This week’s Parsha, VaYera, can make you dizzy with the tests and challenges presented to Avraham and Sarah. The Parsha opens up with Avraham sitting in front of his tent recovering from his brit milah at the age of 99. While sitting there, he is approached by three strangers. Forgetting his pain he jumps up and welcomes them with open arms, providing them with food and drink. Did they know he was convalescing? Were they performing the Mitzvah of Bikkur Cholim, visiting the sick? We do learn later that they were the angels, according to rabbinic tradition, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael (the angel of healing). We see how these visitors lifted Avraham from his pain and, forgetting his pain, he performs the Mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim, welcoming guests. How many of us know that when we visit someone who is ill, they can indeed be relieved of their pain?
Read MoreThe Parsha this week is well worth a read. It is Lech L’cha, Genesis 12-17. The narration is about Avram’s life from the age of 75 to the age of 99. How years were determined in those times makes for an interesting discussion. What’s really significant about the narrative is the journey that Avram, and Sarai, embark on, establishing themselves in the land of Canaan, the vision they shared and the challenges they faced.
Read MoreLast week’s Parsha was pretty uplifting at first. We see the emergence of Light from Darkness and the magnificent unfolding of Creation. We are also learn about the harmoniousness of the Garden of Eden and the radical and disturbing evolution of human awareness. We hear the warnings associated with the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The author gives humans both the taste of harmoniousness and a taste of responsibility and challenges. We are reminded of the struggles between the eco-agrarian competitors, the farmer, Cain and the shepherd, Abel. That struggle lead to violence. That struggle continues today.
Read MoreWelcome to Fall! I hope the Yom Tovim have been renewing for you. Many of us felt energized just being able to reconnect with community, either in person or on zoom.
We shared Simchat Torah this year with Shirat HaNefesh, another independent community that is also wrestling with its future. Some members of the Fabrangen Havurah also joined us when their Simhat Torah was cancelled because one of their leaders came down with covid. They are also another independent community in search of renewal.
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