SUMMARY OF PARASHAT VAYERA

God appeared to Abraham in a vision while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. Abraham noticed three travelers passing nearby and, as was his custom, ran to invite them into his home. The men accepted his invitation, and Abraham prepared a lavish meal for them. These men, sent by God, told Abraham that Sara would give birth to a son within a year. Sara, who was already almost ninety, heard this and laughed. God became angry with Sara and told Abraham that nothing is impossible for Him.

The men, who were angels in human form, set out for Sedom to destroy the five cities of the region because of their extreme corruption. God told Abraham of His plan, and Abraham, in another display of his boundless kindness, tried to dissuade Him. He asked God not to destroy the city if fifty righteous people could be found there. God agreed, but when it became clear that there were not many righteous people, Abraham kept “negotiating” and finally asked God to spare Sedom even if only ten righteous people lived there.

The angels arrived in Sedom. Lot, following the example he had learned from Abraham, invited them into his home to rest and eat. But word quickly spread that there were strangers in Lot’s house, and the people of the city reacted violently. Used to abusing foreigners, the people of Sedom surrounded Lot’s house, intending to attack his guests. Lot tried to protect them, but the mob tried to break down the door. The angels struck the men outside with blindness and hurried Lot to flee with his wife and daughters.

Then God rained fire and brimstone on Sedom and destroyed the entire region. Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. Lot and his daughters took refuge in a cave, believing the whole world had been destroyed and that they were the only survivors. The daughters got their father drunk and seduced him in order to repopulate the earth. Each gave birth to a son: the ancestors of the Ammonites and the Moabites.

Because of a famine, Abraham moved to the Philistine city of Gerar. Abimelech, the Philistine king, took Sara, who had been introduced as Abraham’s sister. But God punished Abimelech and his household. He appeared to him in a dream and warned him that Sara was Abraham’s wife. Abimelech obeyed, released Sara, and generously compensated Abraham for the offense.

Just as the angels had announced, Sara conceived and gave birth to a son at the age of ninety. The child was named Yitschaq, “he will laugh,” because he brought joy and laughter to his parents. Abraham circumcised Yitschaq when he was eight days old.

Yitschaq grew up, and Sara saw that Yishmael, Yitschaq’s older half-brother, was a bad influence on him. She demanded that Abraham send away Yishmael and his mother, Hagar. God told Abraham to listen to Sara. Hagar and Yishmael ran out of water in the desert and were about to die, but an angel “opened Hagar’s eyes” and showed her a well nearby. Yishmael grew up in the desert and became a skilled hunter.

Abimelech, seeing that God favored Abraham, asked him to make a peace treaty: neither would attack the other for three generations. Abraham agreed, but pointed out that Abimelech’s men had seized a well that his own servants had dug. Abraham took seven sheep and gave them to Abimelech as proof that the well was his. Abraham then settled in Beer Sheba and proclaimed the name of God to everyone who came near.

In the last aliyah, God commanded Abraham to take his only son, Yitschaq, and offer him as a sacrifice on a mountain. Abraham set out with Yitschaq and two servants. When they arrived, he went up with Yitschaq, built an altar, and bound his son hand and foot, ready to carry out God’s incomprehensible command. At that moment, he heard an angel of God telling him to stop. Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. He took it and offered it in place of his son. God blessed Abraham and his descendants for his loyalty and obedience.

Later, Abraham learned that his sister-in-law Milka had given birth. One of her sons, Betuel, became the father of Rivka, the future wife of his son Yitschaq.