Today is June 4, 2023 / /

The Torah Learning Library of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Category: Vayeira

Vayeira: How to Find Inner Sight

by Raffi Levi
Posted on November 10, 2022

What can we do to easily create intentional motivation in our lives? I often find that when I have trouble beginning an important and challenging task, the simple transition of taking a deep breath helps make the whole process much easier.…

Isaac’s Ashes: Medieval Ashkenaz Confronts the Akedah

by Dr. Julie Goldstein
Posted on September 28, 2022

The Akeda’s Scream and Other Thundering Biblical Silences

by Judy Klitsner
Posted on September 21, 2022

17th c. painting of elderly sarah presenting hagar in a red dress with one breast exposed to elderly and half-naked abraham

The “Yes, Dear” That Really Matters

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on October 22, 2021

The joke goes that for husbands, the most important words are not “I love you,” but “Yes, dear.” Whether for husband or wife, there are two types of “Yes, dear.” There’s a surface “Yes, dear,” and there’s a deeper “Yes, dear.”…

Parshat Vayeira: Tzeddek and Mishpat

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on November 6, 2020

This week, particularly right now when we are in an uncertain moment as a country, I’d like to share a thought on the parsha which touches on what the Torah believes to be the basic principles with which we should live our lives. …

Akedat-Yitzchak, the Sacrifice of Issac

The Binding of Isaac: Extremely Religious Without Religious Extremism

by Rabbi Hayyim Angel
Posted on September 15, 2020

Akeidat Yitzchak: What Was God Thinking?!

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on September 14, 2020

To follow along with the shiur’s source sheet on Sefaria, please click here.…

expulsion of ishmael

גירוש ישמעאל או שילוח ישמעאל? The “Expulsion” of Yishmael or the “Sending” of Yishmael?”

by Dr. Yonatan Grossman
Posted on September 14, 2020

To follow along with the shiur’s source sheet on Sefaria, please click here.…

Speaking Truth to Power

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on November 23, 2016

Our responsibility to speak truth to power and protect victims of injustice, whether Jew or non-Jew, is a major theme of one of the central stories of parashat VaYeira, the story of Avraham arguing with God to defend Sodom and Amorah. …

Why Did God Test Avraham?

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on November 18, 2016

Why did God test Avraham with the command to offer Yitzchak as a sacrifice?  This is really two questions. First, what purpose was the akeidah meant to serve? And second, how could God have commanded such a reprehensible act, implicitly condoning murder, even if the plan was to retract the command all along?…

Akeidat Yitzchak: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on October 27, 2016

How To Read Like Hazal: Why Did God Not Conceal the Fate of Sedom from Avraham?

by Rabbi Aryeh Klapper
Posted on October 26, 2016