This past Shabbat, totally out of the blue, a congregant came up to me and asked me a question. Apparently I must have missed that class, because I did not know the answer. Forgive me as I post my ignorance, but as I do not have the answer, I turn to you...
When Sara hears that she will become pregnant, her response includes the fact that she says Abraham is old- the implication is that he is not exactly the stallion he may have been in his younger years.
Much later on, we discover that Abraham has married Ketura and had more children. How did he do it?
---A Morasha member
Here are 2 approaches:
- Both Abraham and Sara had a rebirth/rejuvenation [reJEWvenation?] when their names got changed. A Convert is like a newborn [ger shinisgayer kekatan shenolad dami]
- Ein mukdam um'uchar batorah. This story is out of sequence and it is simply catching up with old news that Abraham HAD Had in the past taken another wife named Keturah. This passage is a flashback to when Abraham "sowed" his wild oats and it is put here in juxtaposition to Abraham designating Isaac as his successor [to the exclusion of Isaac's half-siblings] before Abrahma's own death.
--
Kol Tuv / Best Regards,
RabbiRichWolpoe@Gmail.com
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