Aliya Summary: Avram requested a sign from G‑d that his descendants
would inherit the land of Canaan. G‑d responded in the famous "Covenant
Between the Parts." Avram and the Divine Presence passed between an
assortment of halved animals, and G‑d told Avram that his descendants
would be exiled and in bondage for four hundred years. At the conclusion
of this period, Avram's descendants would leave with great wealth, G‑d
would punish the nations which enslaved them, and Avram's children
would inherit the lands of Canaan. Following this pact, Sarai -- seeing
that she and Avram were still childless -- suggested that Avram father a
child with her Egyptian maid, Hagar. Hagar conceived and began to
mistreat her mistress Sarai, who responded with a heavy hand, prompting
Hagar to flee. Hagar encountered an angel who encouraged her to return
to Sarai, promising her that the child she will bear will become a
great nation. She obeyed, and gave birth to Ishmael. At the very end of
this section, G‑d added the letter hey to Avram's name, making it
"Avraham."
This Aliya features classic struggles. Sara
struggles with her shortcoming when her handmaid, Hagar, gives birth
before her, and drives Hagar to flee (and return at the behest of G-d).
Avraham struggles with is feelings of inadequacy when he finds out
that he's not perfect in G-d's eyes because he isn't circumcised (he
fixes that right away). It's very telling that Avraham gets his name
"improved" before Sara does, probably as a subtle lesson to Sara for not
dealing with her issues appropriately.
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