A lot of things happen in today’s Chumash! First we learn how Sedom is destroyed and what happens to Lot after he is saved. Avraham needs to move again, and again Sarah is captured. At the end of today’s Chumash, Sarah and Avraham finally have a baby, Yitzchak, the second of our Avos!
Lot was running away from Sedom, which was going to be destroyed! The malach agreed that Lot could run to Bela, the fifth, smaller city. Since it was a newer city, only 50 years old, not as many aveiros had been done there. The malach said Hashem wouldn’t destroy the city as a favor to Lot. “But hurry!”
Lot ran to Bela, which would be called Tzo’ar, small, from now on. It got this new name because it was saved because it had a smaller amount of aveiros. Lot arrived in Tzo’ar in the morning.
Hashem made rain pour down on Sedom and Amorah. At first it was regular rain, in case the people living there would still do teshuvah. When they didn’t, Hashem poured down fiery rain. Then Hashem picked up the whole ground and turned the cities upside down!
Lot’s wife wanted to see what was happening, and she looked back. She was punished for looking when she was told not to, by becoming a pillar of salt. This specific punishment was Midah Keneged Mida — the TYPE of punishment matched her aveira — because she didn’t want to give salt to her guests.
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The Torah tells us what Avraham was doing at this time:
Avraham woke up in the morning to daven Shacharis. (Avraham Avinu was the one who started the idea of davening Shacharis, and we still daven his tefillah until today!) When he woke up, he saw smoke coming from the place where Sedom and Amorah used to be.
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Now we go back to Lot:
Even though Lot had permission to live in Tzo’ar, he was afraid because it was so close to Sodom. So he ran away to a cave. Hashem made that there was wine in the cave. Lot’s daughters were afraid that not just Sedom was destroyed, but the whole world was destroyed, like at the time of the Mabul! They realized that if they didn’t have children, then the world would be left without any people. So they decided to fool their father into getting married to them so they could have children. They got him drunk, and when he was drunk they acted as if they were married to him.
They both had babies, Moav and Ben-Ami. (The nation of Ammon came from Ben-Ami.)
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After the cities were destroyed, there weren’t a lot of guests coming to Chevron anymore. Avraham decided to move closer to people, and he traveled until he was near the city of Gerar.
Just like in Mitzrayim, the people of Gerar asked about Sarah. Avraham said (like last time) that she was his sister. The king of Gerar, Avimelech, sent messengers to bring Sarah to him. But when he came close to Sarah, a malach wouldn’t let him touch her, and made Avimelech very sick.
Hashem came to Avimelech in a dream and told him that he would die because he tried to take Sarah. Avimelech said “It’s not my fault! I thought she was Avraham’s sister!” Hashem told him to give Sarah back, and Avraham would daven for him.
So Avimelech gave Sarah back, but was very upset at Avraham. Avraham explained that by asking if Sarah is his wife or his sister he right away knew that they have no Yiras Shomayim. That kind of question SHOWS that a person doesn’t want to act properly! So to save his life, he had to say she was his sister.
Avimelech realized that Avraham was right, and gave him a lot of presents because he was sorry. Avraham davened for Avimelech, and he was cured of his sickness.
But before listening to Avraham’s tefilos and making AVIMELECH feel better, Hashem had already remembered what AVRAHAM needed for himself — a baby! So Hashem made Sarah become pregnant. (From here we learn that if we daven for another person, Hashem will answer us first!)
On Pesach, the next year, Sarah had a baby boy! Hashem made Yitzchak look EXACTLY like Avraham, so that nobody could think that there was a different Tatty.
Avraham named him Yitzchak, as Hashem told him to, and gave him a bris when he was 8 days old.
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