La'asot meaning "to prepare food"

Question

In parshat Vayera, Bereishit 18:7, the text relates that

וְאֶל־הַבָּקָ֖ר רָ֣ץ אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיִּקַּ֨ח בֶּן־בָּקָ֜ר רַ֤ךְ וָטוֹב֙ וַיִּתֵּ֣ן אֶל־הַנַּ֔עַר וַיְמַהֵ֖ר לַֽעֲשׂ֥וֹת אֹתֽוֹ׃

Avraham ran, chose an animal, gave it to the youth "and he rushed to do it." (the Haemek Davar says that it means that Avraham rushed the lad to do it)

Instead of any detail given about what was being done, or any verb specific to food preparation, the text simply says "la'asot oto" to do "it". The Radak indicates that the "do" was to prepare/cook the food, but the word seems unnecessarily vague.

As far as I understand, "la'asot" indicates doing an action, with the object (that which is done) usually a specified task. Here, the object is either the unlisted command [cf pasuk 19 "לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט"], or the animal (as other transitive verbs are followed by the object of that verb). The term "la'asot oto" only appears one other time in the Chamisha Chumshei Torah, in Vayikra 17:9 but there the action done is explicitly spelled out in the previous verse (אֲשֶׁר יַעֲלֶה עֹלָה אוֹ זָבַח) . Why would the text use such vague language?

The Chizkuni writes about the phrase "לשון תקון" but I'm not sure what he means by that.

Is there any other discussion/insight into why the text does not say exactly what was done?

Answer 1

Netziv on Bereshis 18:7 uses the word La'osos as an incomplete work done by Abraham, which afterwards was finished by Ishmael. This is explained by R. Mordechai Kuperman in comment 41 (also analogously to Netziv's other comment on Bereshis 2:3 on the word "la'asos"): and so the youth made (tiken) the calf and Avraham only brought it before them (the guests), for otherwise what is the need for the youth (i.e. why Avraham gave the calf to him)? The same idea we find in Midrash Tanchuma. Such is the understanding of R. Sa'adia Gaon: why "rushed" - rushed to prepare. And why the next verse states that Abraham "brought a calf that he made", as if he made himself, rather the messenger (shaliyach) of the person is like the person himself. Ishmael was shaliyach of Abraham, so that the Torah states as if Abraham himself prepared the calf. The same meaning we also find in RaDaQ: "which he made" - i.e. which he made with the help of youth.

Malbim gives an unusual comment on this part of the verse Bereshis 18:7-8:

וימהר לעשות אתו שעשה אותו ע"י ספר יצירה. נראה שרצו לתרץ בזה איך האכיל להמלאכים בב"ח, ואמרו שהיה בשר שנברא ע"י ספר יצירה שאין לו דין בשר, וז"ש שלקח חמאה וחלב ובן הבקר אשר עשה, ר"ל יען שעשאו ע"י ספר יצירה היו יכולים לאכלו עם חלב. אבל בפשוט לא קשה כי נתן לפניהם תחלה חמאה וחלב ואכלו ואח"כ שעשה בן הבקר נתן לפניהם הבשר

And he rushed to make it (Abraham) created it using Sefer Yetzirah. It appears to me that some people seek to explain here how Abraham fed the angels meat and milk. So they answer that the meat created using Sefer Yetzirah is not considered meat. That is why it is written that (Abraham) took butter and milk and a calf that he made, the intention is to say that because he made it (the calf) using Sefer Yetzirah they could eat it with milk. However, the simple meaning of the verse is not difficult. I.e. (Avraham) placed before them milk and butter, and then, after he prepared the calf, he placed meat before them.

Since the mikra does not come out of the simple meaning, perhaps, the kabbalah answer simply means that Abraham offered the guests a fancy meat meal and gave them milk and butter to quench appetite from their journey. I.e. the guests did not sit hungry, they ate dairy thinking about the fancy meal coming, while Abraham was preparing the meat.

Answer 2

The question is answered by looking at the context of the expression.

Specifically, Bereshit 18:7-8, which says:

ואל הבקר רץ אברהם ויקח בן בקר רך וטוב ויתן אל הנער וימהר לעשות אתו ויקח חמאה וחלב ובן הבקר אשר עשה ויתן לפניהם והוא עמד עליהם תחת העץ ויאכלו

That in context, לעשות means to make the calf into food. That the Avot kept all the 613 mitzvot and all the Rabbinic laws, even before they were given.

In this context, it means that Avraham gave the calf to Yishmael, who is the only one referred to as הנער, the youth, between Yishmael and Eliezer, to quickly slaughter the calf, soak and salt it and cook it to serve as food for the (angelic) guests.

So in context, לעשות here is referring to all the steps necessary to convert the living calf into actual food, ready to consume.

But the deeper insight is understood when you look at Rashi’s comments about the tree (העץ) that Avraham is standing under or in place of (meaning in the sense of serving as an agent for the tree). Bereshit 18:4

That Rashi emphasizes that this expression is referring to האילן. This is referring to a specific type of kabbalistic practice called Yichudim, unifications of the various names of G-d. That האילן is specifically connecting with the Shem HaMeforash, the name which is written one way and pronounced another. And so even though the language of the written Torah is according to its plain meaning, that plain meaning is actually about a paradigm for the Tikkun of all Creation.

For those who are interested in learning more about this subject, see the 138 Keys of Wisdom (קל׳ח פתחי חכמה) by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, Key 31 and Sefer Kehillat Yaacov by Rabbi Yaacov Tzvi Yolles for the term, אילן.