Vayera Essays

[Reuven Chaim Klein]

Essays from my What’s in a Word? series related to Parshas Vayera:

• Seeing is Believing - About ראה, הביט, מציץ, משגיח, משקיף, שור, and צופה.
• Be My Guest - About אורח, אושפיז, and אכסנאי.
• Where Are You? - About איה, אנה, and איפה.
• The Man with Enough Light - About עור, סגי-נהור, and סומא.
• Getting Pushy - About פוצר, דוחף, דוחה, הדוף, and דופק.
• Words for Words - About מילה and תיבה.
• Elephants Galore - About פיל and שנהב.

Attached article related to this week's Haftarah:

"Gehazi and the Miracle Staff of Elisha," Jewish Bible Quarterly 45.2 (2017): 103-110.

Recordings from my Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer lectures related to this week's Parsha (available on many platforms including: YouTube, Google Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, TorahDownloads, OUTorah.org, Archive.org):

• Episode 46: Chapter 25a - Destruction of Sodom = God deals with the sinners of Sodom (Yeridah #3) / Amora = Gomorrah / Good news and bad news / 3 angels with 3 missions / Israel is not under the influence of the Archangel Michael / The rich & stingy people of Sodom / Sins of Sodom (with their bodies and their money) / Sodom = Capitalists, Babel = Communists / The Ban on Visitors / Unfair laws and practices in Sodom / Judges in Sodom / Eliezer vists Sodom
• Episode 53: Chapter 29a - Abraham's Ten Tests = Who was Abraham's mohel (Shem or himself)? / Abraham's circumcision was done at midday (noon) / On what day was Avraham Avinu's Bris Milah (on Yom Kippur or in Tammuz)? / Circumcision on the Temple Mount / The bloody connection between circumcision and ritual sacrifices (korbanot) / The pain of the third day / Post-circumcision ritual impurity / Bikkur Cholim (Visiting the Sick) / Avraham's newfound level of prophecy / 5 Types of Blockage (Orlah)
• Episode 56: Chapter 30a - Abraham's Ten Tests = Ishmael's association with bows & arrows / Sarah recommends getting rid of Yishmael and disinheriting him / Divorcing Hagar and sending her away / Making sure everyone knows Hagar is a slave / Did Sarah free Hagar before Abraham married her? / Milog (usufruct) and tzon barzel property
• Episode 57: Chapter 30b - Abraham's Ten Tests = Hagar worships idolatry & and her flask is emptied / How old were Yitzchak and Yishmael when Yishmael was sent away? / God listens to Ishmael's prayers & gives them water/ The name of Ishamel's first wife (Eifah, Aisha, Issa) / Abraham visits Ishmael & tells him to marry somebody else / Are Moabite women modest? / Abraham approves of Ishamel's second wife (Fatumah, Fatimah) / Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer and the Koran / Ishmael's daughter Machalat and her daughter Iggeret / Abraham remarries Hagar (Keturah) / Halachic Definition of Pilegesh (concubine) / Are the Children of Keturah commanded to do circumcision? / Ethnography of Abraham's descendants / The Ishmael-Kayin connection / God's name is in Ishamel and Israel / Ishmael's conquests in the End of Days
• Episode 58: Chapter 31a - Abraham's Ten Tests = Why is Akeidas Yitzchok so special if Jews always gave up their lives throughout history? / Was Akeidat Yitzchak one of Avraham's 10 Tests? / Avraham wants Yitzchak to continue his mission / Abraham (convert Jew) differs from Shem and Ever (native Jew) / Why did Hashem need to test Avraham? / Why was Yishmael around by Akeidat Yitzchak? / Akeidat Yitzchak or Akeidat Yishmael? / The test of Akeidat Yitzchak was to remain happy enough to receive a second prophecy / Abraham's donkey was from the 6 Days of Creation / Moses & Moshiach ride on Abraham's Donkey / Isaac's age at Akeidat Yitzchak / Yishmael's Birthday (4th of Kislev) / When did Akeidas Yitzchok happen (Pesach, Rosh HaShanah, or Yom Kippur)? / The Binding Happened at Yerushalayim / Eliezer & Yishmael see nothing special at Moriah & are like donkeys / The Altar upon which Adam, Kayin, Hevel, Noach & Abraham Sacrificed
• Episode 59: Chapter 31b - Abraham's Ten Tests = Yitzchak worries about hurting his father or messing up the Korban / The Fire of Akeidat Yitzchak / Avraham Avinu was like a Kohen Gadol / If Abraham would slaughter Isaac, then how could he offer him as a sacrifice as an Onan? / Yitzchak dies at the Akeidah / Yitzchak comes back to life and stand on his own two feet / The Blessings of Mechayeh HaMeisim (He who resurrects the dead)
• Episode 60: Chapter 31c - Abraham's Ten Tests = The Ram that Abraham sacrificed instead of Isaac / The meanings of the Hebrew word Tachat (instead of, because of, underneath, buttocks) / The Blessings God gave after Akeidat Yitzchak / The Altar is built on the Ashes of Yitzchak / The Ram's sinews become strings of King David's harp, its skin becomes Eliyahu's Aderet / The Ram's Horns are used at Matan Torah & to herald the Messiah / How did parts of the ram survive being burnt as a Korban Olah (burnt-offering)? / The Merit of Bowing Down

Kol Tuv,

Reuven Chaim Klein

Beitar Illit, Israel

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