The paradigm of “Chesed Shel Emet” is taking care of a Meit Mitzva (someone who has passed away and has no one to take care of his final needs.) Whereas acts of Chesed could be cynically understood as always being undertaken in the hope that there will be some sort of return on one’s “investment” of time and resources, if the individual to whom one is tending is totally unknown to you, all skepticism regarding future benefits should be silenced. R. Chaim Sabbato, (Rosh Metivta in Yeshivat Birchat Moshe in Ma’aleh Adumim and winner of literary prizes for his amazing novel Teium Kivanot [Adjusting Sights] about his experiences as a tank gunner during the Yom Kippur War), in his essay on Parashat VaYera, entitled “Mechalkel Chaim B’Chesed” (part of his volume of essays on Parashat HaShavua, Ahavat Tora: Devarim Al Parashat HaShavua) not only “puts a face” upon Biblical models who embodied this exemplary quality, but suggests that the ability to perform such acts of kindness is inherent in all men’s makeup dating from their Creation!R. Sabbato posits that there is an intrinsic relationship between the kindness that Avraham and Sara showed the three unexpected guests that come to their tent in the middle of the desert, and the birth of their son Yitzchak the following year. He states that because these three men at best were itinerant guests, their two hosts couldn’t possibly expect anything in return for the hospitality that they extended to them, hence an instance of Chesed Shel Emet. And just as, according to at least one view in the Midrash, Avraham discovered God when he was three years old (!), because God’s Existence is something that all men know, at the very least, subconsciously, due to their common origin and endowment with Tzelem Elokim (the Image of God), so too the Attributes of God, which include pure acts of kindness, are also part-and-parcel of man, if he would only be reflective as Avraham and Sara obviously were. Consequently, rather than treating Avraham and Sara’s many acts of Chesed Shel Emet as outstandingly pious, they were actually “channeling” God due to the intrinsic natures with which they, and everyone else, were created. Finally their involvement with Chesed Shel Emet in terms of hospitality directly led to God Granting them their wish to become parents, yet another act of Chesed Shel Emet on HaShem’s Part.

I have always thought, based upon a particular RaShI, that Avraham’s kindnesses towards guests were motivated by his desire to influence \them in terms of promoting monotheistic beliefs:

Beraishit 21:33

And he established an “Eishel” (vineyard/inn) in Be’er Sheva, and he called there on the Name of HaShem, the God of the world.

RaShI s.v. VaYikra Sham

By means of that “Eishel”, the Holy One, Blessed Be He was proclaimed the God of the entire world. After they (the guests) would eat and drink, he (Avraham) would say to them, “Bless the one of whose food you have partaken!” (After their thanking him, he responded,) “Do you think that you have eaten my food? In fact you have eaten the food provided by the One Who Said, ‘The world should come into existence.’”

I suppose that it could be contended that since the text at the beginning of Parashat VaYera (Beraishit 18) makes no mention of “calling on the Name of God,” we have no reason to presume that Avraham used the same approach that is implied by the later text in Chapter 21. On the other hand, it seems that Avraham’s entire raison d’etre was to advance the belief in monotheism at every opportunity that presented itself, which in turn leads to the conclusion that he was encouraging guests to bless HaShem whenever they were at his table, including the beginning of Beraishit 18. Perhaps we then should conclude that doing something that is intended to honor HaShem and spread belief in His Existence and Involvement in the world, does not impugn personal motives and render them ulterior. Doing something “LiShma” could be understood either as “for its own sake,” i.e., without any thought of benefit (in the spirit of Antignos, Ish Socho’s comment in Avot 1:3) or “for the sake of the Name,” i.e., HaShem, Who is the Ultimate source of all Existence. It then would mean that the truest “pure” Chesed is not for the sake of another human being, but for HaShem Himself, a cause to which Avraham was certainly committed.

Finally, the RaShI always brings to mind something that Joanie and I were witness to many years ago. On the recommendation of Tova Lichtenstein, we had brought “Shliach Mitzva” money on a trip to Israel to Rabbanit Beracha Kapach, Z”L, who was so involved with charitable work over the years, she was even the recipient of the Israel Prize. After having given her the money that we had brought and in the midst of exchanging pleasantries, some people came in, looking for clothing. Upon receiving several garments, they profusely thanked the Rabbanit, who responded without missing a beat, “Please don’t thank me; thank HaKadosh Baruch Huh, for Whom I am only a Shlicha (surrogate.)