Ancient books were often were named by their first word. Thus, the book many call Genesis, is called in Hebrew, Bereshit, ‘In the Beginning’, after the first word in Genesis.
For those who like to measure by counting, Bereshit is the longest of the five books in the Torah, with 20, 512 of the 79,847 Hebrew words; 78,064 of the 304,805 Hebrew letters. For those who like to consider meanings, considering how short Bereshit is, the stories and characters are among the most referenced in Western Civilization. Complex and contradictory and very human, and thus memorial.
Each week in synagogues around the world, a portion of the Torah, called a parashah, is read. After this reading, typically one of the religious leaders, perhaps the Rabbi, or a layperson, provides a lesson, called a D’var Torah or Drasha, using the reading as the basis.
This week, the portion being read was called Vayeira, Genesis chapter 18, verse 1, through chapter 22, verse 24. It covers a lot of ground, starting with Abraham being visited by three strangers and ending with the Akedah, or binding of Isaac.
At Ohr Kodesh, the synagogue where my wife Ellen and I belong, Ellen gave the D’var Torah this week focusing on the lessons learned from the visit of those three visitors and what it should mean to us. While her discussion dealt with people we might know but not interact with in a syngogue, it is applicable to many other situations.
I provide it here for your reading pleasure and to provide some food for thought.