Simcha's Torah Stories Parshas Vayera 5759 =========================================================================== This publication is available in HTML format at http://www.ohr.edu/youth/simcha/5759/Bereishi/Vayera.htm =========================================================================== Don't Mind the Aches and Pains Shalom, Avi! How are you? You look like you're on your way to the pool. Right you are Chaim. I'm just trying to stay cool in this hot weather. It must be 90 degrees outside today. I'm very hot, too, Avi. I am so glad that I met you. I am on my way to do a big mitzvah. Great Chaim! What is it? Mr. Goodman, the elderly man who lives next-door to me, is moving tomorrow. He is too old to live by himself, so he is moving near his daughter. He still has some packing left to do. There are books, clothes, and some dishes. I am trying to get some friends to come and help him put these things into boxes. What do you say, Avi? Boy, it sure is hot today, Chaim. I am so tired. I could not sleep last night because of the heat. I think a nice relaxing day at the pool would suit me just fine. Avi, if you think it is hot today, let me tell you about another very hot day a long, long time ago. Just imagine that you are Avraham Avinu, our father Abraham, sitting in his tent in a place called Mamre ... It is very hot here today. I feel very weak. Only three days ago, I had my bris mila. I am in pain. I am 99 years old, not a young man anymore. But nothing pains me as much as the fact that no guests are coming to visit me today. I want very badly to do the mitzvah of entertaining guests in my home. Eliezer, will you please be so kind and go out to see if any travelers are coming our way? A short time later, Eliezer returns without any guests. Perhaps Eliezer did not look carefully enough. I will go out and look myself. I don't see any guests. Wait a minute! I see three men coming! Weary travelers, please come this way. Stop here for a little refreshment. Please, my honored guests, take a little water. I will get some bread for you. Now that I am doing a mitzvah, I forgot all about my aches and pains and the hot weather. I must run to serve them the finest food and drink. Sarah, my dear wife, may I trouble you to please bake fresh bread for our guests? I am going to prepare for them the choicest meat delicacy. I want to give them a sumptuous meal, fit for a king. Chaim, you have such a nice way of pointing me in the right direction. I have a mitzvah to do! I feel cooler already. Simcha's Quiz Question of the Week Sara helped her mom put the socks away yesterday. She put them in the drawer, but did not pair them up. Sara's father had six black socks, four blue socks, and eight white socks. He got up early the next day to study Torah. He did not want to put the light on and wake up Sara's mom. He needed two socks that matched, but he could not see anything in the drawer. What is the smallest number of socks that he had to pull out of the drawer to get a matching pair? Write Simcha with your answer: simcha_b@mail.netvision.net.il =========================================================================== Do you link to us? Let everyone know about the Ohr Somayach Home Page by dropping the following text into the HTML document of YOUR home page: The Ohr Somayach International Home Page =========================================================================== SUBSCRIBE! to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions: yossi - Yossi & Co. comic strip in PDF Format ohrnet - Torah Weekly, Q&A, Ask the Rabbi & Daf Yomi in PDF Format ohrnews - Keep up-to-date with the Ohr Somayach Web Site weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach os-alum - "B'Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism judaismo-p - Portuguese-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism month - Seasons of the Moon - The Jewish Year through its months Ohr Somayach NEVER charges for any of the above lists. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe {listname} {your full name} to listproc@virtual.co.il or see the page http://www.ohr.edu/web/sub.htm =========================================================================== "I'm looking for the E-Mail address of a student at Ohr Somayach..." Look no further than: http://www.ohr.edu/web/alumni/email.htm =========================================================================== Dedication opportunities are available for Torah Weekly. Please contact us for details. =========================================================================== Written and Compiled by Simcha Groffman General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman Production Design: Eli Ballon =========================================================================== Prepared by the Jewish Learning Exchange of Ohr Somayach International 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 Jerusalem 91180, Israel Tel: 972-2-581-0315 Fax: 972-2-581-2890 E-Mail: info@ohr.edu Home Page: http://www.ohr.edu =========================================================================== Kinder Torah c Copyright 1998 All rights reserved to the author Simcha Groffman