Questions tagged [vayera]
The weekly Torah portion of Vayera (Genesis 18:1-22:24)
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If Jews don't eat cheeseburgers, why did Abraham serve a calf with milk?
Genesis 18:8 (JPS):
And he took curd, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Looks like Abraham and 3 ...
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Sarah is Abraham's sister?
Genesis 20:12 has Abraham honestly saying that Sarah is indeed his sister when he is talking with Abimelek.
Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and ...
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How could Avraham feed his guests tongue?
Avraham served his guests three tongues in mustard.1 However, Avraham kept all the mitzvot,2 one of which is to give the foreleg, jaw (including the tongue3), and maw of each slaughtered animal to the ...
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Why didn't Avraham tell Eliezer to go get Rivka?
In Parshas Chayei Sara, Avraham tells Eliezer to go find a wife for Yitzchok from his family, כִּי אֶל אַרְצִי וְאֶל מוֹלַדְתִּי תֵּלֵךְ וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי לְיִצְחָק: and not from the ...
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Why Avraham hated Yishmael if he was a tzadik
Rashi says that avraham sent yishmael out with only water but no money because he hated him for going out "tarbut raah".
yet later on, the verse says G-d heard the cry of Yishmael dying of thirst "...
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How could Avraham feed his guests milk?
According to the gemarah (Sanhedrin 21 I think) milk was considered the limb of a living being - eiver min ha'chai - until matan torah. If so, how could Avraham serve it to his guests if a ben Noach ...
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Why did Avraham argue with G-d about Sodom but not about his son's sacrifice?
Are there any Mefarshim who commented on why Avraham chose to advocate on behalf of Sodom when G-d tells him that the city will be destroyed, but chose to remain silent and just accept the decree when ...
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Why did Avraham name his son before the Bris (circumcision)?
Why does the Torah seem to imply that Avraham named his son before the bris?
First:
וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם אֶת שֶׁם בְּנוֹ הַנּוֹלַד לוֹ אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לּוֹ שָׂרָה יִצְחָק
And Abraham called the name ...
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How did Avrohom learn that nine doesn't work?
The Midrash says (Bereshis Rabbah 49:13 quoted in Rashi Genesis 18:32) that Abraham stopped asking HaShem to save Sodom in the merit of less than 10 people because Noah and his family who were 8 ...
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Did Abraham know that Lot survived the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah?
In last week's Parasha, we all know the story of Abraham arguing with God to have God spare the cities on account of the righteous. However, I haven't heard much about the end of the story.
Genesis ...
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Is it sourced that Avrohom Avinu charged his guests payment if they did not make a Brachah?
The Gemara in Soitah (10a I think) says that Avrohom used to tell people not to thank him, but rather to thank Hashem for the food that they ate.
I seem to remember learning once that if they refused,...
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Sources that Avraham Avinu personified Gemilas Chasodim
See this thread which discusses that Avraham Avinu used to make his guests pay exorbitant prices if they did not wish to bless Hashem for the food.
I am struggling to differentiate between a ...
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Why did God lie about Sarah?
Why did God have to lie to cover for Sarah (Bereshis 18:13)? Why not just avoid asking Avraham altogether?
Note that the answer cannot be anything that would either impinge on their shalom bayis (cf ...
user1668
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Why does the second aliya of Vayeira start with the last verse of one topic and then change?
The second aliya of Vayeira begins at 18:15, with the end of the Sarah-denying-having-laughed episode. It then goes on to focus on S'dom and the other cities. This happens in the middle of a column, ...
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Date of the Akeida?
Are there sources in our tradition which discuss the Hebrew date of Akeidas Yitzchak? The fact that we read the Akeida on Rosh Hashana or, properly, every day suggests to me that the "real" date is ...
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Interrupting Amida for a Mitzvah
Avraham leaves Hashem to deal with guests in Vayera - because welcoming guests is greater than Kabolas Pnei HaSh'china.
Does that mean we can interrupt our Shmoneh Esrei to do mitzvahs? At least to ...
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Genesis 18 who is the ‘he’
Avraham stands at the entrance of his tent after his Brit - Bereshit 18 - looking around he sees three men at a short distance (even getting closer).
At a certain point they ask Avraham: “Where is ...
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Lot's Reason for Marriage
Based on the fact that Lot was such a giving person (Bereishis 19:2) that he was willing to risk his life for kindliness
וַיִּפְצַר־בָּם מְאֹד וַיָּסֻרוּ אֵלָיו וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל־בֵּיתוֹ
וַיַּעַשׂ ...
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Why did the angel overturning Sodom visit Abraham?
Someone in my synagogue asked today as follows:
Rashi notes (Vayera 18:2, q.v.) that three angels visited Avraham's tent: one was assigned to inform Sara [of her impending pregnancy], one to overturn ...
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Is it considered a good thing that Lot's daughters slept with their father?
In Bereishis 19:30-38 the story is told how the 2 daughters of Lot thought (for whatever reason) that they should sleep with their father. From the psukim themselves, it is unclear whether or not what ...
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Why did the Davidic dynasty need to come from questionable relations?
On the one side of the family, we have the union between Tamar and Yehudah, which, while technically a fulfillment of Yibum, Yehudah thought she was a harlot. From this union came Peretz (Bereishis 38:...
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Why was Yishmael saved?
In bereshis 21:17 it says
And G-d heard the lad's voice, and an angel of G-d called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What is troubling you, Hagar? Fear not, for G-d has heard the lad's voice ...
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Sarah's treatment of Hagar and Ishmael
How could Sarah's treatment of Hagar and Ishmael be considered righteous? I intend this as a sincere and serious question. While Hagar was pregnant, Sarah "prevent[ed] her intercourse with Abraham, ...
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Who was the mother of Avraham's daughter?
According to one opinion in the Gemarah (Bava Basra 16b, also 141a), when it says Avraham was blessed with everything (Bereishit 24:1) it means that he had a daughter. Who was her mother?
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Why doesn't Yitzchak mention the knife?
Bereishis 22:6 indicates that Avraham placed the wood for the sacrifice on Yitzchak, took something to start the fire, and the מַּאֲכֶלֶת which Rashi translates as knife.
However, in the next pasuk ...
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Why was Akeidas Yitzchok a bigger test (Nisayon) for Avraham than for Yitzchok?
Akeidas Yitzchok was the hardest test that Hashem gave to Avraham. Yet Yitzchok knew and also agreed to go along with it. Then why is it considered a bigger test for Avraham than for Yitzchok?
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Why did G-d ask Avraham for the akeda?
Why did G-d ask Avraham to sacrifice and slaughter his son?
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How is it that Abraham didn't ask that four save a city, yet four did so?
Rashi (Vayera 18:24 and passim) explains that S'dom was the most important of five cities in its neighborhood, and God was going to destroy all of them. First, though, He told Avraham of His intent to ...
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"If eight couldn't save the world, certainly eight couldn't save one city." Why not?
Rashi to Bereishis 18:32, explaining why Avraham only bargained for 10 and no less:
אָמַר דוֹר הַמַּבּוּל הָיוּ ח', נֹחַ וּבָנָיו וּנְשֵׁיהֶם, וְלֹא הִצִּילוּ עַל דּוֹרָם; וְעַל ט' עַל יְדֵי צֵרוּף ...
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What would qualify a Sedomite as a "righteous person"?
In Genesis 18:23-33, Avraham pleads with God to spare Sedom from the destruction it had earned through its wicked institutionalized cruelty. Eventually, Avraham extracts an agreement from God that the ...
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Angels visiting Abraham during Pesach [duplicate]
I start it from the end: regarding Lot it is written (Bereishit 19:3):
וַיִּפְצַר־בָּ֣ם מְאֹ֔ד וַיָּסֻ֣רוּ אֵלָ֔יו וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אֶל־בֵּית֑וֹ וַיַּ֤עַשׂ לָהֶם֙ מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה וּמַצּ֥וֹת אָפָ֖ה וַיֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃...
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Questions about the destruction of Sodom and the vicinity
I am having a hard time making heads or tails of the story of the destruction of Sodom and the vicinity. All questions below are questions about the narrative of the story based on the interpretation ...
user2110
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Washing feet before coming inside: Avraham vs. Lot
When the angels came to visit Avraham, he asked them (Bereishis 18:4) to "Bathe your feet, and recline under the tree". Rashi explains:
He thought that they were Arabs, who prostrate themselves to ...
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Avraham's knife was called Ma'achelet. Why?
What is the reason behind the word Ma'achelet used for the knife used by Avraham in the binding of Yitzchok? Is it an indication of specific function? Is this name used elsewhere? Does it indicate any ...
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Why does revi'i of Vayeira seem to end four verses late?
Why does revi'i - the fourth reading - of Parashat Vayeira end with the first few verses of the story of the birth of Yitzchak (Gen. 21:1-4)?
Objections:
There's a natural break in narrative before ...
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Why does Rashi say Avraham thought the angels were wayfarers?
Rashi on Breishis 18:16
And the men arose from there, and they looked upon Sodom, and Abraham went with them to escort them,
says
to escort them: Heb. לְשַׁלְּחָם, to escort them. He thought ...
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Why did the angels not go straight to S'dom?
It says in Bereishis 18,16 “and the men arose from there and they looked upon S’dom, and Avraham went with them to escort them”. This is followed by several posukim dealing with the dialogue between ...
user4523
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Attributes of God--Why does God have to come down to check out Sodom and Gemorrah?
I've always thought it rather curious that God came down to check out the corruption of the city:
כִּי יְדַעְתִּיו, לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה אֶת-בָּנָיו וְאֶת-בֵּיתוֹ אַחֲרָיו, וְשָׁמְרוּ דֶּרֶךְ ...
user2411
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Interpretations of the Akeidah
Our Torah class in school is studying the Akeidah. What different approaches do the commentators take in interpreting it (e.g. Rashbam says it was a punishment; lehavdil, Kierkegaard says it was ...
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Do we learn any hilchos shechita from the Akeida?
The Binding of Isaac (Gen. 22) is a fascinating story, for a multitude of reasons.
One thing that appeals to me, as a shochet (slaughterer), is that it has in it (as far as I could tell) the earliest ...
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Why would Hagar go to the desert to inevitable death?
"Early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away. And she wandered about in ...
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Why was Abraham cheap with Hagar and his son Yishmael?
Following "why-would-Hagar-go-to-the-desert-to-die", IIRC Abraham was freakishly wealthy and he should be full of Chessed (toward his former wife and his own son), Sarah didn't deny any ...
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