Ishmael
- 5785, Abraham, Affliction, Conflict, Flood, Hagar, High Holidays, Ishmael, Israel, Matriarchs, Memory, Middle East, Mourning, Psalms, Sarah, Secondary Wives, War
Seeking to be Seen
I have never been happier to study the “secondary wives,” an often-forgotten group of people, and when remembered, almost always misunderstood. Who can be blamed – there is a dearth of information, missing…
- 5784, 5785, Bilhah, Days of Awe, Dissertation, Hagar, High Holidays, Hope, Ishmael, Keturah, Music, Parsha, Psalms, Reflection, Secondary Wives, Shofar, Yamim Noraim, Zilpah
Changing, Changing, Changing…Before the New Year
Life has changed for me in noticeable and yet-to-be-named ways in 5784. As my disappearance from this blog may be proof, I went into several months of reading, research, and writing for my…
- 5784, Abraham, Bereshit, Bilhah, Egypt, Genesis, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Judah, Leah, Parsha, Potiphar, Rachel, Slavery, Tamar, Vayeishev, Zilpah
Forgotten Anchors
This parsha is astoundingly anchored by stories of women, often regarding how their actions affect the men in these stories. Parashat Vayeshev begins with the story of tension between Jacob and his brothers. For…
- Abimelech, Akedah, Bereshit, Circumcision, Genesis, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Lot, Love, Mountain, Parsha, Questions, Sarah, Sodom, Vayera
Favoritism & Erasure
Only four parshiyot in this week, we reach Vayera – following a journey of the promised birth of Sarah’s son by blood (since, technically, Ishmael was Sarah’s son through her שפחה, “maidservant,” Hagar)…
- 5781, Abraham, Akedah, Cliffhanger, Dissertation Diary, Doubt, Genesis, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Mamre, Midrash, Parsha, Provision, Sacrifice, Sarah, Sodom, Trust, Vayera, Visitors
In With the New…Doesn’t Get Rid of the Old
The fourth parsha of our year is intense: beginning with a birth announcement and ending with a near-death experience. Well, technically, beginning with a newly-named Abraham sitting in his tent’s opening…waiting? hoping? wondering?…
- 5781, Abraham, Blessing, Covenant, Dissertation Diary, Faithfulness, Genesis, Hagar, Ishmael, Journey, Lekh Lekha, Lot, Names, Nation, Pandemic, Parsha, Promises, Sarah, Travel
Into the Unknown!
Seven months into a changed way of life during a pandemic, the unknown is old news. Rather than embarking as a result of our own volition, or even being asked to do so,…
- 5780, Abimelech, Abraham, Akedah, Bereshit, Dissertation Diary, Genesis, Hagar, Hospitality, Ishmael, Lot, Messiah, Midrash, Parsha, Philo, Sarah, Sister Wives, Sodom, Theophany, Vayera
Our Ancestral Drama: Comedy or Tragedy?
The laughing started last week, but argument, sin, confusion, and oppression are quick on the heels of such mirth. In a parsha that begins with guests, hospitality, and a theophany, the human condition…
- Abraham, Akedah, Angels, Argument, Be'er Sheva, Bereshit, Estrangement, Hagar, Ishmael, Komps Kaos, Lot, Parsha, Sacrifice, Sarah, Sodom, Strange, Strangers, Theophany, Vayera
Strange, Stranger, & Estranged
Our parsha this week begins with the story of three strangers – angels, perhaps a theophany, men, messengers – who are unknown to Abraham and Sarah. After laying out the spread for these…
- Abimelech, Abraham, Akedah, Be'er Sheva, Destruction, Genealogy, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Laughter, Lot, Moab, Parsha, Prayer, Sarah, Sodom, Temple Mount, Vayera
The Bible is…Funny?!
This week’s parsha (Va-yera) starts with a story about laughter – well, after being preceded by three particularly mysterious characters. They are vexing in the lack of characterization, and so throughout the centuries…
- Abraham, Bruce Feiler, Covenant, Hagar, Interfaith, Ishmael, Journey, Jubilees, Land, Lekh Lekha, Lot, Matriarchs, Melchizedek, Mishnah, Parsha, Patriarchs, Politics, Sarah, Torah
The Greatest Journey?
In the canon of parshot, this week’s Lekh Lekha is pretty high on the most famous list. Mention this portion, and many people, regardless of practice, observance, synagogue attendance, or other faith marker…
