Avraham and the Angels

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1. News of the Birth of Yitzchak

   Prof. Jonathan Grossman

   The news of Yitzchak’s birth appears twice in the Torah. What is the purpose of the repetition? This article demonstrates how Avraham and Sarah’s son fulfills both a personal need and national – historical role.

2. Avraham and the Angels

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   "And God appeared to him" - why? What is the relationship between God's revelation and the revelation of the angels? This lesson explores Rashbam's unique approach, and the connection between the two revelations: the promise of a son and the destruction of Sodom.

3. Rashbam's Interpretation of the Story of Avraham and the Angels

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   The story at the start of Parashat Vayera seems to be a continuation of the story in Lekh Lekha. Is the story indeed a continuation of the previous chapter? Were the people who visited Avraham people or angels? This lesson explores the Rashbam's commentary on Parashat Vayera.

4. The Way of God and the Way of Righteousness and Justice

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   What is the relationship between Emunah and Chessed in Avraham's spiritual world? This lesson discusses the Covenant of Circumcision, Avraham's hospitality toward the angels, Avraham's argument about Sodom, and Akeidat Yitzchak in an attempt to answer this question.

5. Avraham and the Angels

   Rabbi Ezra Bick

   What is the significance of God's direct revelation to Avraham? And what is the significance of the revelation of angels? What was the change Avraham underwent after the Covenant of Circumcision? How is this change reflected in the subsequent stories?

6. God's Revelation to Avraham

   Rabbi Zeev Weitman

   What is the purpose of God's revelation to Avraham in the beginning of Parashat Vaera? What is the relationship between this revelation and the Covenant of Circumcision? What does Sara's laughter express, and why is she criticized for her laughter? And what is the significance of Avraham's prayer for Sodom?

7. Gideon's Challenge

   Rabbi Michael Hattin

   Gideon's attempt to evade the mission given to him by the angel of God is reminiscent of Moshe's conduct at the Sneh. Gideon's unexpected appointment as leader of the people of Israel is not extended by God unconditionally.  He will first have to prove his fitness for the noble task by demonstrating fortitude and faith, by publicly proclaiming his opposition to the corrupt values and corrosive belief system then current among his own people. While Gideon successfully completes the task, he shows himself to have been insidiously infected by the penchant of Ba'al's adherents for seeking signs before proceeding to battle the enemy.

8. At the Heat of the Day: Visions or Guests?

9. R. Yosef Bekhor Shor

   Dr. Avigail Rock

   R. Yosef of Orléans, (northern France) was a 12^th-century exegete who has become known through the generation as Ri Bekhor Shor. He was a Tosafist, a student of Rabbeinu Tam, and he was influenced mainly by Rashi’s commentary and the commentaries of Mahari Kara and the Rashbam. Like his predecessors Mahari Kara and Rashbam, he was a member of the peshat school.  It appears that Ri Bekhor Shor forges a path that is a middle way between Rashi and the pursuers of the peshat. These are his major exegetical principles:

   • Ri Bekhor Shor aims to explain the verses without non-biblical information; however, when the derash is appropriate for explaining the peshat and for the general context of verses, or when one may explain it as being in keeping with biblical reality, he will not hesitate to bring a midrash.
   • The Torah does not provide superfluous information. All information provided is in fact essential.
   • Verses should be explained within their specific context, a reverse method to the foreshadowing principle of Rashbam.
   • Verses should be explained based on understanding the state of mind of the human actors.
   • Verses should be explained according to the reality of the biblical era.
   • God directs the world in a natural way as much as possible, and the use made of miracles is the absolute minimum.
   • An expansive and consistent approach to the question of the reasons of mitzvot.
   • In the Peshat vs. Halakha discussion, Ri Bekhor Shor is closer to Rashi’s approach with exception in which he explains the verses according to a Peshat that differs from Halakha.
   • A tendency to counteract Christian interpretations of the Torah.

10. Radak - Rav David Kimchi

    Dr. Avigail Rock

    The Radak — R. David Kimchi — was born and active in Provence, in southern France, near Spain. The Radak was a member of a family of Spanish grammarians and exegetes. Like R. Avraham ibn Ezra, the Kimchi family brought the fundamentals of linguistics and grammar from Spain to France.

    Despite the fact that Radak sees himself as a pashtan, he does not hesitate to cite derash. However, when the Radak quotes these sources, it is obvious that he has a distinction between peshat and derash.

    Two principles guide the Radak in citing Midrashic sources:

    • When it is difficult to resolve the peshat without the derash.
    • For the lovers of derash - in order to explain the text and engage his readers.

    The view of the Radak is that the Torah is not a historical tome. Those stories of the Patriarchs which have been selected to put into the Torah with all of its details must fulfill one criterion: teaching a moral lesson.

    Just as one may learn from the positive acts of the forefathers, so one may learn from their negative acts. The Radak does not engage in apologetics; instead, he writes explicitly that the narratives which describe the negative acts of the Patriarchs have been written in order to help us avoid this sort of behavior.

    The Radak points out consistently that the Torah often uses repetitious language, not because each word introduces new meaning, but because the verse seeks to stress the significance of a given issue. This view stands in stark contrast to that of Rashi, who argues that generally speaking, one must assign meaning to every word, as there cannot be any redundancy in the biblical text.