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This week’s Torah portion is entitled VaYera.  VaYera means, “And He appeared.”  It covers Genesis 18:1-22:24.

Chapter 18 opens with Abraham sitting by his tent and God, manifested in the flesh as Yeshua, appears before him with two angels.  Abraham invites these three to a meal and quickly tells Sarah to prepare bread while he goes and selects a choice calf to be cooked.  The three guests sit down to a meal of bread, meat, curds and milk.

In Chapter 17, God had given Abraham the covenant of circumcision, which was to be a sign between God and Abraham and all of Abraham’s descendants regarding the promises that God had made to Abraham.  The same day that covenant was made, Abraham had himself and his whole family circumcised.  Chapter 18 opens right after this event.  Many scholars have commented that it would be quite likely that Abraham would have still been in considerable pain due to the circumcision, but he puts that aside to welcome his visitors and make them feel comfortable.

I would also like to point that Abraham serves The Lord and His angels meat and milk.  Today, Jews who keep kosher do not eat meat and milk together, but here we see The Lord and two of His angels partaking of these foods at the same time.

During God’s visit with Abraham, He promises that Sarah will bear a child at the same time next year.  Both Abraham and Sarah are amazed, Sarah to the point where she doubts that this is possible.  But The Lord tells her that indeed this will happen.

Chapter 18 closes with God telling Abraham that he will destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lot, Abraham’s nephew is living there with his family.  Back in Genesis, Chapter 13, Lot chose this area for himself.  He saw that this land was very fertile, and chose it when Abraham gave him the opportunity to select land.  Lot only looked at the physical appearance of what he saw.  Later, he finds out that there is great evil in the land that he chose.

One of the things that is interesting about Abraham’s pleading with God to not destroy these cities is that Abraham is interceding for others outside of his immediate family.  He is showing compassion.  Abraham gets God to agree that if only 10 righteous people are found, than God will not destroy the city.  However, there are not even 10 people who are righteous in Sodom.  In fact, the city is a cesspool of evil.  Chapter 19 discusses the visit of the two angels, who were with God at the meal with Abraham, as they enter Sodom.  The men of the city try to have sexual relations with these two angels, which demonstrates how depraved the city has become.  The only thing left is for the angels to usher Lot, his wife and his two daughters out of the city.  Not even the sons-in-law will come with them.  As the city is being destroyed, Lot’s wife looks back even though she was specifically told not to, and turns into a pillar of salt.  Only Lot and his daughters are saved.
In Chapter 20, Abraham takes Sarah and moves to Gerar, the land of the Philistine king, Abimelech.  Fearing for his life in hostile territory, Abraham passes his wife off as his sister.  Well, Abimelech takes Sarah to be his concubine.  But God warns Abimelech that total destruction will come upon him and his family if he touches Sarah.  Abimelech restores Sarah and gives gifts of sheep, oxen, servants and silver. He also allows Abraham to settle wherever he would like in the land.

In Chapter 20, the day of Isaac’s birth arrives just as the Lord said it would.  However, in time, Sarah’s jealousy of Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, grows.  Sarah asks Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away.  Although Abraham is quite distressed about this, The Lord tells Abraham that he should do this because it will be through Isaac that his descendants will be named.  Abraham does as God commands, and towards the end of Chapter 21, when it looks like Hagar and Ishmael are going to die, God intervenes to save their lives.

Chapter 22 talks about the binding of Isaac.  This is the ultimate test in Abraham’s life.  Abraham makes all the preparations, and God stays his hand at the last moment, substituting a ram for the sacrifice.

I would like to focus on three character traits that Abraham demonstrates to us through this parasha.

First, Abraham is the consummate host.  Almost immediately after being circumcised, he is visited by the 3 visitors.  Ignoring what surely must have been his personal pain, he looks after their needs.

Second, Abraham is the man of compassion.  In interceding for Sodom, he goes well beyond the thought of the day, which would have only been a concern for one’s family as he reasons with the Lord to save as much of the city as possible despite the existence of the evil that lived there.

Finally, Abraham is a man of devout obedience.  In what was surely the most difficult test of his life, more difficult then sending Hagar and Ishmael away, Abraham shows no hesitation in hastening to take Isaac to the place that the Lord has commanded and to follow through with the Lord’s command to sacrifice his son.

I know that I could certainly do better in these three areas, looking after the needs of others, compassion and devotion to God.  These are key areas of demonstrating God’s love.  Fortunately, we have an even greater example than Abraham who was consistently demonstrating these and other qualities that we can emulate.  That was Messiah Yeshua.  May we always keep His example in front of us as we continue to interact with others throughout our lives.