ON THE PARSHA Parshas Va'Yera by Dovid Lipman, Jerusalem The World Of The Supernatural (18:8) "He took butter and milk and the calf he had prepared and placed it before them..." The word prepared, inthis case, is literally "made". The Malbim asks, based on the gemara (Yoma 28b) that Avraham kept the entir Torah, including "d'Rabbanan"s, that he should not have served people milk and meat together. One possibility is that he gave them the milk first, but it presents a problem. The gemara says (Bava Metz. 87) that the bread is left out because it had become tamei (impure), and the halacha states (Sh. Ar. Yoreh Deah 89:2) that when milk is followed by meat, one must eat some bread in between, and though the Rashba holds only water is necessary (Hag. HaGra ibid. 9), water isn't mentioned in the pasuk. Based on cases in the gemara (Sanh. 65a), the Malbim suggests that Avraham used kabbalah to create an animal to serve his guests (the calf he had MADE). We can add that the original calf was no longer usable, since the bread was tamei, and only with bread could Avraham serve the milk and meat separately. So he conjured up a "tofu cow", just what was needed for the occasion. A Time To Laugh What was the first nickname given in the Torah? Avi! (see 22:7) Did you know that Lot's last name was "Dash"? (see 19:26) Worthy Of Note (22:24) "...and Ma'achah." Rashi calculates that Nachor had twelve sons. But Seforno says that Ma'achah was a girl, and was mentioned to tell Avraham that he could choose her for Yitzchak if he should reject Rivkah. (This leaves us with eleven sons.) Why deviate from Rashi's explanation? So, it has been suggested that the Seforno was bothered by the question, "If Avraham was being informed of the birth of Ytizchak's future wife, (as Rashi himself explains), why didn't he specify her name to Eliezer?" So now we understand. Avraham wished to be sure Eliezer would choose between Ma'achah and Rivkah properly, so he omitted their names, as a test to see if Eliezer found the best wife from the two or not. For, if Eliezer would have been neglkigent, he probably wouldn't have chosen one of the two at all! Since the answer to our question depends on there being TWO girls, Seforno identifies Ma'achah as one. From the Gemara (19:20) Shabb. 10b - the reason Lot's plea for Tzo'ar was answered, and it was spared, was that since it had been settled more recently, it had fewer sins. Therefore, a person should always try to live in a recently settled city. (19:27) Berach. 6b - anyone who sets a fixed place to pray will have help from the G-d of Avraham, who came to pray "in the place where he always prayed". (20:7) Makkos 9b - Why did Hashem tell Avimelech to return Sarah to Avraham "because he is a prophet"? Rather, in this context it means "a wise man". and responds to Avimelech's claims of innocence. Avraham, in his wisdom, knew that if they asked after his beautiful wife, not his welfare and lodgings, when he first arrived, then he should be careful. And also, from Hashem's threat of the death penalty, we see that Avimelech was liable with his life for not studying wisdom, from which he too could have understood that Avraham was only lying to save his life. Rare And Unusual Words (19:15) "Va'ya'itzu" - Rashi explains, based on Targum, "they hastened him". The gemara (Pesa. 94a) explains that this was how they covered the distance between S'dom and Tzo'ar, a distance of five mil, in a time normally sufficient for four mil travel.