Vayera
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Steeped but Stuck
Recently, as I think is true for many people this season, I’ve been wading through frustrations and the weight of the world, sloshing around the muck of the past and mixing with the…
- Abimelech, Akedah, Bereshit, Circumcision, Genesis, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Lot, Love, Mountain, Parsha, Questions, Sarah, Sodom, Vayera
Favoritism & Erasure
Only four parshiyot in this week, we reach Vayera – following a journey of the promised birth of Sarah’s son by blood (since, technically, Ishmael was Sarah’s son through her שפחה, “maidservant,” Hagar)…
- 5781, Abraham, Akedah, Cliffhanger, Dissertation Diary, Doubt, Genesis, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Mamre, Midrash, Parsha, Provision, Sacrifice, Sarah, Sodom, Trust, Vayera, Visitors
In With the New…Doesn’t Get Rid of the Old
The fourth parsha of our year is intense: beginning with a birth announcement and ending with a near-death experience. Well, technically, beginning with a newly-named Abraham sitting in his tent’s opening…waiting? hoping? wondering?…
- 5780, Abimelech, Abraham, Akedah, Bereshit, Dissertation Diary, Genesis, Hagar, Hospitality, Ishmael, Lot, Messiah, Midrash, Parsha, Philo, Sarah, Sister Wives, Sodom, Theophany, Vayera
Our Ancestral Drama: Comedy or Tragedy?
The laughing started last week, but argument, sin, confusion, and oppression are quick on the heels of such mirth. In a parsha that begins with guests, hospitality, and a theophany, the human condition…
- Abraham, Akedah, Angels, Argument, Be'er Sheva, Bereshit, Estrangement, Hagar, Ishmael, Komps Kaos, Lot, Parsha, Sacrifice, Sarah, Sodom, Strange, Strangers, Theophany, Vayera
Strange, Stranger, & Estranged
Our parsha this week begins with the story of three strangers – angels, perhaps a theophany, men, messengers – who are unknown to Abraham and Sarah. After laying out the spread for these…
- Abraham, Akedah, Argument, Bereshit, Change, Isaac, Lekh Lekha, Messengers, Mundane, Parsha, Prayer, Questions, Righteous, Rosh Hoshannah, Sarah, Thanksgiving, Theology, Theophany, Vayera, Visitors
Changing G!d’s Mind
Last week int he parsha – and in national and world events – we were incited to action. Lekh Lekha, we have been instructed – GO! for yourselves (and for others) – we…
- Abimelech, Abraham, Akedah, Be'er Sheva, Destruction, Genealogy, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Laughter, Lot, Moab, Parsha, Prayer, Sarah, Sodom, Temple Mount, Vayera
The Bible is…Funny?!
This week’s parsha (Va-yera) starts with a story about laughter – well, after being preceded by three particularly mysterious characters. They are vexing in the lack of characterization, and so throughout the centuries…