Avrohom Sits at the Gate of Gehinnom
בראשית יח,א: וַיֵרָא אֵלָיו יְהֹּוָה בְאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא וְהוּא יֹּשֵב פֶּתַח־הָאֹּהֶּל כְחֹּם הַיוֹם:
The Baal HaTurim notes that the word נמלו is written closed to וירא אליו. Chaza”l explain that Avrohom sits at the entrance to Gehinnom (expressed here as the “heat of the day”). He does not let anyone who has been circumcised to enter, except for one who had relations with a gentile woman since such a person extended their foreskin (reversing the circumcision so the gentile woman would not recognize him as a Jew), and therefore Avrohom could not recognize him as a Jew.
During the early days of printing, censorship took two forms: a) Material found objectionable by the governing authorities or the whim of the censor was not permitted to be printed; b) objectionable material was found by a second censor after a book was printed, and then the censor would destroy every copy of the book or, if only a few short passages were deemed bad, the censor would dip his brush into a pot of ink and blacken out the objectionable passages. Books exist with the above passage blackened out.
Merits
בראשית יח,ד: יֻקַח־נָא מְעַט־מַ יִם
The Baal HaTurim notes that the Gematria of this phrase (378) is equal to the phrase מכאן זכו לבאר (from here they merited to the well that accompanied them in the Midbar).
In reward for the three things Avrohom did for his guests and his descendants merited to three things: in reward for the “cream and milk” they merited the manna; in reward for “he stood עומדover them” they merited the pillar עמודof clouds; in reward for “let some water be taken” they merited the well of Miriam.
Initially the manna, well, and the clouds initially came to the Jews in the merit of Avrohom. However, the three miracles continued in the merits of Moshe, Aharon and Miriam.
Breaking Bread
בראשית יח,ה: וְאֶּקְחָה פַת־לֶּחֶּם
The Baal haTurim points out that the verse could have said קחו. Since Avrohom said “I will take” this intimates that at a meal, the host should be the one who breaks the bread.
At the start of a meal the host should break and distribute the bread to be certain that each person receives a sizable portion. Were a guest asked to break the bread he might be stingy on the portions out of fear of angering the host. However, at the end of the meal the guest should lead the Bircas haMazon in order to show his gratitude by offering a blessing for the prosperity of the host (Berachos 46a).
Cave of Machpelah
בראשית יח,ה: וְאֶּל־הַבָקָר רָץ
The Baal haTurim points out the letters of הבקר can be rearranged to spell הקבר (the grave). Thus, one could read the phrase that Avrohom ran to the specific gravesite (cave of Machpelah) after the calf. In fact, the phase ואל הבקר רץ (634) is equivalent to the phrase רץ למערה (ran to the cave).
The Medrash relates that when Avrohom attempted to take a particular calf from his herds, the calf ran away from him. Avrohom ran after it and pursued it into the Cave of Machpelah. There he came upon Adam and Chavah resting on couches with burning candles a delightful aroma like the aroma from the korbanos. From that time Avrohom desired this to be his family burial site.
