Mindful Torah...and more

This week’s parashah /portion is Hayei Sarah , or the life of Sarah. It begins by telling the reader that Sarah dies at the age of 127. Abraham searches for a place to bury her and settles on the cave of Machpelah outside of Hebron. Isaac is in deep mourning for his mother, so Abraham sends his servant back to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac from among his kin. The servant meets Rebecca, Abraham’s niece, at a well, where she provides water for him and his camels. The servant tells Rebecca who he is and why is there. Sarah tells her father Bethuel and brother Laban that she is ready and willing to return to Abraham’s tent with the servant and to marry her cousin Isaac. Upon their return, Isaac and Rebecca meet. He then takes her to his mother’s tent, they marry, he loved her and found comfort with her after Sarah’s death. Sarah, after whom the parashah is named, and Rebecca oare really at the spiritual core of this story. This is true in spite of the fact that it is the men who...

  This week’s parashah /portion is Vayera ( Bereshit /Genesis 18:1-22:24) . It begins with the arrival of t hree divine messengers (or angels) at Abraham and Sarah’s tent. They inform Abraham that God will give the elderly Sarah a child. The prophecy comes true, and they name their son Isaac. God then informs Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed, though Abraham attempts to convince God otherwise. Abraham convinces God to spare the cities if there are at least 10 righteous people. Unfortunately, he could not. And so the three messengers went to Sodom and Gomorrah in order to save Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family, who lived there. As the messengers , Lot and his family flee the cities, Lot’s wife looks back, even though they were commanded not to. As a punishment she was turned to a pillar of salt. Later, God’s promise is fulfilled and Sarah becomes pregnant and bears a son, Isaac. Eventually, God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham takes Isaac to Mt. Moriah...