Nebuchadnezar was with Sancheriv when their armies were destroyed, Isaiah 37)

They emerged virtually unscathed and Nebuchadnezar proclaimed that the true ruler of the world is Hashem Yisborach. (Incidentally, the name of the place בקעת דורא Bikas Dura translates as the “shallow depression of the furnace” and it obviously has a connection with this famous story.)

Where did חנניה מישאל ועזריה take the strength and conviction to be able to withstand all the pressures even to the extent of being thrown into a fiery furnace from? They were, after all, youths who had been taken into captivity, exposed to an irreligious, idol worshiping society and had learned sadly of the Bais Hamikdosh being destroyed only a few years before,.

I would suggest that they took their brave decision as result of the example given by Avrohom Avinu who was thrown into the אור כשדים the burning fire at Ur of the Chaldees by Nimrod. As we know, he also emerged unscathed.

They not only prayed to Hashem to save them when they were being thrown into the fire they also implored that the zechus, the merit, of Avrohom Avinu should help them.

Let us now examine the wording of the posek I brought right at the beginning. וישא עיניו and Avrohom lifted up his eyes, וירא and he saw, I would suggest that he saw into the future and witnessed the confrontation between Nebuchadnezar and our three heroes, חנניה מישאל ועזריה. As they were thrown into the fire, והנה שלשה אנשים there were three people namely חנניה מישאל ועזריה who were frantically standing next to him נצבים עליו and begging him to intercede with Hashem on their behalf וירא and he saw this vision of the future happening וירץ לקראתם and he ran towards them to try and help them. What he did was וישתחו ארצה and he bowed down ויאמר and he said אדנ' Rashi comments that this was a request to Hashem על נא תעבור מעל עבדיך do not forsake your servant. Please help these three individuals be saved from a horrible fate.

And so they were saved miraculously.

When Nebuchadnezar went to look at this extraordinary happening and miracle, he exclaimed “There is a fourth one there who looks like an angel”. I would venture to suggest that it was, in fact, Avrohom Avinu, known as one of the רגלי המרכבה the wheels of the celestial chariot, who had come to assist in their salvation.

You will recall that I mentioned that the people who had thrown them into the furnace were, themselves, consumed in flames. There is a parallel in a midrash that says when Avrohom Avinu was thrown into the furnace at אור כשדים likewise the people who carried out the act also were burned alive. This is known as מידה כנגד מידה

I mentioned earlier on that the word אדנ' applied to Hashem. Rashi, in fact, quotes a midrash where there are two explanations. One is as mentioned above, namely Avrohom was speaking to Hashem. An interesting fact is that the person who makes this comment in this midrash was named חנניה the nephew of R Yehoshua, חנניה you will recall, is the same name as one of the three who was saved and the name Yehoshua means, Hashem should save. It all ties in together.

I had mentioned earlier on that this took place 1,294 years after the time when Avrohom had his bris mila. This is arrived at as follows.

Going forward from the time of the bris mila, one year later Yitzchok was born. 400 years subsequently Yitzias Mitzraim took place. 480 years after that was the year that King Solomon consecrated the first Temple. That stood for 410 years. This all totals 1,291 years. It was 3 years after that the story of the statue in Bikas Dura took place.

If you add together the numerical value of והנה שלשה אנשים נצבים the complete gemmatria thereof is exactly 1,294. Namely, we are talking about 1,294 years later. If you take the rest of the words in that phrase, namely וישא עיניו וירא עליו they total 796. This is the exact same gemmatria as חנניה מישאל עזריה.

One might ask, why is it that it was only at this juncture after Avrohom’s bris mila that we find this hint to his assistance to חנניה מישאל ועזריה and not some time earlier, as we find that he saved Lot in the previous sedra.

The gemmatria of אברהם , Avrohom, is 248 which is exactly the same as the 248 limbs רמ''ח איברים . All of these, bar the bris mila were perfected by him but it was only when he actually had the bris mila that he was completely perfect as it clearly states in Torah at the end of Lech Lecha והיה תמים את בריתי תשמור and the Torah goes on to tell Avrohom to perform the bris mila. Once he carried this out, he was in a position to assist others such as חנניה מישאל ועזריה.

The word מילה equals 85 which also is the gemmatria of פה.

Avrohom now had the power of פה his mouth to beseech Hashem and intercede on behalf of חנניה מישאל ועזריה.

Rashi actually quotes that when Avrohom pursued the four kings, when he reached Don, he lost his strength because he saw that the tribe of Don would erect an idol, פסל מיכה there. Why could he have not prayed that they should not erect the idol.

What I am suggesting is that because he had not yet had the bris mila he was not yet in the same position of strength and perfection as subsequent to the bris mila.

We are all descendants of Avrohom Avinu and his shining example and zechus are with us in all generations to help us in all our trials and tribulations. He, by his deeds and words, gave the will to later generations to keep the Torah and mitzvos and perform good deeds.

To sum up, I feel that you will agree that there are much greater depths in Torah than appear on the surface.