Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

Isaac’s legacy was his sons. Especially Jacob. The fact is that while Isaac and Ishmael could come together to bury Abraham, Esau’s enmity against Jacob was overpowering.

We are commanded to help each other through loving kindness. Not just to mouth the words. We see this in the action of the Jews of Israel rushing to the aid of their less fortunate brethren.

It is interesting that Abraham did not rely on prayer to acquire a wife for Isaac. He sent his servant to acquire her through negotiations with her family. That is because that God wants us to act, not just to pray.

When Eliezer is negotiating with Rebecca’s family, he doesn’t mention that Abraham and Isaac are spiritual leaders. He mentions their wealth. That is because Rebecca’s family were materialist. They had no spiritual side.

The Torah states that Isaac first married Rebecca and then he lived her. This is to teach us that love for a couple should grow. That we should work to make our spouse happy.

In this week’s portion we see that Eleazar, Abraham’s servant is looking for a suitable bride for Isaac. He makes a test to see if she would go above and beyond in caring for others. This is a lesson to us in these trying times.

Abraham bought the burial site for Sarah. He did not have to since he knew that the land had been promised to him. The reason is that he did not want that there should be any questions about ownership in the future.

Lot’s daughters claimed that they committed incest because the they would not otherwise have husbands. They gave up hope. This is to teach us that we should never give up hope but to carry on in the light of the Torah.

When Lot left Sodom with his wife and two daughters they were told not to look back. Lot’s wife did and became a pillar of salt. Why did she do it? She missed the “good” life that they had in Sodom.

Abraham debates God over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He gets God to say that for sake of 10 He would not destroy the 2 cities. Why did he not go below 10?