In the portion of this week we read, Chap. 14:14, “And when Abraham heard that his brother had been taken captive, he let out all those who had been born in his house and educated by him… and he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them and perused them unto Hoba…and he brought back all that had been carried off. He also brought back Lot, his brother and his goods as well as the women and the people.”

In the portion of this week we read, Chap. 14:14, “And when Abraham heard that his brother had been taken captive, he let out all those who had been born in his house and educated by him… and he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them and perused them unto Hoba…and he brought back all that had been carried off. He also brought back Lot, his brother and his goods as well as the women and the people.”

The question comes to mind, why did Abraham go to battle for Lot? We know that Lot was a rasha, a wicked man, as Rashi tells us that as long as Lot was with Abraham G-d did not speak to him because as long as a rasha is attached to the Tzadik, G-d doesn’t want to have any affiliations with him. Furthermore, we find that Torah tells us, “Vayisa Lot MiKedem.” Rashi tells us in the name of the Midrash, that he had withdrawn from G-d and said, “I don’t want Abraham and I don’t want his G-d.” From this we see that Lot was a rasha. If this is the case, why did Abraham sacrifice his life by going to battle to try to save Lot from the Kings?

The interpretation may be as follows: We know that Amrafel was one of the kings who were victorious in battle. Rashi tells us that Amrafel was actually Nimrod and we know – our Rabbis tell us – that Nimrod declared himself a god and also made various idols out of stone and out of wood. He gave them to Terach, Abraham’s father, to sell. However, Abraham came and broke all the idols and destroyed all the pictures that were in Terach’s house, until word came to Nimrod. When Nimrod heard this, he ordered that Abraham be thrown into the burning furnace. However, after Abraham emerged from the burning furnace, safe and sound, and his father Terach died in Choron, Abraham began to convert the men and he impressed upon them that they should stop believing in Nimrod and in the wood and stone idols, but that they should believe in the L-rd of the world, the Ribono Shel Olam. This is what Torah tells us, “Es Hanefesh Asher Osu BeChoron” – the souls they made in Choron. What does this mean? That they converted and brought new souls into Klal Yisroel.

When Nimrod heard about this, he became very angry and he made up his mind to take revenge on Abraham. And so, when the war broke out with the King of S’dom and he had conquered him and Nimrod knew that Lot was sitting in the caves of S’dom, the first thing that Nimrod did was to take Lot along with him. Why was he so concerned and interested in taking Lot with him? Because he looked exactly like Abraham. Rashi tells us, on the passage, “Anoshim Achim Anachnu” – says Rashi, that we are brothers – the looked alike. Therefore, Nimrod decided he would take Lot with him and bring him and display him before all the people of the world and show them that he was victorious over Abraham. Everyone, seeing Lot, would think he was Abraham, because they looked alike. Therefore, Torah tells us that when Abraham heard that his brother was taken into captivity, “Vayishma” – which means, in this case, “he understood”…in other words, when Abraham understood the sneaky scheme that Nimrod had worked up to try to promote his very being against the theory of Monotheism which Abraham had introduced into the world, and realizing that the reason Lot was taken into captivity was because “Achim” he was his brother and looked exactly like him, Abraham understood that he could not remain silent any more. He immediately gathered up his servants and those who were educated and brought up by him and went to save Lot from the hands of Nimrod.

This is why Torah tells us, “And he brought back all that had been carried off. He also brought back Lot, his brother.” This was the way he outsmarted Nimrod and was able to carry on his campaign to spread the theory of Monotheism in the world and to bring more and more men and women “Tachas Konfey Hashechina.”