A vort from the Rebbe in this week's parsha, Parashat Vayeira. Parashat Vayeira we learned that Avraham Avinu davened to the Eibershter on behalf of Sedom that they should not be destroyed. But before he started speaking he said, הנני נא הואלתי לדבר אל השם, I am starting to speak to Hashem, but he said ואנכי עפר ואפר, I am sand, dust, and ashes, which means I'm nothing, I'm not worthy of actually talking to you, but nevertheless he says to Hashem I'm asking that you should not destroy Sedom. And the Chazal tell us that in the zechut that Avraham Avinu said these words ואנכי עפר ואפר, I am dust and ashes, the Yidden, the children of Avraham, were zocheh, merited to have two mitzvot. A mitzvah that has to do with afar, with sand, and a mitzvah that has to do with ashes. The mitzvah that has to do with sand is the mitzvah of Sotah, that if a woman did not behave properly, at least we suspect that she didn't behave properly in a tzniusdike way, so what the din is that they would bring her to the Beit HaMikdash, put afar in from the Beit HaMikdash into the water, and then write a few pesukim on a piece of parchment and they would erase those words into the water and she would drink it and if nothing happened to her then we'd know she's innocent and Hashem would give her all the berachot. And the other mitzvah with ashes is the ashes of פרה אדומה, that if someone became tamei, spiritually impure by coming in contact with a dead body, the way to purify yourself is you take the ashes from the פרה אדומה, the red calf that they prepared before and they had the ashes of it, mix it with water and sprinkle on the person and that would be part of the way the person becomes tahor. So in the zechut that Avraham Avinu said ואנכי עפר ואפר, which means I am nothing, basically this is a proper the real real anivut, the real real humility, the real real bitul to Hashem, his children the Yidden were zocheh to those two mitzvot. Now superficially it seems the connection is because the word עפר ואפר, the way Avraham Avinu expressed himself to Hashem, the bitul that he expressed, he used the words עפר ואפר, and these are two mitzvot, one with עפר and one with אפר, that's why he was zocheh to these two mitzvot. But we know that everything in Torah is exact, there must be some connection between these two mitzvot and Avraham Avinu's bitul that he had to Hashem the way he expressed it through the words ואנכי עפר ואפר.

And the Rebbe explains like this. Avraham Avinu's bitul was so strong that he didn't care about anything for himself. He gave up even things which would hurt him in order to help other people. And not only physically but also spiritually. Physically we saw when he went to fight כדרלעומר and the four kings, which was naturally impossible to win, nevertheless he put his life on the line to help the people that he needed to help. So here he put his life on the line even if it is because of other people, even if it meant giving up for himself. And also we see in the beginning of Parashat Vayera that when he was speaking to Hashem and the guests came he told Hashem that Hashem should wait, he interrupted his discussion with Hashem, you could imagine what it meant for Avraham to interrupt his discussion with Hashem in order to help the guests. So here we see how far the bitul of Avraham was that he did not care for himself and he would do anything he can to help others.

The same thing is with these two mitzvot of עפר and אפר. The mitzvah by Sotah where we give her to drink the water mixed with the ashes with the עפר from the בית המקדש and they had the פסוקים that were written on the piece of parchment erased, scraped off and erased into the water, that shows that a person gives up of himself to help others. Because to erase Hashem's name is one of the worst things that we could imagine in halachah, nevertheless Hashem said in this case it's כדאי to do this in order to help this woman show her innocence and go back to her husband and have shalom bayit etc. etc. So here it's a mitzvah that you give up of yourself, your spiritual welfare of yourself for others. And the same is with the ashes of the פרה אדומה, the דין is that all the people who were working in preparing the פרה אדומה, anybody who worked became tamei. Nevertheless, it's worth become tamei yourself in order to help others to get rid of their tumah, that the ashes of parah adumah would make a person tahor. And that's what the pasuk means that Chazal tell us and the pasuk says Avraham said ואנכי עפר ואפר, in the zechut of saying ואנכי עפר ואפר, which means in the zechut of his bitul which was such a bitul that gave up of himself for others, he gave up even his ruchniyusdike levels for others, because of that we got a mitzvah that represents and has the same idea. The two mitzvot, the mitzvah of afar of the sand which has to do with the mitzvah of Sotah, to help this woman you have to give up of yourself which means you have to scrape off the Hashem's name which is giving up. caring of yourself in order to help others.