Questions — Parshah Vayera
Va-yera Questions
Bereshit 18
“As the day grew hot…” Is this to be read as a specific time in the way that time was kept in that time? Are we wrong to read it as a poetic statement?
“The Lord appeared to him…” Is this sentence a summary of what follows or is it a separate idea from the sentence that follows that refers to the three angels? Why would God send three angels (if God is not one of the angels)? Are the three angels three manifestations of God or are they three heavenly creatures separate from God?
The three men are noticed by Avram only when they are close to him. Avram is often described as one who would sit and wait for passersby in order to offer them hospitality. Does this work? Or is Avram’s reputation just a construct that is built as a mirroring of Lot’s less skillful display of hospitality? This is not to say that Avram is not dedicated to hospitality. It is just a question of how much of his time he spent seeking opportunities to show hospitality. Avram and Lot both came from Haran together. Is hospitality a value that they brought with themselves from Haran, something particular to the two of them, or something that they packed up in the land of Canaan?
Avram involves Sarai and a servant-boy in his preparations. Is this meant to include them in the honor/mitzvah or is it just an illustration of his exercise of patriarchal power?
What is the purpose of hospitality for Avram? Is this the exercise of a meritorious value or does it contain self-interest? Avram expresses subservience to the angels. Is this because he fears their power (as angels or men) and believes that his subservience to them will protect him? Does he see them as angels or men, or does that even matter?
Avram offers the men/angels a meal that is a non-kosher combination of foods. It violates a primary division within the range of kashrut law. Avram does not eat himself. This really bothers the commentators. One explanation is that they don’t actually eat, but just a[[ear to eat. This fits with the idea that they are angels who wouldn’t need to eat. What about the ideas that angels could eat this non-Halakhic meal because Halakhah does not apply to them. Another idea is that Avram offers them this non-kosher meal, in spite of the fact that he would not eat it himself, because he does not believe that those not is his family are obliged by God’s laws (that their knowledge of is accepted anachronism), but that these men/angels, not being from his family did not have those obligations and would eat in the way that food was offered to this normally? Is it really unacceptable that Kashrut did not exist or had not been made known at that time?
Why does the angel ask where Sarai is? Is this because she is meant to hear what he will say? This is the second time that she is involved in this encounter with the angels. Why would she need to hear what the angels have to say herself? She does not mean to express herself publicly, but her thoughts and actions are noted by the angels as if they were. Are her thoughts about sexuality an expression of her own sexuality, Avram’s or of both of them? Why is her surprise about sexuality and not procreation?
In verse 14 there is the phrase “Ha-Yefaleh Me-Adonai Davar: Is anything too wondrous for the Lord?” This is the first time in Torah that this idea is expressed. What is the significance of this usage in this moment being unique up to this point
What is the quality of Sarai’s laugh and why does she deny it? Does the angel misunderstand her?
The conversation between God and the angels is only nominally a conversation. Do the angels not respond to God and respond as if the discussion was rhetorical, or are we to understand this as either a reference to a discussion that happened previously and was settled or a discussion in which the angels fear to contradict God? If there was a discussion in which the angels expressed themselves, how might that have gone?
God says that God will go down to Sodom, but the men/angels leave and God remains standing before Avram. Did Godspeak this last part so that Avram would hear it or did Avram hear more than that. How much of what God expressed does Avram understand?
This whole business seems like a test of Avram, but in the end Avram’s conduct has no effect on the ultimate doom of Sodom and Gemorrah. How does Avram compare here with Noah? We usually see Avram’s concern as a sign that he is a superior moral figure compared with Noah. However, is he really? His concern is only one of fairness and not of mercy/ Perhaps he is really showing the same level of concern for others that Noah showed before God’s judgment? Does Avram concern himself with Mercy or is he only concerned with judgment? Avram seems to be negotiating with God, but is God negotiating, merely stating God’s original intention, or allowing Avram to reveal himself without having any intention to take Avram’s concerns into the way that the final decision would be made?
Does Avram’s questioning reflect a pastoralist concern? If Avram lived in a city would he have been the same person with the same views?
Chapter 20
Two angels arrive at Sodom. Before there were three men. What has changed between the two chapters? God and two angels could be the “three men.” Where is God in the story of the destruction of Sodom? God does not appear to be in the city. Are these two stories as closely tied together as we normally consider them to be? Could the Sodom story be older than the story of Avram and God? This might account for some of the confusing aspects of the Avram story.
