Parshat Vayera
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

In this week's parshah, Rashi notes (from Seder Olam p. 5) that the angelic guests came to Avrohom during Pesach to inform him of Yitzchak's birth the following year, and that Yitzchak was born on Pesach. (18:10) So, too, Rashi quotes the Medrash that Lot served the angels matzos, for their visit happened during Pesach. (19:3)

Is it mere coincidence that these events all took place during Pesach? Why is it important that Avrohom was given the good tidings of Yitzchak's birth on Pesach, that Yitzchak was actually born on Pesach, and that Lot's encounter with the malachim (angels) was on Pesach?

Pesach represents the physical and spiritual redemption and birth of the Jewish people. (See Hagadas Siach Ha-Grid.) Lot's overnight exodus from S'dom is strikingly similar to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt four hundred years later; this is symbolic of the physical redemption of Pesach. (Think about the details of Lot's flight from S'dom and the escape of Bnei Yisroel from Mitzrayim, and you will see how many specifics are common to both stories.)

So, too, the tidings of Yitzchak's birth and the birth itself were the spiritual redemption of Avrohom and the Jewish people. As Targum Yonasan ben Uziel explains (15:2), Avrohom felt that all that Hashem gave him would be for naught if Avrohom would not have progeny to continue his mission. Yitzchak's birth gave perpetuity to Avrohom's mission and constituted the spiritual birth of the Jewish people. It was a redemption for Avrohom, enabling his life's work to come to fruition and be meaningful in the future.

For a full library of divrei Torah, please see TorahHeights.com

Archive

www.ou.org