The legacy of Avraham Avinu, who spent his entire life pursuing and performing acts of chessed, is highlighted in Parshas Chayey Sarah. The Torah concludes its account of Avraham's life with two episodes whose central theme is chessed. The devotion Avraham demonstrates for Sarah after her death in his purchase of Me'oras Hamachpeilah to bury her therein is the paradigm of chesed shel emes - kindness that can never be repaid. Continuing with the theme of the centrality of chessed is the story of Eliezer searching for a wife for Yitzchak. Only one who personifies the trait of chessed would be worthy to join the family of Avraham, and therefore it is the act of kindness of providing water for Eliezer and his camels that tests a potential wife's suitability for Yitzchak.
One of Avraham's great contributions to humanity is a proper understanding of the significance of interpersonal relations. In a world where these ideas were foreign, Avraham taught the world about kindness and justice, and planted the seeds in humanity of caring for our fellow man. There is another legacy Avraham left behind, i.e. that he taught monotheism to a world that only knew paganism. Rashi (24:7) comments that Avraham refers to Hashem as "Elokei Haaretz" only after Avraham taught the world of His existence. Prior to that, Hashem was only known as "Elokei Hashamayim."
These two legacies, monotheism and love and care for one's fellow man, are actually dependent upon one another. One of the sources which teaches us that we must behave to one another properly is the mitzva to emulate Hashem. Just as He is merciful and kind, so too we must follow in His ways be merciful and kind as well.
Measures of kindness and justness cannot be determined by human standards. Societies create various models which, according to their perceptions, are kind and just, but we measure our bein adam lachaveiro by the standards of kindness and justice defined by the Torah. Any other model can be abused and eventually becomes the antithesis of a kind and just society. Those who embraced Communism in the past century demonstrated what happens to bein adam lachaveiro in a world that denies Hashem.
The relationship between the two legacies of Avraham expresses itself in another manner as well: it is inconceivable to be a genuine servant of Hashem and not be a loving and kind person. A true ohev Hashem loves whomever Hashem loves. Just as Hashem bestows His love and kindness on His world, so too we must follow in His ways and do the same. Avraham taught his descendants and the entire world about bein adam lamakom and bein adam lachaveiro. Our bein adam lamakom enables us to properly fulfill bein adam lachaveiro, and likewise, our bein adam lachaveiro is a testimony to our bein adam lamakom.
What we have learned from Avraham in the past two parshiyos was transmitted to the next generation; Yitzchak and Rivka continued the duel legacy of Avraham and Sarah. In fact, these seeds of emuna baHashem and chessed continue to be nurtured, because we are the recipients of these two lofty legacies. May we continue to show the world the truth of the message of Avraham.
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