Parashat Vayeira

Parasha Thoughts

By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari

Shalom,

In the Parasha, we find that after Yitzchak is born and grows more:
וַתֵּ֨רֶא שָׂרָ֜ה אֶֽת־בֶּן־הָגָ֧ר הַמִּצְרִ֛ית אֲשֶׁר־יָלְדָ֥ה לְאַבְרָהָ֖ם מְצַחֵֽק׃
Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Avraham playing.

וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לְאַבְרָהָ֔ם גָּרֵ֛שׁ הָאָמָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את וְאֶת־בְּנָ֑הּ כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יִירַשׁ֙ בֶּן־הָאָמָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את עִם־בְּנִ֖י עִם־יִצְחָֽק׃
She said to Avraham, “Cast out that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Yitzchak.”

Sarah saw Yishmael had very shallow demeanor and bad character, and she was afraid he would have a negative impact on her son Yitzchak.
״צוף דב״ asked why did she have to distance Yishmael? Why not keep Yishmael and let Yitzchak have a positive effect on Yishmael through his good midot, behavior, holiness, and fear of sin? Was this not the family business? From here we can see when there’s a bad friend, chances are he will affect all those around him and not the opposite!

We therefore see we need to open our eyes and be on the alert when it comes to our children’s friends or our own “friends” or social media so that we should not be affected negatively. We should not be naive thinking that these influences won’t have an effect on us.

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