By Rabbi Joshua (Consentingly known as the Hoffer) Hoffman [z"l]
As Avraham and Sarah approach Egypt, Avraham, realizing that Sarah is a beautiful woman, takes measures to prevent her abduction and violation. He asks her to tell people that she is his sister, not his wife. Avraham tells her that by doing this it will go well for him for her sake (Bereishis 12:13). Rashi explains this to mean that the Egyptians would give him presents. This is really difficult to understand, because we know that, later, Avraham refused to take anything from the spoils of the war in which he was victorious. Moreover, the Rambam (Sefer HaMitzvos #3) tells us that Avraham was suffused with a love of God and was moved by it to draw others to His service. How could such a person be interested in obtaining gifts at such a critical moment?
Rav Eli Munk, in his Call of the Torah, explains that Avraham was certainly not interested in amassing personal wealth. Rather, he felt that through his excessive demands of payment in order to grant Sarah’s hand in marriage he would gain time for Divine providence to intervene, or for the famine to end. We may add that this tactic is similar to that later used by Queen Esther, who asked the king to come with Haman to a feast where she would make her request, and at the feast asked them both to come the next day to a second feast, where she would finally make her request. As the commentators explain, she was waiting for an indication that Divine Providence would intervene on behalf of the Jewish people. So, too, did Avraham engage in negotiations for Sarah’s hand to provide for wider range of time for Divine Providence to take over.
On a different plane, Rav Eliyahu Meir Bloch, zt”l, in his Pninei Da’as, says that the actions of our forefathers, even in mundane matters, were all done for the higher purpose, to sanctify God’s name. For example, in Parshas Vayeitzei (Bereishis 29:21), Yaakov tells Lavan to give him his wife so that he can come upon her. Rashi notes that the most vulgar of people do not speak in this way. Rather, he says Yaakov’s intention was to produce offspring. A super-commentary to Rashi, Be’er Yitzchak, adds that although the most vulgar of people do not speak in this way, the most holy of people, who have only holy intentions in mind, does. Yaakov viewed his relations with his wife as a way to produce the tribes of Israel, with no personal consideration in mind. In the same way, says Rav Bloch, Avraham sought gifts to use for the sanctification of God’s name. At whatever inn he stayed at, he would call out in the name of God. Although Rav Bloch does not spell this out, perhaps Avraham’s intention was to be able to repay the loans on his return trip to Canaan, that he made when he went down to Egypt without any money. By repaying the loans, he would have an opportunity to thank and praise God, and draw more people towards his service.
Rabbi Aryeh Leib Lipkin, a nephew of Rav Yisroel Salanter, in his Divrei Yedidyah, offers yet another explanation. He says that Avraham, knowing Sarah and understanding the close relationship that they had, understood that she was not interested in her own welfare but in Avraham’s. Each of them acted with chesed, or loving kindness, toward the other, and focused on their spouse’s welfare. When Sarah realized that it would benefit Avraham if she said that she was his sister, she readily consented. Based on the comments of Rav Bloch we can add that her wish to benefit Avraham stemmed from their mutual goal of using all of their resources in order to sanctify God’s name. Sarah understood how Avraham would use the gifts that he would receive for this purpose, and, therefore, as his partner in this mission, she went along with his plan.
