פָּרָשַׁת וַיֵּרָא

Parshat Vayeira tells us how Hashem's promise of a son to Avraham and Sarah is kept, and how Avraham's faith is tested. Three visitors come to Avraham's tent, and he runs to serve them; one of them announces that Sarah will have a son within the year, and Sarah laughs. Hashem tells Avraham that He is about to judge Sedom and Amorah, and Avraham pleads for the cities, bringing the number of righteous men that would save them down from fifty to ten. Two of the angels rescue Lot and his daughters from Sedom before Hashem overturns the cities with fire and sulfur; Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt, and Lot's daughters bear Moav and Ammon.

In Gerar, Avimelech takes Sarah, is warned by Hashem in a dream, and returns her. Yitzchak is born to Avraham at a hundred and to Sarah at ninety, and is circumcised on the eighth day. Sarah has Avraham send away Hagar and Yishmael; Hashem saves them in the wilderness and promises that Yishmael too will become a nation. Avraham and Avimelech make a covenant at Be'er Sheva. Then comes the Akeidah, the binding of Yitzchak: Hashem commands Avraham to offer his beloved son on Mount Moriah, Avraham goes without hesitation, binds Yitzchak on the altar and lifts the knife, and the angel stops him. A ram is offered in Yitzchak's place, and Hashem swears to bless Avraham's descendants beyond counting. The parsha ends with the birth of Rivkah in Avraham's family. The birth of Yitzchak (perek 21) is read on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and the Akeidah (perek 22) on the second.