Vayera/And He Appeared - Shabbat 10/23/10
“I will surely return to you at this time next year, and behold Sarah your wife
will have a son…And Sarah laughed.” (18:10-12)
This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Vayera, is a veritable “top ten” of biblical narratives. We read of the three divine messengers who bring God’s promise of childbirth to Abraham and Sarah; the fiery destruction of the lawless cities S’dom and Amorah, even as Abraham argues against their annihilation; and the dramatic binding of Isaac episode.
As it says in the verse above, Sarah laughs upon hearing the news of her future childbirth. This nervous laughter—encapsulating both hope and gratitude along with disbelief and derision—is indicative of the emotional roller-coaster running throughout the parasha. On one hand we have the elation accompanying Isaac’s birth and the moral audacity of Abraham’s arguing with God regarding the destruction of S’dom, while on the other hand we have the heartache of Abraham’s separation from his son Yishmael, and the tragic fate of Lot’s wife after she flees the burning city.
In addition to the conflicting emotions it raises, the text also includes a strange discrepancy which serves as the basis for a beautiful teaching by the Sages. When Sarah first hears that she will give birth, she remarks, “Now that I am so old, and my husband is old, will I truly bear a son?” God then relays this statement to Abraham, but omits one crucial element, telling him merely that Sarah said, “Will I really bear a child, old as I am?” Note that God left out Sarah’s remark about Abraham’s age! Realizing the discrepancy, the commentator Rashi explains that her words were altered by God for the sake of peace. That is, God realized Abraham would be insulted by the implication that he was too old to father a child, and therefore He sacrificed pure honesty for the sake of sh’lom bayit, or “peace within the home.”
When we are honest for the sake of being constructive, then we do a mitzvah. However, being “brutally honest” at someone else’s expense defies the example that God Himself sets for us. May the coming week be filled with honesty in the service of peace, and with much joyful laughter.
Shabbat shalom!
Micah Liben, Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Fellow
