Just Laugh

There's probably never been a better week in the history of the Jewish people than this one for Vayera, this week's Torah portion, to pop up in our regular reading cycle. Because something, all you can do when you look at the world, is laugh.

Written Format¹

Here’s a question that’s worth asking in 2020. When was the last time you laughed out loud at the absurdity of the world? Because sometimes, even in the most serious and life-threatening situations, we can’t help but succumb to one of our most basic human instincts to laugh in the face of danger.

At the end of last week’s Torah portion, G-d visits Avram and Sarai, and makes a covenant with them, after which the pair become known as Abraham and Sarah. It is here, as Abraham circumcises himself and his son Ishmael, that G-d promises that Sarah, at this point a 90 year old woman, will give birth to a son in a year’s time.

And in this weeks portion, G-d reappears, as promised, and repeats the promise that Sarah will conceive a child.

Sarah, who over hears this from outside the tent, and laughs, not unlike how Abraham laughed last week, when G-d delivered the original prophecy. But in our story, their laughter isn’t treated equally.

Abraham’s laughter is skipped over, essentially, in last week’s portion, as G-d hurries to lay out the details of how Isaac, the object of this prophecy, will continue the covenant G-d is making with Abraham.

But Sarah is directly confronted by G-d over reacting to the news of her pregnancy with the type of uninhibited laughter reserved for those times when you learn your deepest held desires will be fulfilled, but in the most implausible way possible. For Sarah it was finally getting pregnant, and giving birth to a son at age 90.

And even though G-d rebukes Sarah for laughing, her son is named Isaac, meaning one who laughs.

For me, this has been a challenging week. And I’m definitely not alone. It’s been an absurd week, and like Sarah teaches us in the Torah this week, sometimes the best thing to do in the most serious moments is simply to laugh, not at anyone or anything in particular, or even with anyone else. Sometimes there’s nothing else to do but laugh to yourself at the absurdity of life.

Shabbat shalom

¹Please note, this is not a true transcript. I usually make editorial changes during the recording process to my written d’var. Sometimes I remember to update the file later, but there are often small discrepancies between the two.