parshah vayeira v’shmitta (again)
This week we read Parshah Vayeira, Bereshit 18:1-22:24.
In this portion we learn of hospitality, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife becomes a pillar of salt, Isaac is born and circumcised, Hagar and Ishmael were sent off, the near sacrifice of Isaac, and we learn of the birth of Rebecca. A better summary may be found here.
I’d tell a huge lie if I wrote that I have devoted more time than a quick read through this week. There is a lot in this parshah (as always; I find Bereshit the most interesting of the books of the Torah). I hope tonight and tomorrow to delve a little further in. I’m finding it difficult to strike a balance this month between all the obligations I have committed to.
In skimming through my copy of New Studies in Bereshit by Nechama Leibowitz just now (are you tired of her yet? I am not!) I am drawn to a lesson in which we again compare Noah to Avraham by comparing the differences in approach to “destroying the righteous with the wicked” in light of the flood (in Noah’s time) and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (in Avraham’s). I don’t yet have anything else to add, but think I have found a focus for my additional diving within this sidra^ this week.
^ sidra = another word for parshah.
Lastly, NYT article: Israeli Court Rules on 7th-Year Law.
שׁבּת שׁלום