The 5 Books Meander, Week 4 (Va-Yera’)

In brief:
3 wise men visit Abraham and Sarah and make Sarah laugh, which seems to perplex or perhaps annoy God, who is super no-nonsense about the whole thing (I did not laugh, says Sarah. And God replies, “You did laugh.” So you know, cut it out.)

The more likable Abraham I remember from my childhood makes an appearance, negotiating against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Spoiler alert: Don’t get attached to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lot’s wife looks back and is punished both by being turned to salt and by being deprived a name. Henceforth she is simply: “Lot’s wife.”

Sarah has Hagar and Ishmael cast out, but Abraham and God make sure they and their descendants are cared for and will be a Nation. Which brings us to the binding of Isaac. On which, more below…

A few thoughts:

• A Torah-reading pal (TRP) of mine pointed out a great quirk I’d missed — Abraham serves his guests milk and meat, a meal that’s treif aka not kosher. I looked around for interpretations and found two I especially enjoyed: (1) Perhaps Abraham wasn’t kosher because hadn’t been given the laws/mitzvot yet, and he’s not accountable for rules that came after his time. (2) In the Talmud it says that Abraham was kosher, in which case, perhaps just because he was kosher didn’t mean he had to ask his guests to follow his rules. Both are lovely thoughts with implications that are as profound as you like ’em to be.
• Abraham talk with his son in the binding of Isaac is almost overwhelming sad. Where is the sheep for the sacrifice? young Isaac asks. “And Abraham said, ‘God will see to the sheep for His burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them walked on together.” Sad beyond sad. Even just typing it here, my fingers feel weighted.
• That said, this is also part of what I am loving. As my TRP said to me this week, the people in Genesis are not paragons. They are complex. God is complex. Even God seems to question Himself, asking no one in particular “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do…?” [that is: the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah]. The murkiness in these pages is a big part of why I’m enjoying this Meander so much. There’s plenty of good and evil in the world. But most people fall somewhere in between, however they act in any particular moment. And that murkiness, the good in each of us, is also the reason we keep at it and strive for the light.

If you’d like to join in… this is the place for comments and commentary on Va-Yera’ (Gen 18.1 – 22.24)
Next up: Ḥayyei-Sarah (Gen 23.1 – 25.18)
-Cecil