Vayera
Genesis 18:1 – 22:24
Three angelic visitors appear to Abraham at Mamre, announcing that Sarah will bear a son within a year — she laughs in disbelief. Abraham pleads with God to spare Sodom, but the city's wickedness proves irredeemable and it is destroyed; only Lot and his daughters escape. Isaac is born, Hagar and Ishmael are sent away, and the parasha reaches its dramatic climax with the Akedah — God's command to Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, the supreme test of faith.
Key figures
- Abraham — Host to the angels, intercessor for Sodom, tested at the Akedah
- Sarah — Laughs at the promise, gives birth to Isaac, sends away Hagar
- Isaac (Yitzchak) — Promised son, born to Sarah, bound on the altar at Moriah
- Lot — Abraham's nephew, rescued from the destruction of Sodom
- Hagar — Sent away with Ishmael, saved by an angel at the well
- Ishmael — Abraham's son by Hagar, sent away but promised to become a great nation
Famous verses
- 18:14 Is anything too wondrous for Hashem? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah shall have a son."
- 18:25 That be far from You to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from You; shall not the judge of all the earth do justly?"
- 22:2 And He said: "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of."
Haftarah: {'ref': 'II Kings 4:1-37', 'connection': "The Haftarah parallels Sarah's story: Elisha promises the Shunammite woman a son despite her disbelief, echoing the miraculous birth announced to the aged Sarah."}
Total gematria: 505,534.