Parashat Vayera, 5781

Posted on November 6, 2020

Parashat Vayera, 5781

From a comic that I have hanging on my bulletin board:

Isaac: “Here’s the wood for the sacrifice, Dad.” 

Abraham: “Groovy.”

Isaac: “Here’s the dagger for the sacrifice, Dad.”

Abraham: “Keen.”

Isaac looks all around. 

Isaac:  “Where’s the sacrifice?”

Abraham: “God will provide Isaac.”

Isaac: “Wait! Did you say, ‘God will provide, Isaac’ or ‘God will provide Isaac’?”

Abraham: “Come here, Son.”

Isaac, yelling:  “I ain’t budging until you put in a comma!”

I ain’t budging until you put in a comma. What we say and how we say it matters. Even a little comma matters. There is a world of difference between ‘God will provide, Isaac’ and ‘God will provide Isaac’.  As we go into Shabbat on this stressful week, let us resolve to speak with care and kindness, with honesty and compassion. Let us reach out to those closest to us with words and tones of love. 

We all need it. 

Shabbat shalom.  Rabbi Miriam T. Spitzer