Vayeira - Day #2

Vayeira וַיֵּרָא - And He Appeared  

Torah Portion: Genesis 18:1-22:24

 

Genesis 18:15-33

18:15 Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid.

He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

16 The men rose up from there and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 17 Hashem said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do, 18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Hashem, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Hashem may bring on Abraham that which He has spoken of him.” 20 Hashem said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 21 I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”

22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Hashem. 23 Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”

26 Hashem said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to Hashem, although I am dust and ashes. 28 What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?”

He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

29 He spoke to him yet again and said, “What if there are forty found there?”

He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.”

30 He said, “Oh, don’t let Hashem be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?”

He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

31 He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to Hashem. What if there are twenty found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.”

32 He said, “Oh, don’t let Hashem be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”

33 Hashem went His way as soon as He had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

Today’s Meditation:

Abraham has an interesting conversation with Hashem. It’s almost as if he doesn’t understand the character of Hashem, which is why he challenges Him. Hashem has told him that the city of Sodom and its inhabitants are going to be destroyed. Abraham immediately asks If fifty righteous were found, would He spare the city? Hashem agrees. They discuss some more numbers, and Hashem goes down to ten. In other words, if ten righteous people are found, He will spare the city? The character of Hashem is fully revealed to Abraham. He is faithful, fair, and full of grace. Then Abraham walks away.

Can you imagine? Our glorious Elohim agrees to spare an entire city of evil people if only ten good people are found. We find out later that ten were not found, and the city was burned down. Makes me think of our world today. How many righteous can we see in our decadent, unfaithful cities? The United States has a history of riots that have resulted in destruction. Hashem didn’t have to burn down the cities; the people did. How ironic. Can people get so bad that they destroy themselves? 

Today’s Challenge:

I challenge you today to think about your own family in comparison to this story. How many righteous people are in your family? How many follow Hashem? Now, look at your extended family. How many believers are there? Of course, we can never honestly know what a person believes, but we can examine their actions. If your numbers are low, I recommend taking action to improve them. Pray harder for them, be kinder to them, be a stronger light for Hashem to them. Let’s start with our families and do something. Our cities are made up of families. It’s a good place to start. 

Lech-Lecha - Day #2

Lech-Lecha לֶךְ-לְךָ Go Forth Yourself!  

Torah Portion: Genesis 12:1-17:27

Genesis 12:14–13:4  

12:14 When Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 Hashem afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”

20 Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had.

13 Abram went up out of Egypt—he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him—into the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 He went on his journeys from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on Hashem’s name.

Today’s Meditation:

I always thought Abram was lying about Sarai being his sister. But really, it is true. Some believe she is his half-sister and that they have the same father, Terah. Others think that she could have been Abram’s niece. So, was Abram (Abraham) lying? And he does this again, further on in Scripture.

We will never know the absolute truth about all this, but just think, if your life and your beloved wife’s life were in jeopardy, would you lie? Or would you agree to speaking a “half-truth”? 

I think about how people hid Jews in their homes during the Holocaust. If a Nazi official came to their home, they would lie to save the Jews they were hiding. Is that okay? Of course. I had a great uncle who hid out a family of Jews in his home, and I had other relatives in Europe who gave their lives to the underground in Poland. 

Sometimes, when a life is involved, one must go before Hashem and seek Him for guidance on what to do. 

Today’s Challenge: 

Think about a time when you may have said a white lie to protect yourself or someone else. Was it truly necessary? Would you do it again? What did you learn from that situation?

Noach - Day #2

Noach נֹחַ - Rest  

Torah Portion: Genesis 6:9-11:32

Genesis 7:1–16               

7 Hashem said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before Me in this generation. 2 You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two: the male and his female. 3 Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. 4 In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.”

5 Noah did everything that Hashem commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. 7 Noah went into the ship with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, because of the floodwaters. 8 Clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground 9 went by pairs to Noah into the ship, male and female, as Elohim commanded Noah. 10 After the seven days, the floodwaters came upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the sky’s windows opened. 12 It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the sons of Noah—and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship— 14 they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 Pairs from all flesh with the breath of life in them went into the ship to Noah. 16 Those who went in went in male and female of all flesh, as Elohim commanded him; then Hashem shut him in.

Today’s Meditation: 

What about the verse, “Entered into the ship”? I have always thought of Noah and his family just walking up the plank behind the animals, silent and willing. But today I had another thought. What if Noah said, “It’s time to get in the boat”? And some of his sons started wailing, “No, I don’t want to! This is crazy!” And what if they resisted? Would Noah try to calm them down and remind them of Hashem’s promises to save them? What if his sons thought, “But what about all our friends? What will they think?” Would peer pressure be extreme on his sons and daughters? What would ultimately bring them into the boat? Would Noah be shouting at them? Ordering them to enter?

What brought them into the boat was obedience. Their father did this extravagant thing. He got instructions from Hashem on how to build a boat, and with the help of his sons and daughters, they built it. It must have been a truly miraculous experience. They must have been overwhelmed when they saw the completed boat and the animals from all over the world entering it. The next step was to obey their father and board the ship. Would you have done that? Would you have left everything behind without hesitation?

Today’s Challenge:

Think today about what you would be willing to give up to “get on the boat” with Hashem? Would you give up everything? You may think you have already done that when you decided to join His Covenant and follow His Commandments. But, really, have you? Take some time to reflect on this.

B'reisheet - Day #2

B'reisheet בְּרֵאשִׁית - the Beginning

Torah Portion: Genesis 1:1-6:8

Day #2: Genesis 2:4–19

2:4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Hashem Elohim made the earth and the heavens. 5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Hashem Elohim had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Hashem Elohim formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 Hashem Elohim planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground Hashem Elohim made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one that flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Hashem Elohim took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 

16 Hashem Elohim commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

18 Hashem Elohim said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground Hashem Elohim formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called, every living creature became its name.

Today’s Meditation: 

When Hashem created Adam, He breathed the breath of life into him. When you consider this, it is powerful. Adam was not born or carried by his mother. He did not have a mother. He was created directly by Hashem. And after he was created, Hashem breathed His life into his nostrils. This is how His special people were created; this is what sets them apart. They began with His breath of life, His oxygen.

Today, we debate when life begins. Does it begin at conception? Birth? When does Hashem breathe life into a new creation? This is something to reflect on.

Today’s Challenge:

In what ways are you trying to get back to the Garden or the presence of Hashem? Do you think there will be a time when His covenant followers will return to the Garden? Maybe the Garden is in the Kingdom of Heaven—the perfect place.