In this parsha, God converses with Avraham twice, once with the discussion of Sodom and Gomorrah; once to tell him to sacrifice Yitzchak. God speaks with Avimelech in a dream vision. And then there are all of God's emissaries. Three "anashim"-men-come to see Avraham and give him news that he and Sarah will have a son. Two "malachim" -angels? messengers?-come to see Lot, taking him out of Sodom. A "malach" of God appears to Hagar, assuring her of the survival of her son, Ishmael. Another malach--or maybe the same one?-tells Avraham not to sacrifice Yitzchak, assuring him of many descendants.
So much communication between God and humans. Is is just a sign of the times--God's involvement in our story is crucial at this point? I really don't have any answers, I just was struck by this as I was writing the summary. I have seen commentaries on each individual part of the story, but not one noting how much Godly intervention there is. Something to investigate this week.
As usual, if you have any comments or ideas on this or any other part of the parsha, please add a comment. My summary is below, or you can read the entire parsha by clicking on the title of the summary. Let me know what you think.
2 comments:
I guess what I was struck with, and this is really looking back at Lech Lecha, is how from God so far, it's been "all talk". No wonder Sarah laughed. How many times already has God said how numerous Abraham's descendents will be? And the years are rolling by and everyone is getting older and still my husband's talking to god. And god is telling him our descendent's are going to be as numerous as the sand and the stars. I'm sitting in shul last shabbat thinking, this stuff really IS funny. Because if I were Sarah, I would just be rolling my eyes at this point.
I agree with you. I love your description of Sarah rolling her eyes--I can totally see that.
But even here, there's this communication with God on such a personal level. The Etz Hayim comments on the fact that Sarah lied about laughing because she was frightened that her inner thoughts had been read. After all, it does say "Sarah laughed to herself."
I'm actually glad she's frightened, or awed, depending on how you want to translate. There's such an acceptance of this higher power with no track record (as you mention with God's promises to Avraham).
That leads to one of the topics that inevitably comes up each year at this time--the great extent of Avraham's faith.
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