Parshat Vayera

The events we read of in this week’s haftarah, a selection from the fourth perek in Melachim Bet, bear a close resemblance to the events we read of in the Torah itself. The story of Elisha and the Shunamite woman tells of the astonishing birth of a son to a once-barren woman and her elderly husband, a birth foretold by the navi Elisha and doubted by the woman. It then goes on to relate how, years later, the parents almost lose that cherished son, who is miraculously saved only through the intervention of Elisha. The story echoes that of Avraham and Sarah, a story that also tells of the astonishing birth of a son to a once-barren woman and her elderly husband, a birth foretold by God Himself and doubted by Sarah. Years later, they too almost lose that son, who is saved only through the intervention of Hashem’s angel.

But there is an introductory story in the haftarah that also echoes the events found in the parsha. Here we read of a woman, widowed of her righteous, God-fearing husband, who stands to lose her only two sons, just as the parsha tells of a righteous, God-fearing husband who stands to lose both of his sons: Yishmael, whom he was told to send away, and Yitzchak, whom he was told to sacrifice.

It is interesting to note that the miracles found in our parsha were performed directly by God or His angels, while those we read of in the haftarah are brought through the navi. This change reflects the conscious desire of Hashem to have man move from a purely God-based existence to one where he, too, shares in the responsibility of building an ethical and caring society.

But perhaps most interestingly, we find the righteous woman at the center of each story—both in the Torah and the haftarah. It was our virtuous matriarch whose saintliness was rewarded by God with the birth of Yitzchak, and her foresight and concern for the upbringing of her only child that was commended by Hashem when he tells Avraham to do everything Sarah tells him to do.

The two stories of the haftarah also highlight the deeds of righteous women—the poor widow whose prayers were answered by Elisha and the wealthy Shunamite whose barrenness was removed as a reward for her generosity and acts of kindness. In both navi stories, men play almost no part, one having died and one merely tangential to the story. It is the deeds of women that capture our attention in the obvious acts of the haftarah and the more subtle actions in the Torah.

Our Torah is a Torat Chesed, a moral code grounded in kindness and compassion.

And, more often than not, it is the women who lay that groundwork in each and every generation.

By Rabbi Neil N. Winkler

 Rabbi Neil Winkler is the rabbi emeritus of the Young Israel of Fort Lee and now lives in Israel.