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As this week's parsha, Parshat Vayeira, opens, we find Avraham Avinu sitting in his tent recovering from his brit milah. The Torah tells us: "He lifted his eyes and he saw: And behold three men were standing over him. He saw so he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and bowed toward the ground." (Bereishit 18:2) A simple question can be asked: why does the pasuk need to say "he saw" twice?

Rashi teaches us that the first "he saw" means that Avraham simply saw three "men." However, "he saw" is stated a second time acknowledging that he now understood something that he didn't know before. The angels were just standing around because they didn't want to bother Avraham. When Avraham realized that the angels weren't approaching him, he therefore ran over to honor them. Therefore, according to Rashi, the first "seeing" was simply observing their presence. The second "seeing" was his understanding of their actions. Once Avraham "saw" what was going on, he was able to extend his famed hachnasat orchim.
The Ohr HaChayim offers a slightly different interpretation. He agrees with Rashi the first "he saw" is that Avraham saw three "men" [however, based on another part of the pasuk it was clear to him that they were really angels and he recognized them as such]. But the second "he saw" comes to teach us that by Avraham looking at them, he was healed.

Although they give different interpretations, the ideas of Rashi and Ohr HaChaim may be connected. Avraham saw the angles and then realized since they were not coming over to him that he had an opportunity to eagerly perform the mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim. It was because of Avraham's "seeing" and acting that he was worthy of another "seeing"—being healed through the angels.

Rena Weinblatt comes to AMIT from Staten Island, New York and is a graduate of Maayanot High School. What she likes most about Midreshet AMIT is connecting with her teachers and being able to talk with them and the adorable kids at Beit Hayeled.