Parashat Vayera 5782

by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields

In Parashat Vayera, we see the value of hospitality, when Abraham welcomes three visits to his home, who promise that Sarah, a barren woman, with an old husband, Abraham, will have a child. Sarah responds to this news by laughing. Hagar cries to God that she fears that her son Ishmael will die of thirst in the desert, but God opens Hagar’s eyes and shows her a well. A child is in danger in the Torah reading; Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac. After the binding of Isaac, Abraham is depicted as a God fearing man. (Genesis 22:12). The Torah reading shows how much parents value their children. Abraham protests to God on behalf of the innocent, when he hears that God is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

In the Haftarah that goes b’yachad, together with Parashat Vayera, from II Kings 4:1-37, a barren woman is also promised a child, to which the Shunammite woman responds by accusing Elisha of lying to her. However, the Shunammite woman is hospitable to Elisah. The widow cries to Elisha that she and her sons will not have any food, and that she only has a little bit of oil left, in one bottle. Elisha shows her that she has an endless amount of oil, which will provide for her family’s needs. In the Haftarah, the first set of sons is almost taken away from their mother to be slaves to someone to a credit collector. In the second story in the Haftarah, the son dies and is revived by the prophet Elisha. The woman in the first story refers to her deceased husband as a God fearing man (II Kings 4:1). The Haftarah shows how much parents value their children. Elisah is very upset by God’s decision to have the young boy die, and Elisha revives the boy back to life.