Connect to the Yankees By Watching the Game, Connect to Hashem By Learning Torah

My son sometimes asks me why we have to learn so much Gemora. Yesterday I told him that if you wanted to be a Yankee fan, you would at least have to follow the game. Nobody can claim to be a Yankee fan if they don’t watch the game or at least follow what’s going on.

Aligning ourselves with Hashem, the creator of the universe is a much greater accomplishment than being a Yankee fan. But to connect to Hashem, you must learn His Torah (and doing his Mitzvos). Just like the more you know about the Yankees, the bigger a fan you are, so too, the more we know Hashem’s Torah, the more we are connected to Him. My son heard the moshul and we had a solid learning session.

Vayera is an amazing parsha and the commentaries deal with issues like:
– What exactly caused Hashem to appear to Avraham?
– Was the appearance of the angels a prophetic vision (Rambam) or did the angels actually take human form (Ramban)
– What was the actual sin of S’dom?
– How is the S’dom attitude of “What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours” considered an evil trait?
– Can there be human morals without fear of Hashem?
– If a person erroneously thinks something is permitted – is he guiltless or guilty?
– Why does Hashem have to test us, doesn’t He know the outcome?
– Was the Akeidah test for the sake of Avraham, the nations of the world or the Jewish People?
(Questions culled from Studies in the Weekly Parashah by Yehuda Nachshoni)

Here is Rabbi Rietti’s outline and you can purchase the entire outline of the Chumash for the low price of $14.

Vayera
#18 Three Arabs Visit Avraham
#19 Sdom Destroyed – Lot Saved
#20 Avimelech Takes Sarah
#21 Yitschak is Born
#22 The Akeida

#18 Three Arabs Visit Avraham
* Burning hot day
* Three Arabs
* Sarah laughs
* Avraham bargains to save Sdom & Amora. 50-45-30-20-10

#19 Destruction of Sdom – Lot Saved
* 2 angels go to Sdom
* Sdom destroyed
* Lot escapes with two daughters to cave in Tsoar
* Eldest daughter named her child Moav
* Younger daughter names her son Ben Ami, father of the nation of Amon

#20 Avimelech Takes Sarah
* Avraham went down south; ‘She’s my sister’
* Avimelech, king of Gerar takes Sarah
* G-d warns him in a dream to return Sarah to Avraham
* Avimelech rebukes Avraham – loads him and Sarah with Gifts
* Avraham prays for Avimelech to be cured
* Avimelech, his wife and all his maidservants are cured and gave birth

#21 Yitschak is Born
* Yitschak is born: Celebration of Yitschak’s circumcision
* Sarah persuades Avraham of negative influence of Hagar & Yishmael
* Hagar and Yishmael expelled
* Hagar and son dying of thirst, miracle of water
* Avraham makes peace treaty with Avimelech and general Phichol
* Avraham planted Eshel tree in Be’ar Sheva & named it “Eternal Power”

#22 The Akeida
* The Binding of Yitschak
* Rivkah is born to Betuel, son of Nachor, brother to Avraham