The Haftorah this week contains the story of Elisha and the Shunamite woman. Elisha promises her a child, despite her apparent barrenness and she duly has a son. This son the apparently dies from sunstroke and is revived by Elisha. The parallels to the Parshah are obvious. Sarah is delivered of a son after many years of barrenness. That son is then almost lost by being sacrificed to G-d, but saved by angelic intervention at the last moment. An interesting feature of this Haftorah are the differing customs as to when it ends. The Ashkenazim read the whole story, ending with the Shunamite woman gratefully taking her revived son. However, the Sefardim end in the middle of the story. The son has apparently died and the woman prepares to rush off to Elisha. Her husband asks why she is going and she merely replies Shalom. This seems a strange place to end the story, right in the middle. Yet if we examine these stories more closely a pattern emerges. Both Abraham and Sarah and the Shunamite woman initially reject miraculous interference in the natural order of things. They are prepared to accept things as they are. They are thus not surprised when things later go wrong, a fact that may partly explain Abraham’s ready acquiescence in the sacrifice of his son. They are prepared to see the possibility of Shalom or completeness in the situation in which they find themselves, not relying on supernatural intervention, which can disturb the natural balance. Though in the end this Divine action does lead to positive results, they are prepared to live with out it. We thus can see how the Sefardic custom is not so strange after all. When the Shunamite woman answers Shalom to the query of her husband, she is implicitly prepared to accept and live with any outcome to the situation.. There can be Shalom or completeness, without knowing the end of the story. By stopping on this word we learn an important lesson. We cannot see into, far less control, the future. We cannot always rely on Divine intervention to solve our problems. What we can do, however, is learn to be at peace with ourselves, others and G-d, whatever may happen to us. We can learn from the characters in the stories we read this week how to create a sense of wholeness in our own lives, whatever vicissitudes or challenges those lives may entail. In the midst of our own story, without knowing the future chapters, we can still pause and say Shalom.
ALIYAH BY ALIYAH SYNOPSIS
Rishon |
Three angels visit Abraham who entertains them. they inform him that Sarah will give birth to a son. |
Sheni |
G-d informs Abraham that He wants to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham unsuccessfully bargains on their behalf. |
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Shelishi |
Two angels go to Sodom where they are hosted by Lot. They protect him from a mob and tell him to flee. |
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Revi’i |
G-d destroys Sodom but saves Lot who then commits incest. Abraham moves to Philistia where Sarah is taken by the King but released after Divine intervention. Isaac is born. |
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Chamishi |
Ishmael causes trouble for Isaac and is expelled at Sarah‘s request. |
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Shishi |
Abraham makes a treaty with the Philistines. |
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Shevi’i |
The story of the Binding of Isaac. Rebecca is born. |
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Haftorah |
II Kings: 4;1-37: The stories of Elisha, the prophet’s wife and the Shunamite woman. |
Sidra Statistics
Parshat Vayera:
- has 147 verses ;
- is the 4th in Genesis, 4th in the Torah
- 4th longest in Genesis, 6th longest in the Torah
- has no mitzvot.
PAST PARSHAH PUZZLE
No wealth from shoes.
Abram refuses the king of Sodom’s wealth, ‘even to a shoelace’.
PARSHAH PUZZLE
Blind thirst.
WEEKLY HALAKHA
The eating of cold milk and meat together and waiting between them, is only a rabbinical prohibition.
