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Oneg and Shabbat Services Schedule

In person Friday night services are held at 7:30pm – Light Oneg to follow.

Join us for Sabbath evening services, Friday at 7:30 p.m. in our sanctuary and through zoom

All zoom sessions are ID# 155 810 1107. Password “valdosta”

torah

Va’yera

In this week’s Vayera, God appears to Abraham in Alonei Mamrei–the Plains of Mamrei, Genesis 18:1), וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל כְּחֹם הַיּוֹם, and he [Abraham] is sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day. Abraham lifts his eyes and sees three men standing in front of him, and hastens to offer them hospitality.

Oddly enough, Abraham’s name is missing from this entire narrative. Torah merely refers to him as וְהוּא–“v’hoo”–and he” is sitting at the entrance of the tent. In order to know that Abraham is the subject of this text, it is necessary to refer back to the end of last week’s Lech Lecha, to discover that it is Abraham to whom God appears.

Based on that connection, our rabbis also link the circumcision of Abraham from the end of Lech Lecha to our portion. Joining the two scenarios, the rabbis determine that Abraham is sitting in the entrance of his tent because he is recovering from the very painful adult circumcision that he had performed on himself at age 99.

Genesis 18:1, in Genesis Rabba 50:2, describes the scene in greater detail stating that the Al-mighty caused the sun to burn brightly so that the ailing Abraham would not be burdened by arriving guests. However, when the Al-mighty saw Abraham’s distress over the lack of guests, He sent the angels who appeared in the image of human beings, to Abraham’s home. The Midrash explains further that the Al-mighty sent three angels to perform three different functions: One to heal Abraham, a second to inform Sarah that she was to give birth, and a third to overturn Sodom.

The Torah, in Deuteronomy 4:4, instructs the Jewish nation: וְאַתֶּם הַדְּבֵקִים בַּהשׁם אֱ־לֹקֵיכֶם, חַיִּים כֻּלְּכֶם הַיּוֹם, You who cling to the Lord, your God–you are all alive. Since it is impossible for human beings to cling physically to God, the obvious meaning of the verse is that mortals need to cling to the Al-mighty commandments, to fulfill them with sincerity and to study God’s actions and behaviors.

That is why the commentators, who focus on Vayera, underscore the importance of visiting the sick. After all, they argue, that just as we see that even the Al-mighty Himself visited the sick and sent His angel to heal Abraham, so every person must imitate the Al-mighty’s example of bikur cholim and visit those who are sick. The rabbis of the Talmud, in Sotah 14a, when discussing the merits of emulating God’s meritorious actions, specifically highlight the Al-mighty’s visit to Abraham when he was sick.

What, we may ask, is the purpose and benefit of Bikur Cholim?

Our tradition maintains that only upon personally visiting the sick and viewing firsthand the person’s suffering, can the visitor fully empathize with the person’s plight. The visitor is then moved to pray on behalf of the sick person, asking for compassion–thus metaphysically giving a “new life” to the ill person.

Have a great Shabbat!