Lech Lecha
1) Avram leaves Charan and travels southwards through Canaan.
2) Avram comes to Egypt, returns to Canaan, and splits off from Lot.
3) Avram's life between the departure of Lot and the tidings of the birth of Yitzchak.
a) War of Sodom
b) B'ris bein HaBesarim
c) Birth of Yishma'el
d) Covenant of circumcision
e) Tidings of birth of Yitzchak
All 3 parshiyos begin with conjunctions.
The first parsha describes his initial entry into the land.
The second parsha can perhaps be viewed as a sort of "cleansing" process, in which he leaves Canaan, comes back (thereby introducing the question of how things had changed in between the two entries to Canaan), and separates from Lot.
The third parsha describes the beginning of his second stint in Canaan.
At HaProzdor, I have a post about Avraham's failed heirs. The first parsha is the parsha of "the souls they made in Charan" (according to the figurative explanation favored by Rashi and Onkelos), which ends when these people are no longer mentioned once Avraham arrives in Canaan. The second parsha is the parsha of Lot, who endures the famine and the difficulties of Egypt, but fails in Canaan itself. The third parsha is the parsha of Eliezer and Yishma'el, regarding each of whom Avraham expresses the view at different times that they will be his heir (15:2, 17:18). This can be both due to the greater suitability of the candidates and due to an evolution within Avraham himself. Finally, at the end of this sedra, the groundwork is laid for the birth of Avraham's true heir.
The event that serves as a dividing line between this sedra and the following one is the foretelling of the birth of Yitzchak, in that Avraham is informed at the end of this week's sedra and Sarah is informed at the beginning of next week's sedra.
Questions to be considered (Perhaps on HaProzdor):
a) How have things changed in between Avraham's first entry to Canaan and his second
entry? One answer is his physical wealth, another is the apparent loss of almost all of his followers, but are there more?
b) What distinguishes the unsuitability of Lot from the unsuitability of Eliezer and
Yishmael? It might have to do with their ability to successfully epitomize the
Abrahamic characteristic of being gomeil chesed, and the related failure of Lot in the cave near Sodom.
c) Does Avraham's mention of an heir by Eliezer and Yishmael, but not prior, imply an evolution within himself? If so, is there anything more to it than his advancing age and the fact that he's becoming more "familiar" with HaShem over time?
2) Avram comes to Egypt, returns to Canaan, and splits off from Lot.
3) Avram's life between the departure of Lot and the tidings of the birth of Yitzchak.
a) War of Sodom
b) B'ris bein HaBesarim
c) Birth of Yishma'el
d) Covenant of circumcision
e) Tidings of birth of Yitzchak
All 3 parshiyos begin with conjunctions.
The first parsha describes his initial entry into the land.
The second parsha can perhaps be viewed as a sort of "cleansing" process, in which he leaves Canaan, comes back (thereby introducing the question of how things had changed in between the two entries to Canaan), and separates from Lot.
The third parsha describes the beginning of his second stint in Canaan.
At HaProzdor, I have a post about Avraham's failed heirs. The first parsha is the parsha of "the souls they made in Charan" (according to the figurative explanation favored by Rashi and Onkelos), which ends when these people are no longer mentioned once Avraham arrives in Canaan. The second parsha is the parsha of Lot, who endures the famine and the difficulties of Egypt, but fails in Canaan itself. The third parsha is the parsha of Eliezer and Yishma'el, regarding each of whom Avraham expresses the view at different times that they will be his heir (15:2, 17:18). This can be both due to the greater suitability of the candidates and due to an evolution within Avraham himself. Finally, at the end of this sedra, the groundwork is laid for the birth of Avraham's true heir.
The event that serves as a dividing line between this sedra and the following one is the foretelling of the birth of Yitzchak, in that Avraham is informed at the end of this week's sedra and Sarah is informed at the beginning of next week's sedra.
Questions to be considered (Perhaps on HaProzdor):
a) How have things changed in between Avraham's first entry to Canaan and his second
entry? One answer is his physical wealth, another is the apparent loss of almost all of his followers, but are there more?
b) What distinguishes the unsuitability of Lot from the unsuitability of Eliezer and
Yishmael? It might have to do with their ability to successfully epitomize the
Abrahamic characteristic of being gomeil chesed, and the related failure of Lot in the cave near Sodom.
c) Does Avraham's mention of an heir by Eliezer and Yishmael, but not prior, imply an evolution within himself? If so, is there anything more to it than his advancing age and the fact that he's becoming more "familiar" with HaShem over time?
posted by Josh M. at 12:02 PM
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