Parshah Columnists for Vayeira

Practical Insights on the Weekly Torah Portion from Rabbi Joshua B. Gordon.

Why does the Prophet Elisha tell the distraught woman to collect empty pitchers and fill them with oil?

The residents of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked sinners both before Abraham was circumcised and after the event. Was it a mere coincidence that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed right after Abraham was circumcised? I don’t think so.

Walking the paths of Auschwitz, I began to doubt humanity and its Creator. I felt suspended in a world I could not comprehend...

Abraham planted something in the desert. What he planted is subject to debate, but the lesson we learn is not...

"Taking a human life is an absolute no-no. How could Abraham have been willing to kill his own son in cold blood? So what if G-d commanded him--that's no excuse!"

Have you ever made great plans that went down the drain?

When the car flips, or flames leap from a crumbling home, there are those ordinary people who do extraordinary things. What is the process?

Before facing the trial of love for his own child, Abraham was forced to ask, “Where is my whole world? Where is my whole concept of justice? Where is my morality?” At the Akeidah, Abraham sacrifices not only his son’s body but his own soul.

No longer will it suffice for Abraham to be a spiritual person. From now on, Abraham's task will be to connect the spiritual with the physical.

Underlying the tension was the question of succession: which of Abraham’s two children would be the one chosen to carry on his legacy.

We learn from Abraham that even if it is difficult, and other people have it far easier, we still do what must be done. Because that’s what we’re here for.

Just because the bottle may be empty don’t throw away the child

Abraham, father of monotheism, knew the paradoxical truth that to live the life of faith is to see the trace of G‑d in the face of the stranger. It is easy to receive the Divine Presence when G‑d appears as G‑d. What is difficult is to sense the Divine Presence when it comes disguised as three anonymous passers-by.

Throughout history, Jews were called on to value children. Our entire value system is built on it.

The early history of humanity as told in the Torah is a series of disappointments. G‑d gives human beings freedom, which they then misuse.

Abraham did it before there was a name for it: the pioneer of pioneering

Something which is holy is also protected and, to a certain extent, hidden...

Receiving often has strings attached. Often, recompense in terms of gratitude and a feeling of indebtedness are expected. So is it wise to be on the receiving end?

Somehow, Abraham managed to notice these three strangers in middle of communing with the Almighty!

Why would G‑d finally give Abraham a son and then take him away? Why snuff out Isaac’s life before he’s had any children of his own? Abraham and Sarah would have no children or grandchildren to continue their legacy of monotheism.

Why couldn’t G‑d have chosen an organ common to both women and men to brand our Jewish identity?

Bringing people into our space can be quite exposing and maybe even embarrassing, but it is one of the greatest forms of kindness and the epitome of sharing our bounty.

Sometimes I wonder at the puny specimens passing themselves off as Bar Mitzvah boys. How, by any stretch of the imagination, can they be described as having reached adulthood?

Isaac’s willingness to die was not an ending by any means. It was a beginning, and continues to have an impact, even today.

Before Abimelech’s household was cured, G-d remembered Sarah and she conceived with Isaac. From this our sages deduced that those who pray on behalf of others, and are themselves of similar need, are answered first...

When we embark on our final journey, the items for which we toiled so mightily don’t come with us.

Abraham constructed a ladder up to G-d. A ladder of insight and enlightenment. Then G-d pulled the ladder out from under him.

Why does an all-knowing G-d need to test anybody? Shouldn't He know what is in our hearts? And why is Abraham's test of faith "the entire glory of Israel and their merit before their Father in Heaven"?

Eating is a spiritual activity.

They asked the Baal Shem Tov: "The Talmud tells us that for every thing G-d forbade, He provided us something permissible. What did He permit that corresponds to the sin of heresy?" Replied the Besht : "Acts of kindness"

A healthy world is one in which we realize how much each we need each other.

Do not silence those who are angry with G-d, nor argue with them. They have a right. Perhaps G-d will hear.

I think I know why the Rebbe liked this story so much. The child's question and the grandfather's explanation express two extremes, whose contrast and synthesis are a hallmark of the Rebbe's approach to life

Often we look at our lives and are disappointed by how little of it is directed towards a higher purpose...

What were the sins of Sodom? In the English language, the name of the city is synonymous with sexual perversion. But the traditional Jewish sources -- the Talmud, Midrashim and the Commentaries -- have a different angle on the Sodom story

Skeptic: Now if that's not the epitome of everything wrong with religion... Believer: Aren't you leaving out a very important part of the story?

Just as every parent would forego personal honor and willingly wait while you tend to his or her child, this, too, is G‑d’s greatest pleasure.

Rather than feeling as though we are progressing forward on our sojourn towards a better reality, our situation can sometimes feel pretty helpless.

Why did Abraham bother to coerce stubborn guests into reciting a prayer? What was the value of forcing his guests to pay lip service to a belief in G‑d; it was, after all, insincere?

We have the power to tap into the concealed levels of G-dliness.