Parshas Vayera- Pesach or Succos?

It is not often that we find an apparent contradiction in the basic understanding of the fundamental storyline in the pesukim. However, in this week’s Parsha we have an example of just that.

The Parsha begins with Avraham recovering from his bris milah. He desires to host guests, and Hashem sends three angels clothed as traveling Arabs. Avraham invites them inside, and has a feast prepared. One of the malachim is tasked with delivering the news of the birth of Yitzchak to Sarah. He tells Avraham and Sarah that He (Hashem) will return the next year at this time, and Sarah will have a child (18:10). Rashi remarks that this news was delivered on the festival of Pesach, and Yitzchak was born the following one. The verses proceed to inform us that Avraham and Sarah were elderly. Sarah’s menses had ceased, and bearing a child was not naturally possible. Despite this, Avraham has full faith that they would bear a child (Rashi 17:13). Sarah laughs at this proposition, and Hashem informs Avraham about it. Hashem reiterates the promise that Sarah will bear a child the following year (18:14). Rashi (21:2) states that Hashem made a mark on the wall and told Avraham that when the sun reaches this spot next year, Sarah will have a child.  Avraham and Sarah discuss this lacking of faith. Later in the Parsha, the angels travel to Sodom to save Lot from the impeding destruction. He bakes matzos, reemphasizing that it was the festival of Pesach (19:3).

The simple understanding of the storyline would dictate that this all occurred on Pesach. However, there is a Gemara (Rosh Hashana 11a) that seems to contradict this perspective. The Beraissa (10b) relates that Yitzchak was born on Pesach. The Gemara attempts to find the scriptural source for this assertion. It quotes the second promise, in which Hashem declares the birth of Yitzchak (18:14). The Gemara interprets it to imply that the news was delivered on a festival, and the birth would be the festival immediately following. Between Pesach and Shavouos is only fifty days. From Shavouos till Succos is only five months. Gestation is not possible in such short periods of time. Therefore, the Gemara concludes that the news must have been delivered on Succos, and the birth was the following festival, of Pesach. That year was a leap year, and with Sarah’s menses calculated, she gave birth after a pregnancy just short of seven months. The Gemara asserts this is humanly possible and accepts this explanation.

It would appear the news of the birth of Yitzchak was delivered on Succos. This seems to contradict the way Rashi interprets the storyline in the Parsha. Was it Pesach or Succos when the good news was delivered?

Many Meforshim understand that there is in fact a machlokes between these two approaches. They do not resolve this contradiction, as they believe they are of differing views. However, others (Haga’hah in Tosfos 11b, Chizkuni, Maharsha) offer a resolution to this difficulty. They explain that there were two different episodes of news being delivered. The first was through the angel (18:10). This did occur on Pesach. The malach told Avraham that Sarah would bear a child the following Pesach. Six months later, Sarah had not yet become pregnant. She then scoffed at the idea of having a child, as the likelihood of this happening on Pesach was minimal. Hashem then reiterated, on Succos, that she would indeed bear a child. He made a marker on the wall, and promised that when the sun hits that spot she will have given birth. The sunlight of Nissan (Spring) and Tishrei (Autumn) are very similar. Thus, the sun hit the same spot the following Pesach when Yitzchak was born. Using the principle of “ain mukdam ume’uchar b’Torah” the story of Sodom occurred before the second deliverance of news.

A fundamental thought emerges from these events. Avraham and Sarah were both presented with the same information. They both knew that they were old and bearing a child was not in the realm of natural possibility. They also both understood that there was a promise that they would have a child. Yet, Avraham had faith and believed wholeheartedly that the promise would come to fruition. Conversely, Sarah scoffed. The facts were the same, but the perspectives caused entirely different reactions.

People often think, “if only I had this, that or the other, then I would be happy, successful etc.” Most of the time, it is all a matter of perspective. If one changes their perspective they can accomplish all of those things, and not need the items they thought necessary.

This past Shabbos, we experienced some excitement. It was early morning, and a distracted driver crashed into our parked car. The impact pushed our vehicle onto the sidewalk, and caused his car to flip on its side. Baruch Hashem the driver was fine. Our car was not so fine. As I type this, I am still in negotiations with insurance. Initially, I was very frustrated with this new headache. I attempted to convince myself that “thank G-d it was Shabbos and we were not in the car,” “it was all meant to be,” and other ideas of that nature. Yet, it was still somewhat difficult to absorb. I was cleaning out the car before it would be towed away, and removed the papers from the glove compartment. I found the forms from when we purchased it. The date we bought the car was October 16, 2019. Shabbos was October 16, 2021. It then hit me. We were supposed to have the car for two years. The two years were up, and the car was removed from our ownership. This made me feel slightly better. When we change our perspective, the end results can be altered drastically.  

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