Parashat Vayera – Seeing God
By Laurie Levy
The verb reish-aleph-hey occurs three times in the first two verses of this week’s parashah. I think this points to a lesson about what it means to see – really see.
Last week we ended with Abraham circumcising himself and his household and so this week, when we read that Abraham is sitting at the entrance of his tent, we infer that he is recuperating from his recent surgery. Sitting there midday, God appears to him: “He lifted his eyes and, behold, he saw three men standing near him.” (Gen. 18:2) How is it that these strangers (who we later come to realize are angels of God)appear to him so suddenly in the middle of the desert?
The S’fat Emet, a 19th century Hasidic master, answers this question with a verse from Job, who, despite all the suffering he was experiencing in his body and on his skin, says: “In Read More >