Kedushat Levi interprets Abraham’s hospitality as a means of drawing people toward awareness of God through kindness and provision. The emphasis is on the host’s service and spiritual influence, not on receiving a benefit from the guest.
ונבאר מה דאיתא במדרש (בראשית רבה מט) דאברהם אבינו עליו השלום לאחר שאכלו אמר ברכו לאלהי עולם. למה לא אמר להם קודם האכילה שיברכו ברכה. אפס קודם היו גוים והאיך יקבלו עליהם עול מלכות שמים. אמנם לאחר שכבר אכלו עשו מצוה שזיכו את אברהם במצות הכנסת אורחים אם כן זה הזכות גרם להם שיהיו יכולין לקיים ולקבל עול מלכות שמים. ולכך אמרינן במדרש דמי שלא רצה לברך אחר האכילה אמר שישלם לו, כיון דלא נכנס בו ריח קדושה שמע מינה דלא כיון לזכות אותו במצות הכנסת אורחים למה לא ישלם: ונבאר עוד פירוש על מה לא נאמר באברהם אצל המלאכים ויעש להם משתה (בראשית כו, ל), כמו שנאמר גבי לוט ויעש להם משתה, וכן אצל סעודת אסתר שם כתיב (אסתר ז, ח) משתה היין. כי הכלל כשהצדיק אוכל עם הרשע על ידי זה הצדיק מעלה את הרשע וזה הוא עיקר השמחה כשהצדיק מעלה הניצוצות. והנה משתה הוא לשון שמחה. והנה בכאן שאכלו המלאכים אצל לוט שלא היה צדיק וכשאכלו המלאכים אצלו העלו המלאכים הניצוץ הקדוש שהיה בלוט כי אחר כך שאכלו הוציאו ממנו נשמת משיח שבא מרות ונמצא היה שם עליות נצוצות וזה הוא שמחה ולכן כתיב בו משתה, לשון שמחה. וכן על ידי המשתה שעשתה אסתר בא ישועה לישראל לכך גם כן כתיב בו משתה אבל מה שאכלו המלאכים אצל אברהם לא היה מזה עליות הנצוצות כי אברהם אבינו לא היה צריך לעליות המלאכים לכך לא כתיב שם משתה לשון שמחה:
This brings me to Bereshit Rabbah 49,4 where we are told that it was Avraham’s custom after having served his guests a meal to ask them to give thanks to the Creator of the universe. Why did Avraham not ask them to pronounce a benediction before they commenced eating, as is customary among Jews, and even among many gentiles? The reason may be that before eating these people were pagans, and how could they pronounce a blessing that implied that they had accepted the yoke of serving the one and only Creator? Having eaten, they had performed a commandment through conferring upon their host Avraham the merit of fulfilling the duty to be hospitable; having done so, they themselves had been given a merit by dint of having contributed to Avraham’s merits, so that now when they pronounced a blessing thanking the Lord Who provides food for all of His creatures, they were not mouthing empty phrases. This is why the Midrash continues by relating that if Avraham’s guests would refuse to recite a blessing to the Lord, he would demand that they return to him what they had eaten, etc, etc. The embarrassment caused the guest when he realized that he had partaken of what had not been intended for him, would usually cause the guest to reconsider. Avraham had explained to the guest that unless they provided him with the merit of having performed the commandment of being hospitable, they would in fact have robbed him of something that was his. We need to explain the absence of the expression: ויעש להם משתה, “he made a festive meal for them.” We find such an expression even when Lot served the angels a meager meal (Genesis 19,3) consisting primarily of unleavened bread of indeterminate age. We also find it when Esther prepared a sumptuous meal for her husband King Ahasverus (Esther 4,4, as well as 7,8) to which she had invited the wicked Haman, also. In that instance, it is clear that quantities of wine were served, hence the word משתה, which suggests liquid refreshments. We have a rule that when a righteous person shares a meal with a wicked person, the wicked person’s spiritual status will become enhanced thereby. This is the moral justification for the joy at such a meal. During such a meal the tzaddik is able to elevate the sparks of the Shechinah which had descended into the terrestrial domains as a result of man succumbing to the seduction of the serpent. [Compare what we wrote on page 21-22.Ed.] The word משתה is basically a variant of the word שמחה, joy, so that when Lot offered the angels a meal which the Torah described as משתה, it was not a reference to the number of courses served, but to the atmosphere that prevailed during that meal. In that instance it was Lot’s moral status that became elevated due to the company of celestial beings at his table. As a result of the angels having eaten at his table, (and their having rescued him from Sodom) the soul of the messiah, that had lain dormant within Lot, was awakened somewhat so that he could become the father of a child whose descendant, Ruth, eventually became the ancestor of David, who in turn is the ancestor of the messiah. The joy generated at the meal Esther served the King and Haman, resulted in the salvation of the Jewish people at her time, due to her having elevated some of the sparks of the Shechinah that had lain dormant within her husband. Since Avraham was on a far higher moral/ethical level than either Lot or Ahasversus, there was no need for a משתה to bring the participants’ spiritual qualities to the fore. Hence there is no mention of this word, although Avraham had spared not effort to make it a tasty repast.