Parashat Vayera 5784

by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields

This week’s Torah Reading, Parashat Vayera, begins with the story of the angels visiting Abraham as he is recuperating from his circumcision. This story teaches two very important responsibilities to our fellow persons – bikkur cholim, taking care of the sick, and hachnasat orchim, hospitality. As Yehudah Halevi (1075-1141), the Spanish Jewish poet, physician and philosopher wrote “My heart is in the east, and I in the uttermost west.”  This truly describes how many of us feel right now. Some of the best of social media has shown us evidence of these two mitzvot and responsibilities being done now with thousands of evacuees being welcomed into new communities, the injured being visited, and complete strangers visiting sick patients. Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh – All the people of Israel are responsible for one another, now more than ever, and we are truly reminded of this in our Torah Reading this week.