וּחַתְש
יַו םָּהָּרְבַא םָּקָּיַול ְ םָּהָּרְבַא וּחַתְש
יַו...תֵח יֵנְבִּל ץֶרָּאָּה םַעלִפ נֵי עַם הָּאָּרֶץ.
And Avraham got up and bowed to the people of the land, to the children of Ches...and Avraham bowed down in front of the people of the land. (Bereishis 23:7, 23:12)
Why did Avraham bow down two times in his appreciation of the people of the land?! Also, why at first he bowed “to the people” and the second time he bowed down “in front of the people”?
Based on Midrash Rabba (58:6) the answer is as follows. The first bow was a sign of appreciation to the people of Ches. The second bow was actually to Hashem. That’s why, by the second bow, the Torah says that he bowed in front of the people of the land - i.e., the Torah is telling us that Avraham bowed down to Hashem in front of bnei Ches.
The lesson that we can learn from here is that when we receive something good from another person, we should show our appreciation to that person, but also, show our gratitude to Hashem in front of that person. We will thus show that we have emunah that Hashem is the one who decreed that this goodness should be bestowed upon us.
