Abraham built three altars in the land of Canaan. Each one was built for a different reason. Why did he build three? Why not just one, to say thank you to God and be done?
The First Altar: Thank You
God told Abraham to leave his home and go to a new land. When he arrived in Canaan, God said to him: “I will give this land to your children.”1
Rashi, the most important commentator on the Torah, explains that Abraham did not have children yet. Now God promised him children and a land for them. So Abraham was thankful. He built an altar and brought offerings.2
The Second Altar: Forgiveness
Abraham traveled on and came to a city called Ai. There he built a second altar.
Rashi explains why. Abraham saw with prophecy that, many years later, his children would sin in this very place. In the book of Joshua, the Jewish people tried to conquer Ai. They lost the battle and some people died. Then they found out that a man named Achan had taken things he was not allowed to take.3 So Abraham prayed at Ai. He asked God to forgive his children in advance.4
The Third Altar: A Question
Later, Abraham came to Hebron. God appeared to him again and promised him children and the land. He said that Abraham’s children would be as many as the stars in the sky. Abraham built an altar there to thank God.5
Here is the interesting part. Rashi explained the first two altars. But for the third altar, Rashi says nothing. Why not?
Three Ways to Serve God
Every story in the Torah has a lesson for our own service of God. The reasons Rashi gives for the first two altars come from the Midrash. The three altars show us three ways to serve God.
Level 1: Serving God because of what we need.
A person needs food, money, a home, and children. So he thanks God for giving him these things. This is the simplest level. We serve God because we receive something good from it, physical or spiritual. This is the first altar.
Level 2: Serving God through teshuvah.
The second altar is not about money or things. It is about teshuvah, which means repentance, or “returning” to God. A person can make mistakes. He needs a way to fix them. At this level, a person knows he is not perfect, and he asks God for forgiveness. This is called kapara, or atonement.
This level is not about getting something. It is about the connection with God. Sometimes a person feels close to God, and sometimes far away. He goes up and down. Teshuvah helps him come back.
Level 3: Serving God only to be close to Him.
Now we understand the third altar. The name Hebron comes from the Hebrew word for “connection.”6 At this level, a person serves God for one reason only: because God is the King, and this is what He wants. He does not expect children. He does not expect money. He does not even expect God to clean his sins. He just wants to be connected to God.
The Alter Rebbe, the founder of the Chabad movement, said it very clearly. He said that he does not want God’s paradise. He does not want the World to Come. He does not want a higher paradise or a lower one. He only wants God Himself.7
That is why Rashi gives no reason for the third altar. There is no reason. The only reason is: this is what God wants from me.
Conclusion
The three altars of Abraham show us three levels of connection to God. First we serve because of what we need. Then we serve to repair our mistakes. At the highest level, we serve only to be close to God.
May Hashem give us the strength to serve Him with a true heart.