{"id":514,"date":"2014-04-11T00:40:18","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T00:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=514"},"modified":"2014-04-11T00:40:18","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T00:40:18","slug":"vayeira-5767-2006","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=514","title":{"rendered":"Vayeira 5767 (2006)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Vayeira (5767)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The name of this week\u2019s Parsha comes from the very first word\u00a0 — that God appeared to Abraham \u2013 but actually three visitors appeared to Abraham.\u00a0 In verse 2 we read \u201cHe lifted his eyes and SAW\u201d and that \u201cHe SAW and ran toward them\u201d. The commentators agree that the same word \u201cV-yar\u201d appearing twice\u00a0 is to be interpreted that the first \u201csaw\u201d is the physical act of seeing the three visitors and that the second \u201csaw\u201d is the intellectual act of seeing what their appearance means.<\/p>\n

The Shalah says that his physical vision told Abraham that the visitors were human beings; his intellectual vision told him that they were angels.\u00a0 Regardless \u2013 Abraham behaves the same way:\u00a0 he is hospitable and welcoming to his guests.\u00a0 If they were angels then the meal Abraham prepared for them is an offering to God. If they were men then the meal represented an act of hospitality in keeping with Abraham\u2019s character and that is why Abraham asked them to say grace \u2013 to thank God.<\/p>\n

Tasmania was used to house transported convicts once Britain lost the American colonies and transportation started in the late 1700s.\u00a0 The Jewish population of Tasmania peaked in the early 1800s at about 450 people \u2013 it had a low for about 135 and has, for many years, had a steady level of about 180 Jews, perhaps 2\/3 of them in Hobart but many others spread across the island.<\/p>\n

For comparison, the population of Tasmania is about the twice the size of Santa Cruz county and the population of Hobart \u2013 with its 150 Jews \u2013 is the same as that of Santa Cruz county.\u00a0 The area is about 45 times greater.\u00a0 To be Jewish in Tasmania is to barely be noticed.<\/p>\n

The synagogue in Hobart is the oldest continuously operating synagogue in Australia \u2013 services have been held there since 1845.\u00a0 These days, the synagogue is shared by a group of Orthodox Jews (who rarely get a minyan) who daven every Shabbat and a group of Progressive (Reform) Jews who daven once a month (before the Orthodox, who daven to Baruch She-Amar at home).<\/p>\n

The reception that we were given in Hobart would have made Abraham proud of his descendants who live there.\u00a0 We arrived and told people that we were Jewish. That was enough.\u00a0 Everyone \u2013 secular to Progressive to Orthodox \u2013 made us welcome and showed us hospitality keeping with Abraham\u2019s character. We were not given any litmus test about our practice or beliefs. We were Jewish souls and we were welcome.<\/p>\n

Thus, we davenned Shabat Shuvah, Sukkot and the other Shabbatot with the Orthodox and spent Yom Kippur with the Progressive congregation (the Orthodox went to the rarely used Chabad house in Launceston). Susan was in the women\u2019s gallery on Shabbat Shuvah, on the\u00a0 elevated and central Bimah chanting Yona on Yom Kippur afternoon, and lead us in Hallel on Shabbat Sukkot from the gallery.<\/p>\n

If Abraham \u2013 who spent a lot of time interacting with angels \u2013 could not tell if his three visitors were men or were angels, none of us are capable of really looking beyond the exterior. This is attitude that Chabad has \u2013 every Jewish soul is welcome, no questions asked.<\/p>\n

What we saw in Hobart \u2013 and which is taught to us today by the behavior of Abraham in Parsha Vareiya \u2013 is that one does not need to be a Chabadnik to behave like one and show great hospitality to every Jewish soul whom one meets. This is a good lesson.<\/p>\n

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A Drash for Vayeira (5767) The name of this week\u2019s Parsha comes from the very first word\u00a0 — that God appeared to Abraham \u2013 but actually three visitors appeared to Abraham.\u00a0 In verse 2 we read \u201cHe lifted his eyes and SAW\u201d and that \u201cHe SAW and ran toward them\u201d. The commentators agree that the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-514","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":515,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/514\/revisions\/515"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}