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Vayeira (and He appeared)
Genesis 18:1–22:24
One of the best-known parashiot in the Torah, contains the “Akeyda” or binding of Isaac, as well as the story of Hagar and Ishmael. Both of these sections are also read at Rosh Hashana.
* God reveals himself to Abraham three days after the first Jew’s circumcision at age ninety-nine; but Abraham rushes off to prepare a meal for three guests who appear in the desert heat. One of the three—who are angels disguised as men—announces that, in exactly one year, the barren Sarah will give birth to a son. Sarah laughs.
* Abraham pleads with God to spare the wicked city of Sodom. Lot’s wife turns into a pillar of salt when she disobeys the command not to look back at the burning city as they flee.
* God remembers God’s promise to Sarah, and gives her and Abraham a son, who is named Isaac (Yitzchak, meaning “will laugh”). Isaac is circumcised at the age of eight days; Abraham is one hundred years old, and Sarah ninety, at their child’s birth.
* Hagar and Ishmael are banished from Abraham’s home and wander in the desert; God hears the cry of the dying lad, and saves his life by showing his mother a well.
* God tests Abraham’s devotion by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. Isaac is bound and placed on the altar, and Abraham raises the knife to slaughter his son. A voice from heaven calls to stop him; a ram, caught in the undergrowth by its horns, is offered in Isaac’s place.
There is so much to unpack in Vayeira: The Shofar, or ram’s horn that we blow at the high holidays is a reminder of the ram caught in the thicket that was sacrificed in Isaac’s place. The Arab nation is founded after Hagar and Ishmael are banished from Abraham and Sarah’s home, and then saved by God in the desert. Abraham sets up the concept that we can argue with God by pleading with God for the lives of those in Sodom and Gemorrah. Strangers often come with unusual news; and sometimes, through laughter, we find other ways to deal with life’s adversities. I’ve seen divrei Torah (words/things of Torah) on all of these topics and more from B’nai Mitzvah students, making this a Torah portion that is a great one for “beginners” and scholars alike.
~ Rabbi Robbi
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