Vayera - Something that seems over and dead might be afallow
Genesis 18:1 - 22:24 | Kings 4:1 - 37
Summary: Avraham and Sarah have a child in their very old age. This teaches us so much about how some relationships and situations and skills and people are actually lying fallow, and will ultimately emerge to the light
***
Lest we think that the fallow places within us, those friendships that seem to have gotten old or run dry, those once-compelling pursuits that no longer bear fruit, the marriage that has become dull or the job that has lost its luster - lest we think that the tired and uninspiring state of these things is inevitable and fait accompli, we are given the deeply, deeply important reminder that two very old people had a baby.
With this story we are being taught to be cautious about applying the cliches that things run their course, and there is a circle of life, and all good things must come to end, and such things are not meant to last, etc. Those cliches are certainly true - occasionally. Some things certainly must come to an end, and that is that. But not all things. Other things have gone dormant or have moved underground, are in long-term parking, or exist within a much larger cycle than we can see with our eyes, but they are still very much alive and big things are growing over there.
So who decides which is which? Who decides what shall end, and what shall be renewed? Is it predetermined? If so, by what or by whom or by Whom? Are there a range of possibilities? Minority reports? Ways to change it or their or Their mind? Are negotiations possible? Could it be that people use fatalism and determinism as a cover for their own ambivalence?
The truth is, I am not feeling at all triumphalist about this. I am not in any way willing or wanting to convince anyone, including myself, that any particular relationship or pursuit should continue on without end and that everything can and should be renewed, or that we should never give up on anything. But, having witnessed fields of my own that are suddenly sprouting with new life and relationships that felt outdated that have become incredibly vital and important, I take deep inspiration from Avraham and Sarah and the child of their old age. It reminds me of what is possible, and also reflects to me that I have an unreliable approach to evaluating which seemingly-barren areas of my life still have something to offer and could be renewed, and which are simply finished.
When something that felt deeply old and weighed down shows surprising and incredible vibrancy, it catches my notice. It causes me to wonder about other places I thought were barren but might actually contain vast stores of energy, inspiration, fulfillment and promise. What have I given up on because, secretly, I wanted to give up on it, and I wanted physics or biology or fate to blame it on, and what have I given up on because I forgot that Avraham and Sarah had a baby and my old stuff could produce something new, too?
**
God plays the long, long game. From the moment when we meet Avraham to the point where Yitzhak is born spans twenty-five years. Granted, that is a long time to wait and to hold onto a promise. A far-longer span of time is involved with the story of Avraham’s wayward nephew Lot. To sum up this embarrassing tale, Lot moved to the evil city of Sodom. Sodom was so bad that God decided to destroy it, but chose to save Lot. Lot ultimately finds himself alone with his two daughters in a cave. The daughters, inexplicably thinking that they and their father were the only three humans left in the world, decide to get their father intoxicated and then have sex with him, which they do. Each of them bears a son - the eldest’s son’s name is Moav.
The Moabites are an unfriendly people. When Moshe and the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness six generations hence, the Moabites, unlike other neighboring peoples, refused to offer the Israelites bread and water - because of which they are banned from converting to Judaism. Not only that, they hired a sorcerer, Bil’am, to curse the Israelites. Thanks, nephew!
About four generations hence, an important Jewish leader named Elimelech left the land of Israel as famine plagued the land. He went to Moav - the ultimate not-Jewish nation, not dissimilar to Lot going from living with Avraham (generous) to living in Sodom (malicious). No one in Israel saw Elimelech or his sons again. But, a few years later, Elimelech’s wife, Naomi, returned from Moav, with a Moabite woman in tow. This woman is Ruth. The rest, as they say, is history. Ruth marries Boaz and bears him a son - Oved. Oved has Yishai who has David. David is the anointed. David’s been dormant within this whole lineage, those whole series of unfortunate stories, these shady people, these bad decisions.
A Midrash on the verse in Psalms 89 which says “I have found my servant, David”: Where did I find him? In Sodom. (One of my favorite Midrashim ever, BTW.) Everyone else saw what happened with Lot and his daughters and said, “Ewww. Gross.” God says, “True. And, Moshiach is in there. So don’t give up on this guy.”
In fact, while you’re at it, don’t give up on anybody. Don’t give up on your friend, who did something dumb last week. Don’t give up on yourself just because you dropped the ball on a project or did something impulsive.
Before we go deciding that some relationship has nothing left to give, some job, some pursuit, some text - remember that the insides of people are made of soul-stuff, and that stuff does not ever die. It might go dormant - for the long, long game, which I am not expected to play - but that does not mean it is not there.