Friends – I hope that you are all well, safe and warm.
Please come for hot coffee and bagels tomorrow!
It will be good to see you…
In this parasha, we have a series of critical episodes: the
visitation of Abraham and Sarah by divine messengers who relay the news that
Sarah will give birth to a son; Abraham and God’s dialogue regarding the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; the story of Lot, living in Sodom, taking in
the 2 angels/messengers, and then escaping with his wife and daughters; another
sister/wife episode, this time with King Avimelech; the birth of Isaac; the
casting out of Hagar and Ishmael; and the Akedah – the binding of Isaac.
These episodes really feel like they are a connected whole,
especially because of the use of some key words that repeat throughout. One is the
root “ra-ah”, “to see.” Another is “tzachak,”, “to laugh”, another is “tzedek,”
or “righteousness/justice”, and lastly, “tza-ak,” “to cry out.” Interesting how
these last three words begin and end with the same sound.
As we study, I want to keep track of when the Torah text
uses these verbs and see how they lay the groundwork in the first few episodes
that lead to the climactic almost sacrifice of Isaac at the end. How might
these verbs combine to tell a story of faith, and how may they help us
understand what faith really is in the world of the Torah? How is faith a
combination of seeing, laughing, crying and pursuing justice?
No comments:
Post a Comment