Vayeira

Vayeira, Vayera, or Va-yera (וירא — Hebrew for "and He appeared,” the first word in the parshah) is the fourth weekly Torah portion ("parshah") in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It constitutes Genesis [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0118.htm 18:1–22:24.] Jews in the Diaspora read it the fourth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in October or November.

ummary

Abraham’s three visitors

As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent by the terebinths of Mamre at the heat of the day, he looked up and saw God in the form of three men, and he ran, bowed to the ground, and welcomed them. ()

One of the visitors told Abraham that he would return the next year, and Sarah would have a son, but Sarah laughed to herself at the prospect, with Abraham so old. ()

Abraham bargains with God

The men set out toward Sodom and Abraham walked with them to see them off. () The men went on to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before God. ()

Lot’s two visitors

As Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom in the evening, the two angels arrived, and Lot greeted them and bowed low to the ground. ()

Lot bargains with the Sodomites

Before they had retired for the night, all the men and women of Sodom gathered about the house shouting to Lot to bring his visitors out so that they might be intimate with them. () But the visitors stretched out their hands and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door and struck the people with blinding light that made them unable to find the entrance. ()

As dawn broke, the angels urged Lot to flee with his wife and two remaining daughters, but still he delayed. () The angel urged Lot to hurry there, for the angel could not do anything until he arrived there, and thus the town came to be called Zoar. () Next morning, Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood before God and looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and saw the smoke rising like at a kiln. () While he was sojourning in Gerar, Abraham said that Sarah was his sister, so King Abimelech had her brought to him, but God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him that taking her would cause him to die, for she was a married woman. () God told Abimelech to restore Abraham’s wife, since he was a prophet, and he would intercede for Abimelech to save his life, which he and his household would lose if he failed to restore her. () Abimelech restored Sarah to Abraham, gave him sheep, oxen, and slaves, and invited him to settle wherever he pleased in Abimelech’s lands. ()

The birth of Isaac

God took note of Sarah, and she bore Abraham a son as God had predicted, and Abraham named him Isaac. () Abraham held a great feast on the day that Sarah weaned Isaac. () Early the next morning, Abraham placed some bread and water on Hagar’s shoulder, together with Ishmael, and sent them away. () Then God opened her eyes to a well of water, and she and the boy drank. ()

Beersheba

Abimelech and Phicol the chief of his troops asked Abraham to swear not to deal falsely with them. () Abraham then offered Abimelech seven ewes as proof that Abraham had dug the well. () Abraham lived in Philistia a long time. () On the third day, Abraham saw the place from afar, and directed his servants to wait with the donkey, while Isaac and he went up to worship and then return. () They arrived at the place that God had named, and Abraham built an altar, laid out the wood, bound Isaac, laid him on the altar, and picked up the knife to slay him. () Abraham named the site Adonai-yireh. () Abraham returned to his servants, and they departed for Beersheba; where Abraham stayed. ()

In classical rabbinic interpretation

Genesis chapter 18

The Mishnah taught that Abraham suffered ten trials (several in this parshah), and withstood them all. (Avot 5:3.)

A Baraita taught that in to reflect Abraham’s request of God to wait for Abraham while Abraham saw to his guests. And Rabbi Eleazar said that God’s acceptance of this request demonstrated how God’s conduct is not like that of mortals, for among mortals, an inferior person cannot ask a greater person to wait, while in that while it was customary for a man to meet wayfarers, it was not customary for a woman to do so. And the Gemara cited this deduction to support the ruling of Mishnah Yevamot 8:3 that while a male Ammonite or Moabite was forbidden from entering the congregation of Israel, a female Ammonite or Moabite was permitted. (Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 77a.)

At the School of Rabbi Ishmael, it was taught that to mean the next “holy day” (as in made clear that God would never again flood the world with water, “stood” meant “pray,” just as it did in that under such circumstances, the victim would be churlish not to forgive the offender. (Mishnah Bava Kamma 8:7.) The Tosefta further deduced from ), and immediately thereafter God allowed Abraham and Sarah to conceive ( (the binding of Isaac) on the second day. (Babylonian Talmud [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t04/meg05.htm Megillah 31a.] ) And in the Talmud, Rabbi Eliezer said that God visited both Sarah and Hannah to grant them conception on Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Eliezer deduced this from the Bible’s parallel uses of the words “visiting” and “remembering” in description of Hannah, Sarah, and Rosh Hashanah. First, Rabbi Eliezer linked Hannah’s visitation with Rosh Hashanah through the Bible’s parallel uses of the word “remembering.” says that “the Lord had visited Hannah,” and to have earned God’s mercy for Abraham’s descendents when they are in need. The 16th Century Safed Rabbi Eliezer Azikri drew on this rabbinic understanding to call for God to show mercy for Abraham’s descendents, “the son of Your beloved” ("ben ohavach"), in his kabbalistic poem "Yedid Nefesh" (“Soul’s Beloved”), which many congregations chant just before the Kabbalat Shabbat prayer service. (Reuven Hammer. "Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals", 14. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0916219208.)

Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is:
*for Ashkenazi Jews: 2 Kings [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b04.htm 4:1–37]
*for Sephardi Jews: 2 Kings [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b04.htm 4:1–23]
*for Karaite Jews: Isaiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1033.htm#17 33:17–35:10]

The parshah and haftarah in 2 Kings both tell of God’s gift of sons to childless women. In both the parshah and the haftarah: God’s representative visits the childless woman, whose household extends the visitor generous hospitality (; ); the woman conceives and bears a child as God’s representative had announced (; ).

Goswell argues that the haftarah make the binding of Isaac, "into a kind of resurrection story", [Gregory Goswell, "The Hermeneutics of the Haftarot," "Tyndale Bulletin" 58 (2007), 87.] which is exactly how the New Testament interprets it in .

References

Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

Ancient

*Code of Hammurabi Circa 1780 BCE.

Biblical

* (God’s destruction in the flood); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0112.htm#10 12:10–20] ; [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0115.htm#5 15:5] (numerous as stars); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0126.htm 26:1–33.]
*Exodus [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0202.htm#3 2:3] (abandoned infant); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0212.htm#29 12:29–30] (God’s destruction of Egypt’s firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0213.htm#11 13:11–15;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0222.htm#28 22:28–29.]
*Numbers [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0422.htm#21 22:21–22] (rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and his two servants were with him).
*Deuteronomy [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0501.htm#10 1:10] (numerous as stars).
*Judges [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0711.htm 11:1–40;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0719.htm 19:1–30.]
*2 Kings [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b03.htm#26 3:26–27;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b16.htm#2 16:2–3;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b21.htm 21:1–6.]
*Jeremiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1132.htm#27 32:27] (nothing too hard for God).
*Ezekiel [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1209.htm#4 9:4–6] (God’s destruction of Jerusalem’s sinners); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1216.htm#3 16:3–5] (abandoned infant); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1216.htm#46 16:46–51] (Sodom); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1220.htm#25 20:25–26.]

Early nonrabbinic

*Euripides. "Iphigeneia at Aulis". 410 BCE.
*Virgil. "Georgics" [http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/georgics.4.iv.html 4:456.] 37-30 BCE. (Orpheus and Eurydice.)
*Jubilees [http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/noncanon/ot/pseudo/jubilee.htm 17:1-18:19.]
*Josephus. "Antiquities", [http://www.interhack.net/projects/library/antiquities-jews/b1c10.html 1:10:5;] [http://www.interhack.net/projects/library/antiquities-jews/b1c11.html 1:11:1–4;] [http://www.interhack.net/projects/library/antiquities-jews/b1c12.html 1:12:1–4;] [http://www.interhack.net/projects/library/antiquities-jews/b1c13.html 1:13:1–4.] Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition". Translated by William Whiston. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
*4 Maccabees [http://www.anova.org/sev/htm/ap/16_4maccabees.htm 13:11–12; 16:18–20.]
*Epistle of Barnabas
*Hebrews [http://www.Biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2011:11-19;&version=31; 11:11–19.]
*James [http://www.Biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%202:20-24;&version=31; 2:20–24.]
*Qur'an Arabia, 7th Century.

Classical rabbinic

*Mishnah: Bava Kamma 8:7; Avot 5:3. 3rd Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Mishnah: A New Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
*Tosefta: Berakhot 1:15; Maaser Sheni 5:29; Rosh Hashanah 2:13; Taanit 2:13; Megillah 3:6; Sotah 4:1–6, 12, 5:12, 6:1, 6; Bava Kamma 9:29; Sanhedrin 14:4. 3rd–4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction". Translated by Jacob Neusner. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
*Sifre to Deuteronomy 2:3. Reprinted in, e.g., "Sifre to Deuteronomy". Translated by Jacob Neusner, vol. 1, 26. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. ISBN 1-55540-145-7.
*Jerusalem Talmud: Berakhot 4b–5a, 43a–b; Peah 8b. 4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Yerushalmi: Tractate Peah". Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus. Vols. 1 & 3. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
*Genesis Rabbah 48:1–57:4. 5th Century.
*Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 26b–27a, 29a, 56b, 62b; [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t01/t0130.htm Shabbat 127a;] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t03/psc05.htm Pesachim 4a,] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t03/psc08.htm 54a,] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t03/psc12.htm 88a,] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t03/psc14.htm 119b;] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t03/yom08.htm Yoma 28b, 38b;] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t02/ros03.htm Rosh Hashanah 11a, 16b;] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t04/taa06.htm Taanit 8a-b,] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t04/taa07.htm 16a;] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t04/meg05.htm Megillah 28a, 31a;] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t04/kat04.htm Moed Katan 16b;] Yevamot 63a, 65b, 76b-77a, 79a; Ketubot 8b; Nedarim 31a; Sotah 9b-10b; Kiddushin 29a; [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t05/kam11.htm Bava Kamma 92a, 93a;] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t08/t0812.htm Sanhedrin 89b;] Chullin 60b. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Bavli". Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.

Medieval

*Rashi. "Commentary". [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=8213&showrashi=true Genesis 18–22.] Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. "The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated". Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 1:173–240. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-89906-026-9.
*Judah Halevi. "Kuzari". Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. "Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel." Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 91, 130–31, 282–83. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
*Shalom Spiegel and Judah Goldin. "The Last Trial: On the Legends and Lore of the Command to Abraham to Offer Isaac as a Sacrifice: The Akedah". Jewish Lights: 1993. ISBN 1-879045-29-X
*Zohar [http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar&vol=6 1:97a–120b.] Spain, late 13th Century.

Modern

*Thomas Hobbes. "Leviathan", England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, 436–37, 456–57, 460, 486, 500–01, 584–85. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.
*Søren Kierkegaard. "Fear and Trembling". 1843. Reprint, London: Penguin Classics, 1986. ISBN 0-14-044449-1.
*Emily Dickinson. Circa 1874. In "The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson". Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, 571–72. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1960. ISBN 0-316-18414-4.
*Wilfred Owen. "The Parable of the Old Man and the Young". 1920.
*Thomas Mann. "Joseph and His Brothers". Translated by John E. Woods, 9, 54, 79–82, 91, 97–98, 141, 147–49, 152–55, 159–60, 227–28, 294, 347, 363–64, 386, 400, 425, 471, 474–75, 488, 498, 520–22, 693, 715–16, 748, 806. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as "Joseph und seine Brüder". Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943.
*Martin Buber. "On the Bible: Eighteen studies", 22–43. New York: Schocken Books, 1968.
*Kurt Vonnegut. "", 21–22. New York: Dell, 1968. ISBN 0-440-18029-5.
*Elie Wiesel. “The Sacrifice of Isaac: a Survivor’s Story.” In "Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits & Legends", 69–102. New York: Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-394-49740-6.
*Charles Oberndorf. "Testing". New York: Spectra, 1993. ISBN 0-553-56181-2.
*John Kaltner. “Abraham’s Sons: How the Bible and Qur’an See the Same Story Differently.” "Bible Review" 18 (2) (Apr. 2002): 16–23, 45–46.
*Elie Wiesel. “Ishmael and Hagar” and “Lot’s Wife.” In "Wise Men and Their Tales: Portraits of Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Masters", 3–28. New York: Schocken, 2003. ISBN 0-8052-4173-6.
*Aaron Wildavsky. "Moses as Political Leader", 133–36. Jerusalem: Shalem Press, 2005. ISBN 965-7052-31-9.
*Rosanna Warren. “Hagar.” In Harold Bloom. "American Religious Poems", 379. Library of America, 2006. ISBN 978-1-931082-74-7.

External links

Texts

* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0118.htm Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation]
* [http://Bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=1&chapter=18&verse=1&portion=4 Hear the parshah chanted]

Commentaries

* [http://www.jtsa.edu/community/parashah/archives/index.shtml#gen Commentaries] from the Jewish Theological Seminary
* [http://judaism.uj.edu/Content/InfoUnits.asp?CID=907 Commentaries] from the University of Judaism
* [http://www.uscj.org/Vayera_57677101.html Torah Sparks] from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
* [http://www.ou.org/torah/archive1.htm Commentaries] from the Orthodox Union
* [http://ajrsem.org/index.php?id=199 Commentaries] from the Academy for Jewish Religion
* [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=9170 Commentaries] from Chabad.org
* [http://urj.org/torah/genesis/index.cfm? Commentaries] and [http://urj.org/shabbat/genesis/ Family Shabbat Table Talk] from the Union for Reform Judaism
* [http://www2.jrf.org/recon-dt/index.php Commentaries] from Reconstructionist Judaism
* [http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha/parsha.html?id1=4 Commentaries] from [http://www.torah.org/ Torah.org]
* [http://www.aish.com/torahPortion/pArchive.asp?eventType=4&eventName=Vayeira Commentaries] from [http://www.aish.com/ Aish.com]
* [http://www.shiur.com/index.php?id=C0_235_6&spar=235&s_id=235 Commentaries] from [http://www.shiur.com/ Shiur.com]
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/vayera_index.htm Commentaries] from [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/index.htm MyJewishLearning.com]
* [http://www.tfdixie.com/parshat/vayeira/ Commentaries] from [http://www.tfdixie.com/ Torah from Dixie]
* [http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/2782 Commentary] from [http://ohr.edu/index.php Ohr Sameach]
* [http://www.teach613.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=48 Commentary] from [http://www.teach613.org/index.php Teach613.org, Torah Education at Cherry Hill]
* [http://www.judaic.org/addtl_files/vayera.htm Commentaries] and [http://www.judaic.org/tabletalk/vayera5762.htm Shabbat Table Talk] from [http://www.judaic.org/ The Sephardic Institute]
* [http://www.parshaparts.com/archive/5767/vayeira.php Commentaries] from [http://www.parshaparts.com/index.php Parshah Parts]
* [http://www.anshe.org/parsha/veyeirah.htm Commentary] from [http://www.anshe.org/ Anshe Emes Synagogue, Los Angeles]
* [http://www.rabbishmuel.com/browse.cgi?type=torah_sermons Torah Sermons] and [http://www.rabbishmuel.com/browse.cgi?type=torah_tidbits Torah Tidbits] from [http://www.ostt.org/ Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah]