The recent elections raised important questions about who embraces Israel’s social covenant – recognizing Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people. A similar theme emerges in Parshat Vayera: Who upholds Avraham’s values, expressed through the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests?

The parsha opens with Avraham sitting at the entrance of his tent, looking for passersby to welcome, as Rashi explains. In the next chapter, Lot also welcomes guests, but significant differences reveal that he has not internalized Avraham’s values. While Avraham runs toward his guests, Lot merely rises to greet them. Avraham involves Sarah and his household in caring for the visitors, while Lot’s family is absent. Most disturbingly, Lot offers his daughters to the mob in place of his guests. Beneath his hospitality lies a distorted sense of righteousness. Despite being Avraham’s nephew, Lot fails to carry on his values. Sodom represents the opposite of Avraham’s open tent.

But what about Yishmael? After Yitzchak is weaned, Sarah sees Yishmael “playing.” The midrash interprets this seemingly innocent behavior as sinister: Yishmael was shooting arrows at Yitzchak. Like Lot, Yishmael fails to embrace Avraham’s values of justice and righteousness. Yet another midrashic tradition portrays Yishmael later repenting, with his household practicing hachnasat orchim by welcoming Avraham into their home.

These contrasting portrayals of Yishmael raise the question of what relationship his descendants will choose to have with Israel. The election results highlight tensions between many Arab citizens and the Jewish state. Will voices of rejection prevail, or can Jewish and Arab Israelis embrace Avraham’s values and his model of an open tent, building a shared future in mutual respect and peace? Shabbat Shalom -Karen Miller Jackson