Parshat Vayera: Appearances and Blessings

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Synopsis: The parsha opens with Abraham convalescing from his recent circumcision. Sodom and Gomorra are destroyed. Isaac is born, and later, God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac - who is saved at the last minute.

Our Text: Genesis 18:12-15: “And so Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, "Now that I've become old, will I have this pleasure again? What's more, my husband is also old!Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Our Question: Sarah is told by the three strangers who visit that she will bear a child. She is just too old, and the Torah specifically told us in verse 11 that she had stopped having her menstrual periods. (She’s 90, we hope so!) When she hears this news, she laughs silently. What’s worse, when she is confronted about laughing, she lies and denies it! What was she laughing about? That God could create the miracle of a 90 year old woman giving birth? But Sarah is a faithful woman. She wouldn’t dare laugh at God. And then to deny it? She must be laughing at something else...

Our commentator: Nachmanides, known as Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman.) Born in Girona in 1194, he died in the Land of Israel about 1270. He was a philosopher and kabbalist, and he believed strongly in faith and miracles.

Commentary: “I am surprised (shocked) at the righteous prophetess; how could she lie when Abraham has just gotten a prophecy from God? And why didn’t she believe in the words of messengers of God? It seems to me that these messengers came in the form of men, and only in Abraham’s wisdom did he recognize them (as messengers)...but Sarah only “heard” and she didn’t realize they were messengers from on high...it would have been more appropriate for her to say “Amen, God will do this.”

Explanation: Nachmanides is suggesting that Sarah would have believed the three messengers, and would not have laughed, if she had either seen them more clearly or known that they were angels. But Sarah is a prophetess according to Ramban. She should have known! In this story it is suggested she is behind the tent flap, listening surreptitiously. It was hard for her to believe what she heard through a medium, not clearly, not directly. Does the power of sight change the way we perceive things? Or is it the ability to hear directly, to be totally present in the exchange and not behind a tent flap, that makes us believe in ourselves?

The second thing Ramban is suggesting is that Sarah was unable to perceive the mission of the these three because they were “only” human. Only nomads. Only peasants. Sarah was unable to receive blessings from them because they were “commonfolk.” Sarah should have accepted the blessings, no matter from who or from where they came, with a simple “Amen.”

Concluding Thoughts: It seems that Rambam is teaching us two separate and challenging notions. The first is: do we need to see everything with our own two eyes to believe it? Faith cannot be dependant on rational proof because there just isn’t “proof” for concepts we can’t see. Can I prove love if I can’t see or touch it? Can I prove beauty? Can I prove trust? Sarah needed to see the messengers to believe that life could get better for her, that her dreams could come true.

But even if she had seen the messengers, she wouldn’t have believed them, because they were “just men.” How often do we dismiss our own “messengers” carrying blessings because they are only human? Blessings come to us in many forms, as do human bearers of blessings. The Rabbis teach that Elijah will come dressed as a simple beggar. Our messengers can be “just” men or women, children or elders, the rich or the poor, if only we hear their message instead of seeing them and judging their effectiveness based on their appearance, as Sarah did.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Elyse Goldstein