From TorahVort.com
Vayeira
The reading continues where we left off from last week, Avraham was circumcised at the age of 99. The third day after a circumcision is reported to be the most painful day; however G-d visited Avraham on the third day to show him honour for having carried out the commandment and also to acknowledge that he had now been elevated to higher spiritual plateau. Despite the painful wound, Avraham yearned so greatly to have guests, he sat outside his tent, waiting for the arrival of guests so that he could bring them into his house for a meal. In response G-d sent him three angels in the guise of people, and Abraham ran to greet them in and personally serve them. He also encouraged his son, Ishmael into service, for the education of the youth must be practical; preaching about acts of kindness will fail to achieve the ideal result unless it is assisted with acts of kindness. Avraham told them he would give them ‘little bread and water’ however he served them a huge luxurious meal, in Pirkei Avot there is a statement that says a Righteous man should ‘say little and do a lot.’ Avraham is known through history as the man of Chesed (performing acts of kindness). He was at work 24 hours every day, bringing people closer to the religion, having an open house and greeting everyone he saw with enthusiasm. Every task he did in life was carried out with a smile. The Gemorah says that when one smiles at another person it is like ‘giving a cup of milk’ to the other person, and a smile is so nutritious it can change an individual’s day and have a tremendous positive ripple effect, a huge easy mitzvah. One of the goals of Torah study is to help an individual internalise the torah into his character to improve his man to man relationships. Furthermore the great sage, Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai, was one of the leading Torah sages a hundred years after the destruction of the second temple, he wasn’t seen walking four meters without learning torah, however he always greeted every person he walked past first whether he knew them or not, even the cruellest man in the market place, it shows how important it is to acknowledge and how treat other people in the religion. The reading continues as the three angels guised in the form of humans related to Avraham that Sara would give birth, however Sara laughed at the blessing and was guilty of not answering Amen, as she found it hard to believe she could give birth at the age of 90. Sara is described as being one of the four mothers and was one of the most righteous women throughout history, also always practicing acts of kindness, Avraham would usually bring the men closer to G-d and Sara would work on the women. The reading continues with the destruction of the city of Sodom. Lot and his two daughters would be the only people saved from the city through the assistance of an angel. The chapter then continues to relate the birth and arrival of Moav and Ammon, introducing the seed through which Moshiach will eventually come from as Ruth and David are descendants of Moav. The reading continues as Avraham and Sara journeyed to the Philistia land, and once again Avraham pretended to be the brother of Sara, however the plan worked to no avail and Avimelech abducted Sara. Almost immediately Avimelech returned Sara out of great fear as G-d appeared to Avimelech in a dream ordering him to give Sara back to Avraham. To prevent Avimelech from forcing Sara to live with him, he was temporarily punished with impotence. The Parshah continues with the birth of Isaac, the manner of his birth was miraculous – that a woman who was infertile even in her youth had a child at the age 90 – established the nature of G-d’s chosen people. This also teaches us the key to conception like many other things in life are in G-d’s hand. The reading then continues describing a peace treaty that was made between Avraham and Avimelech for the following three generations. The parshah concludes describing the tenth trial of Avraham, the binding of Isaac on the alter, as the Ram is sacrificed on G-d’s command as opposed to Isaac. The Haftorah for this week’s parshah comes from the second book of Kings, chapter 4. The Haftorah describes how the prophet, Elisha helped a woman so poor that she only owned a single jar of oil. She was in huge debt, and her creditor was about to take her children into slavery as settlement. Elisha told her to borrow empty vessels and begin pouring her oil into these vessels. To her amazement, as long as there were vessels to be filled, the oil continuously flowed. She then had more than enough Oil to sell and pay off all her debts. I would like to dedicate this Dvar Torah in the memory of my late Grandfather who passed away 15 years ago this week, his Hebrew name is Shalom Shlomo Ben Nauriel. Hope you all have a fantastic Shabbat, from Michael Zaroovabeli at Ohr Sameach yeshiva in Israel.
