Summary Vayera 5762
The sedra of Vayera continues the story of Abraham and Sarah. It begins with the visit of the three men who turned out to be angels. Abraham was sitting in the entrance of his tent on a hot day, recovering from his circumcision. He saw three men in the distance and ran out to invite them for a meal. While they were eating, one of the angels told Abraham that Sarah would be giving birth to a baby son. As Sarah was already 89, she laughed at the idea. But G-d reprimanded her, saying that nothing was too hard for Him.

G-d then informed Abraham that he was going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, because their citizens were very wicked. It is then that we see the greatness of Abraham and the wickedness of Sodom.

Abraham said to G-d: "perhaps there are 50 good people in the city. How could He destroy a city containing 50 good people?" This was Abraham's way of trying to save the people from being killed. But there weren't 50 good people. So he tried 45, then 40, 30, 20 and 10. But there were not even 10 good people for whom the cities could be saved.

Two of the angels went to Sodom, arriving towards evening. Abraham's nephew Lot was sitting at the entrance to the city and he invited the angels to stay for the night. During the evening the people of Sodom surrounded Lot's house and demanded that he bring his visitors out of the house. Lot begged the people not to be so cruel, but they attacked him and probably would have killed him if the angels hadn't pulled him back into the house.

The angels told Lot that G-d was going to destroy the city, but that they would save him and his family. Lot's wife and daughters left with him, but his two sons-in-law didn't believe Lot when he said that Sodom was to be destroyed. As they were fleeing the city the next morning, fire and brimstone were raining down. The angels told them not to look back. But Lot's wife did look back, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

Abraham moved to the Negev and settled in Gerar. Abraham told Sarah to say that she was his sister, because he was afraid that the local people would kill him, and take Sarah away. Sarah was taken to King Avimelech, with the idea that she should become his wife, but G-d appeared to the King in a dream and warned him that he would die unless Sarah was released at once.

After this, Sarah gave birth to Isaac at the age of 90. Abraham was 100. As Isaac grew up there were problems from Ishmael, who was Abraham's son from Hagar. As a result, Abraham was forced to send Hagar and Ishmael away. As they travelled towards Egypt, Ishmael nearly died of thirst, but Hagar was shown a well and Ishmael's life was saved.

The sedra concludes with the binding of Isaac, when Abraham was told to offer up his son, only to be told by an angel that it was not intended for Isaac to be killed. Instead, Abraham offered up a ram in its place.

The Haftarah relates to this last part of the sedra, when Elisha the prophet predicts that a childless couple would at last have a child. They had a baby son, but one day he died suddenly. His mother rushed to Elisha in grief. He managed to revive the son, by performing what seems to be mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Points to Ponder
As a storyline, Vayera is one of the most fascinating Torah Readings in the year. I will mention some of the key points, but for a fuller treatment, I will be developing several points during the Friday night service, the service on Shabbat morning, and at mincha.

1. There is a well-known Talmudic saying: 'Say a little and do a lot'. (Ethics of the Fathers Chapter 1 Mishna 15). This we learn from Abraham's hospitality to the angels at the beginning of the Torah portion. He said to them: 'take a little water, wash your feet, rest under the tree, and I'll bring you some bread to eat'. (verses 4-5) In fact he and his household sprang into action and provided their guests with a royal feast! (verses 6-8)
   
2. This last point is in contrast to Lot's hospitality. Despite his large family, he was the only one tending to the needs of the visitors. (Chapter 19 verse 3). We see that Lot's drifting away from Abraham and his values had seriously undermined his own. Firstly we see that he was unable to influence his household in the ways of hospitality, which were anathema to the values of the surrounding society. Much worse than this, in order to protect his visitors, he was prepared to sacrifice his daughters. This was an extreme perversion of the moral code, which his uncle had taught him. (19:8)
   
3. Lying for the sake of peace. As we know, it is forbidden to speak evil of others. This includes repeating something said about a third party to that third party, even if it is true. This means that there are times when we must even tell a lie! One such occasion is for the sake of preserving the peace, when nothing is lost by not saying the truth. When Sarah was promised a son, she laughed at the idea, partly because she had passed the stage of menopause, and partly because 'he (Abraham) was an old man. This lack of faith required correction by G-d, but this did not mean that G-d had to tell Abraham the full truth. Thus, when confronting Abraham with the fact that Sarah had laughed, He changed her statement 'for he is old', to 'for I (Sarah) am old'. From this our sages learned that it is permitted to lie for the sake of peace.
   
4. The difference between Abraham and Noah. If we ever wondered why Abraham was made the father of the Jewish People and not Noah, an incident in this week's portion provides a strong answer. As we stated above, when G-d informed Abraham about the impending destruction of Sodom, he protested. When G-d informed Noah that He was going to destroy the world in a flood, Noah kept quiet.
   
5. Ethics of the Fathers chapter 5, mishna 13, discusses four character types among people with regard to property. One is the person who says: "what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours is an average character type, but some say that this is characteristic of Sodom". To say 'what's mine is mine, etc' may seem perfectly reasonable, but such selfishness can lead to extreme behaviour. The mob that descended on Lot's house did so because of their law forbidding the feeding of strangers. They wished the town to keep its wealth for its citizens.
   
6. In conclusion, one of the themes weaving its way through the portion is that of hospitality, firstly the ideals of Abraham, then the less ideal way of Lot, then the worst of all ways, that of Sodom - so bad that the town was destroyed.
   
7. In fact this theme continues in chapters 20 and 21 as Abraham goes to King Avimelech in a time of famine. His 'hospitality' is to take Sarah away, and later to have his servants damage the wells that Abraham's servants had dug. Chapter 21 concludes with a pact between Abraham and Avimelech. We are then told that Abraham planted an eshel in Beersheba (verse 33). Our sages tell us that the word eshel spelt alef-shin-lamed, is an acronym for ochel-food, shetiya-drink and leena, sleep. In other words, Abraham put up a guesthouse for wayfarers. This word is still in use in modern Israel.
   

Shabbat Shalom