Parsha discussion

Question:  When the shidduch is agreed, לבן & בתואל ask for רבקה to stay for a period of time, but then agree to ask her opinion. Why then is the question if she will go, rather than when she would like to go? Approach: Seemingly, we can suggest that once it was decided that רבקה would decide how long she'd stay at home before leaving, it was only appropriate for her permission to be given to the marriage in the first place. We don't hear the question about when to leave since the עבד was determined to leave that morning.

Question:  Yishmael is not mentioned by name once in the story of his expulsion from Avraham’s home. Why? Approach: Perhaps the important aspect for us to realise is that the whole event was nothing to do with ישמעאל per se, but rather to distance all negative, and non-direct family (i.e. from שרה) aspects from יצחק. As such, it doesn't matter who the expelled son was in and of himself.

Question:  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 Approach : Perhaps this is to explain to us the utter shock that is the backdrop to the whole story of ברית מילה and the promise of, not only a child, but a dynasty via this child - which takes on a far more personal and immediate implication compared with ברית מילה. And of course, the age serves to help understand the reaction of הלבן מאה שנה יולד.

Question:  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? Approach: it would seem that we need to understand this in the context of appreciating בחירה חופשית. And perhaps the change was more a reflection for how punishment was to be meeted out in the event of future misdeeds (similar to what happens after חטא העגל)