Parsha discussion

1. How do we understand Avraham’s requests regarding the destruction of Sdom . If 10 צדיקים would be sufficient to save the city, why start with 50 and work down? 2. How does סנורים work? If the Sdom townspeople were outside Lot’s house, how did they suddenly lose their sense of direction? 3. Yishmael is not mentioned by name once in the story of his expulsion from Avraham’s home. Why? 4. Is the city of באר שבע located in ארץ פלישתים? On the one hand 21:32 implies that it is not, yet 21:34 does (based also on fact that Avraham returns to באר שבע after the עקידה).

1. 16:2 How do we understand Sara(i)’s statement that if Hagar has a child, it is as if she has a child? 2. 15:15 Why is the subject of ברית בין הבתרים “interrupted” with a verse saying that Avra(ha)m can die peacefully? 3. 17:1 This is the only place (I believe) where we find the age of someone at the beginning of a scene. What is so important that we need to be told of Avra(ha)m’s age at this juncture? Especially as the age is repeated at the end when he performs ברית מילה 4. Why is Sara admonished for her reaction to the news that she will bear a child whereas Avraham, who reacts similarly, is not?

1. Twice in the parsha (once before and once after the מבול), we find reference to Hashem making a ברית with Noach. From other such occasions, we find that the “other side” also needs to do or commit to doing something, yet we find no such thing in either of these two cases. What does this mean? 2. 8:21 is one of the most enigmatic verses in the Torah. How do we understand that Hashem now understands Humankinds’ nature? What about the period before the מבול? 3. At the end of the Parsha we find a person named after their grandfather - נחור, son & father of תרח. This is very rare in the Torah. What do we learn from this? How does modern practice fit in? 4. How do we understand the concept of זכירה as applied to Hashem? We clearly believe that אין שכחה לפני כסא כבודך. The first of the פסוקים of זכרונות is 8:1 relating to remembering Noach and the other inhabitants of the תיבה

(1) The creation story in chapter 1 uses a number of verbs to describe the creative process. What's the difference between them all? Specifically, we have ויעש and ויברא; the latter used only for creation of sea creatures and humans. Why? (2) What is the nature of the עץ החיים, and why does it suddenly become relevant only after the episode of eating from the עץ הדעת טוב ורע? Was it permitted to be eaten prior to this episode? (3) In 4:17, what is the purpose of informing us that (a) Kayin built a city and (b) that he named the city after his son? (4) Chapter 5 gives a list of the generations between אדם and נח, listing their ages. Since the Torah is not a history book, why do we need to know how long everyone lived for? To put the question in context, in the Torah we only know the ages of these people, those of the generations from נח to אברהם (by implication), and then only those of אברהם, שרה, ישמעאל, יצחק, יעקב, יוסף, לוי, קהת, עמרם, משה and אהרן.