Cary Hillebrand takes a look at Parashat Vayera

Parashat Vayera

פרשת וירא

בראשית Genesis 18:1 to 22:24

Chapter 18, verses 1 through 8 – Abraham hosts three heavenly beings

The three “men” (שלושה אנשים) are apparently heavenly beings, as suggested by the opening sentence: “G-d appeared to him …”. Abraham demonstrates his hospitality to passing strangers, beseeching them to drink some water and have a morsel of bread, and then prepares an over-the-top feast. Later day Rabbinic prohibition to mixing of milk and meat apparently is not yet an issue or common practice. Some commentators hold that this was on the third day after Abraham’s circumcision (end of last week’s parashah) when the pain would have been most acute, although the text does not support this premise.

Verses 9 through 15 – Sarah receives a prophesy

The three beings share the prophesy with Sarah (that was previously revealed to Abraham by G-d), that she will have a son. Old and withered, and long past menopause, she was incredulous, disbelieving, and laughed (ותצחק). When confronted by Abraham, Sarah lied by denying that she laughed, probably out of fright for having doubted G-d’s powers.

Verses 16 through 33 – Abraham negotiates with G-d to save Sodom

The beings set out towards Sodom. G-d appeared to debate with himself whether to inform Abraham of his plans to go to Sodom and Gomorrah and see whether what He heard of their horrid (in undefined ways) behavior was well founded.

Abraham, appalled by the thought that innocents will be swept along with the guilty, asked if G-d will destroy the city if fifty innocents or righteous (צדיקים) are found there. G-d responds that he will not. Abraham pushes his luck and finally gets G-d to agree that if ten righteous (from the Hebrew, it is not clear if the intent is ten righteous men or ten righteous men and women). G-d agrees that he will not destroy the cities if ten such righteous can be found. Why did Abraham stop negotiating at ten? Perhaps he did not wish to press his luck. Alternatively, possibly Abraham reasoned that ten men is the minimum needed to form a nucleus of a community that can reform the city. From this Rabbis of the Talmud determined that ten men is the minimum number that can compose a prayer quorum or minyan (מנין). An alternative interpretation of the origin of the minyan concept comes from the story of the ten scouts (Numbers – במדבר 13:1 to 13:33) who were sent out by Moses to report on the land of Canaan. We can take away the lesson that the Torah does not expect man to be blindly obedient, even to G-d. We can appeal and even bargain for a better deal.

Chapter 19, verses 1 through 11 – Lot extends hospitality

Two of the three beings arrived at Sodom. The Torah does not say why the third being did not accompany them. As did Abraham previously, Lot greeted them and exhibits great hospitality. He invited them into his house so they could bathe, eat, and spend the night before continuing their journey. Trouble was not long to come. All the men of Sodom, young and old, congregated outside Lot’s house and demanded that he hand over these two men to the mob so that they can have intimate relations with them. Note that all the men were in the mob, showing that there were no righteous in Sodom.

Lot, to protect his guests, offered to hand over his two virgin daughters. Wow! Lot was willing to sacrifice two daughters to protect his guests! What to make of Lot’s horrendous offer, and willingness to subordinate his daughters to extend hospitality and protection to his guests? Isn’t this carrying hospitality to a fanatical extreme? At any rate, the mob would have none of that and started to attack Lot. The beings pulled him into the house and protected him.

Verses 12 through 29 – Lot flees the doomed city, with wife and two daughters in tow

The beings instructed Lot to get his family, including sons in law and get out of Dodge before G-d destroys the city. His sons in law did not take him seriously, and they, along with his two married daughters remained in the doomed city. Shortly before the destruction, the beings imposed on a hesitant Lot and took him, his wife, and his two remaining daughters out of the city, and implored them to flee to the hills and not look back. Lot preferred the relative safety of the nearby town of Zohar to the treacherous journey to the hills. As they entered Zohar, the destruction began. Lot’s wife looked back (perhaps out of concern for her married daughters still in the doomed city) and was turned into a pillar of salt. Wasn’t Lot’s wife looking back towards the doomed city an act of compassion, not an act that justifies such punishment? Verse 29 suggests that Lot was not saved by his own merit, but for the sake of Abraham.

Verses 30 through 38 – Lot’s daughters engage in incest

Lot was fearful to remain in Zohar and took his two daughters to the same hills that he was fearful to head to earlier. It is not clear if Zohar was also subsequentially destroyed. If so, that may explain why Lot’s two remaining daughters apparently believed that the three of them are the only remaining humans on earth. To propagate the human species, they get their father drunk and engage in incest with him. The older daughter gives birth to a child, Moab ( – מואבa play on – מאב from father) that will be the progenitor of the Moabites. The younger daughter gives birth to a child, Ben Ami ( – בן עמיson of my people) that will be the progenitor of the Ammonites (בני עמון). Midrash teaches that among their descendants were Ruth and Naamah (Queen during reign of King Solomon and mother of Rehoboam who succeeded Solomon) respectively.

Chapter 20, verses 1 through 18 – Abraham journeys to Gerer

Now we leave Lot and return to the saga of Abraham. For reasons unknown to us, Abraham journeyed to Gerer in the Negev. This is almost a repeat of the story in the previous parashah where Abram travelled to Egypt to escape the drought in Canaan. We do learn here that Sarah was not only his wife, but also his half-sister, having the same father, presuming that Abraham was telling the truth to King Avimelech.

Chapter 21, verses 1 through 8 – An aged Sarah gives birth to Isaac

As G-d promised, Sarah conceived of a son in her old age, who Abraham called Isaac (יצחק) because Sarah laughed (תצחק). Abraham circumcised Isaac after eight days as G-d had commanded.

Verses 9 through 21 – Sarah implores Abraham to banish Hagar and Ishmael

With the birth of a son, Sarah grew ever more jealous of Hagar and Ishmael and wanted to assure Isaac’s birthright and inheritance. She implored Abraham to cast out Hagar and her son. Abraham was distressed by the prospect, but upon receiving assurances from G-d that they will be all right, he complied, turning them out into the desert with only a skin of water and some bread. Why did he acquiesce so easily, and why did he only accord them such skimpy provisions?

Verses 22 through 34 – Abraham settles dispute with King Avimelech

This somewhat disjointed narrative had Abraham settling a dispute with King Avimelech over rights to a well that was then called Beer Sheva (באר שבע) which translates as well of seven.

Chapter 22, verses 1 through 19 – Abraham called to sacrifice Isaac

Here we have the story of the Akedah (עקידה), the binding of Isaac. This is one of the most well-known and arguably, one of the most controversial sections in the Torah. It is read on Rosh Hashanah in synagogues of all denominations. Traditional synagogues read the portion about the birth of Isaac on the first day and the portion about the Akedah on the second day.

Verse 1 – “Abraham is put to the test” (האלוקים נסה את אברהם). The willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son to demonstrate his unquestioning obedience to G-d raises very troubling moral and religious questions. Items for contemplation:

• Why didn’t Abraham push back and negotiate with G-d as he did in his attempt to save Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction? Instead, he passively says “Heneini” (הנני) – Here I am.
• Did Abraham really intend to go through with sacrificing his son or was he calling G-d’s bluff? We have a couple of hints in the text. Abraham did tell Isaac (verse 8) “G-d will see to the sheep for the offering” and he did instruct his servants that both of them will return after going up to the mountain to worship.
• Why did the angel have to call him twice (“Abraham, Abraham …”)? Did it take persuasion to dissuade him from the task?
• Did Abraham pass or fail the test? Did the fact that G-d saw fit to send an emissary to stop him from his folly and not personally intervene was a sign that he failed the test? Also, the text does not relate to any more direct communication between Abraham and G-d.
• In the following chapter, we learn that Sarah died shortly afterwards. The Torah is silent about whether Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice Isaac was a cause of this. Imagine the scene: “You did WHAT??!!”
• On another level, perhaps the Torah is also telling us not to emulate the child sacrifice practices of the surrounding nations but to substitute a more (relatively) benign practice (animal sacrifice).

Some commentators, including Rashi point to a possible misunderstanding by Abraham of G-d’s intent. The Hebrew עלה (verse 2) is translated as sacrifice, but it can also mean going up.

Verses 20 through 24 – Lineage of Nahor

Here the narrative briefly breaks to give us the lineage of Abraham’s brother Nahor back in Haran, including cousin Rebecca (רבקה), destined to become Isaac’s wife (stay tuned).