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Bible Study Now

I write about the things that matter to me. All opinions are my own. All individuals are considered legally innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Public domain.

Parshas Chayei Sarah: Don’t Laugh (11/23/2019)

1) Let’s do Bible Study Coffee Time! 
2) The name of the Torah (Bible) portion is “Chayei Sarah” – lit. “The lives of Sarah.”

These 2 screenshots are a synopsis of the events described – none of which are actually about Sarah.

3) For reference purposes:

Primary reading:
Genesis 23:1 – 25:18

Supplemental:
Kings I 1:1-31

4) So why is the entire portion supposedly about Sarah, and then Sarah doesn’t appear? 
5) Why is it called “The lives of Sarah,” when she lived one life as far as the text is concerned? 
6) And to compound the question, why does it end with a discussion of Abraham remarrying, which presumably would replace the memory of her with the memory of the new wife? 
7) And finally, why would you want to read about this subject on Twitter, with all that is going on right now? (the coup) 
8) Last night we attended a community dinner where the question was asked and answered by the hostess. 
9) She said that God was making a point here. 

A person is known not only by their life, but also (perhaps primarily) by their LEGACY.

Sarah affected many lives to follow. 

The reading provides highlights of that impact. 

10) Sarah‘s burial place in Israel was purchased by Abraham.

Signifying an inheritance for the Jewish people. 

Also signifying that God’s promise of the land to Abraham would be fulfilled through purchase.

We know that the promise is also fulfilled through war. 

11) Sarah gave birth to Isaac, forefather of the Jewish people with Rebecca.

This was a momentous legacy she left. 

12) Sarah’s handmaiden was the Egyptian princess Hagar, later renamed Keturah, foremother of the Arab nations and Islam.

That, too, is part of her legacy, that she united Abraham with her when childless, and that Abraham fell in love with her. 

13) Now, why are you reading this on Twitter; what is the relevance to current events? 
14) In a nutshell, the lesson about one’s legacy works two ways.

If you are good you are remembered forever.

If you are bad your memory is obliterated. 

15) My husband reminded the group that we say about Hitler: “Yemach Shemo Vezichrono” – “May his name and memory be erased.” 
16) Of course you can argue that the truly beastly people@of history ARE remembered, as in the endless discussions and debates about Hitler and Nazis, but I would argue that we only do this long enough to settle the unresolved issues. 
17) *Please forgive typos. 
18) You could also argue that there are many good people who are not remembered. 

That is true but perhaps one can allow that their loved ones do remember.

The rest of the world will not, as a practical matter, know the private stories. 

19) As far as current events, we can link the coup to the operation of a relatively tiny cult (let’s call them The Family) which seeks to be endlessly honored.

They want to replace God with statues of themselves. 

20) And we have heard this detailed by @SaRaAshcraft in extremely fine detail. 

Even to the point of explaining how they use language to reign without our knowledge. 

21) But we don’t need to rely on @SaRaAshcraft for this insight. Or on the many others who have said the same thing in different ways — for example Tiffany Fitzhenry talking about Hollywood.

Just look at the Bible. 

22) The entirety of the Bible, like the Ten Commandments, can be split into 2 basic imperatives.

Honor God – and not man made gods.

Be kind to other people – not shitty. 

23) The legacy of Abraham and Sarah was to fuse both. 
24) The epitome of this is hospitality — kindness to people is at the forefront — Abraham even interrupted his prophecy with God to receive guests (last week’s Bible portion). 
25) Kindness also means putting some distance between “safe” people, and those who are not “safe.” In Genesis 21:19, Sarah sees Ishmael (Hagar’s son) doing something to Isaac, and she has him and his mother banished. 
26) Of course banishment also meant certain death, and even if Sarah was right in what she did her actions left a karmic legacy of enmity between Arab and Judeo-Christian. 
27) But bitterness between people who otherwise believe in God can be worked through. 
28) The point with The Family is that they don’t believe in the concept of humanity, period.

They see themselves as genetically of a different reality – half man, half God – wanting to be omnipotent, needing to subordinate and enslave humans. 

29) For humans to be “properly” enslaved, in this mind frame, “they must know their masters” — not God, but THEM. 
30) Part is this is that The Family uses “LGBT rights” to disguise their true intentions.

When there is no man to defend men, and there is no loyalty between man and wife and child, “the state” – the cabal, The Family, substitutes its breast for mother’s. 

31) This is daycare, CPS abuse, extended hours for public school, free university tuition and dorms for indoctrination, and so on. 
32) This is also falsely induced refugee populations which then get “help.” 
33) It is abortion as “empowerment.” 
34) It is hyper-mature children/children as adults (Greta Thunberg) and the perpetually immature man. 
35) It is the cult of child rape, branding and scarring and murder as a form of sacrifice to the humans posing as gods. 
36) It is disposable people plucked off the street, raped and trafficked and killed with no accountability. 

It is a separate and secret state with its own judicial system. 

37) I had trouble explaining this to the young woman scarred by their antics – the legacy of divorce and drug addiction – she now needs to be propped up by the state. 
38) I see these people very clearly, but they have made sure that most others still do not.

They must be exposed for what they are.

And then, in the end, we can finally forget all about them. 

39) “And those were the days of our lives.” 

We will one day remember the (mostly totally quiet) heroes.

(End.) 

mentions 
mentions compile 
Correction to #25: The verse is Genesis 21:9, not 21:19. 

“And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, making sport.”

mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0121.htm

Bible commentators infer that Ishmael was doing something to Isaac based on Sarah wanting to send him and mom away: craigkeener.com/what-did-ishma… 
There is an implied rebuke of Sarah here as well; in Genesis 21:6 she has a child and (instead of expressing only gratitude) lapses and says “everyone will laugh at me, an old lady like me, having a baby.”

The Hebrew word “metzachek” is the hint. 

ו וַתֹּאמֶר שָׂרָה–צְחֹק, עָשָׂה לִי אֱלֹהִים: כָּל-הַשֹּׁמֵעַ, יִצְחַק-לִי. 
צְחֹק laughter 
יִצְחַק they will laugh 
Sarah’s son Isaac is named with the same word – “laughter” – as she used. 

This is to show the world that God can do anything.

But the word “laughter” has the same root as “sport” and this is the sense of it in Genesis 21:9. 

“ וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה אֶת-בֶּן-הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית, אֲשֶׁר-יָלְדָה לְאַבְרָהָם–מְצַחֵק.” 
מְצַחֵק = making sport 
Implied rebuke – Sarah said “people will laugh at me” and then her handmaiden’s son is “making sport” at the expense of her son – which doesn’t have a laughing connotation, but a sexual one.

Troubling question aside (why punish child for parent) Biblical punishment is harsh. 

Craig Keener provides proof of the possible sexual abuse charge using three other citations.

craigkeener.com/what-did-ishma…

Keep in mind that Ishmael was a teenager and Isaac (Yitzchak) a baby. 
So Sarah is rebuked for her lack of faith by having a real tragedy happen. 
And then she overreacts and sends the child and his mother to die, leading to a blood feud for the ages. 
Lesson is that our beliefs (positive or negative) create a kind of reality which then manifests on the physical level. 
But God is merciful. Isaac is granted the gift of blindness. 

A gift?

The implication: If he was under molested in early childhood by his elder brother, God protected his psyche from the pain. 

Blindness – he was shrouded to some extent from knowing it. 

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By Dr. Dannielle Blumenthal. All opinions are the author’s own. Public domain.

dannielleblumenthal

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