ESHEL

Genesis Rabbah 54:6
Talmud Sotah 10a-10b
What did Abraham plant?

“Abraham planted an eshel in Beersheba,
and there he called upon the Name of the Eternal, Everlasting God.”
(Genesis 21:33)

What did Abraham plant?

In accordance with the letters of the word eshel [shin/alef/lamed], which mean “request,” the implication is: You may request whatever you wish!  Therefore Rabbi Judah said that eshel means orchard, and Abraham planted an orchard, of which you may ask for whatever you wish, for example: You may ask for figs, grapes, or pomegranates!

Rabbi Azariah in the name of Rabbi Judah son of Rabbi Simone pointed to a Scriptural derivation based on its location in Ramah, “Saul was sitting on a hill under the eshel in Ramah…” (I Samuel 22:6).  “Ramah is where Samuel judged Israel” (ibid. 7:17).  So: “When Saul learned that David was discovered, he sat in judgment of David on a hill under the eshel in Ramah…and all of his servants (the men of the Sanhedrin) stood around him” (ibid. 22:6)!  According to this interpretation, Abraham planted the eshel, a tree for shade and comfort, at Ramah for the future Sanhedrin!

Rabbi Nechemia said that eshel, based upon its letters [shin/alef/lamed], which mean “request,” was an inn, where you may ask for whatever you wish.  For example, you may ask for pressed figs, meat, wine, or eggs!  So Abraham “planted” an inn, in the sense of “established,” in order to provide hospitality for travelers.  When they had finished dining there, they arose to bless their host.  He said to them: Did your sustenance come from me?  No, it has come from the Everlasting God!  So offer thanks, praise and blessing, to the One who spoke whereupon the world came into being.  “What should we say?” they asked him.  He provided them with the words, “Blessed is the Eternal God, from whom we have received our food” (cf. Introductory Zimmun in our Blessing After the Meal)! as is written, “And he called [vayikra] there upon the Name of the Eternal, Everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33b), which Resh Lakish read as, “And he caused them to call [vayakree] there upon the Name of the Eternal, Everlasting God!”