Most gas drivers have experienced running low on fuel, but the stakes feel different with an electric vehicle. When the battery estimate drops into the single digits, the remaining miles become something between a math equation and a prayer. Drivers begin shutting off climate control, dimming screens, reducing speed, drafting behind trucks, anything to stretch out the last few electrons. In one widely reported case, an EV owner in Michigan found himself creeping along the shoulder of I-94 in winter, with sub-freezing temperatures cutting his projected range by nearly 40 percent. He turned off the heater and drove wearing a ski jacket, trying to conserve the final miles as the charge estimate bounced unpredictably. The vehicle eventually stopped with zero miles remaining, and roadside assistance had to tow him to the nearest charger.

Another scenario is less dramatic but more common: range miscalculation due to missing or occupied chargers. Outside major cities, charging stations can be sparse, and apps sometimes show chargers as available when they are offline or blocked by internal-combustion vehicles (“ICE’d”). Surveys show that 16 percent of EV owners have run out of charge at least once, often not because they misjudged the distance, but because the charger they planned for wasn’t usable when they arrived.

In this weeks Torah reading, titled “Vayera” we have a story of a biblical figure who is stranded and runs out of water before reaching their destination.

However, before we get to our stranded travelers we need to summarize the action up until that point.

During last week’s Torah reading of “Lech Lecha” we saw how Abraham’s wife, Sarah, unable to have a child suggests Abraham sleep with her maidservant Hagar. The union is effective, and Yishmael is born.

This week’s reading starts immediately after Abraham circumcises himself and his household as per God’s command. While he’s recovering, three angels, appearing as human merchants, visit Abraham. Abraham is excited to host them and offers them a lavish meal. They proclaim that at the same time next year, Sarah will give birth to a son.

After the incredulous news, the visitors depart, and God informs Abraham of his plan to destroy the wicked city of Sodom. It is at this point of the narrative that we finally learn why Abraham is chosen to be the progenitor of a great people and why Abraham is so dear to God, that God includes him in his “inner” discussions.

The Torah states in Genesis 18:17-19:

Now God had said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him? For I have singled him out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of God by doing what is just and right.”

God chooses Abraham because He knows that Abraham will teach his progeny to do what is just and right and will therefore become a blessing to the world.

As soon as Abraham learns of God’s plan to destroy Sodom, he pleads for mercy. Abraham negotiates with God and asks him to spare the entire city if sufficient righteous people can be found there. However, except for Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family, nobody in Sodom is worthy of saving. It’s demonstrated vividly in the scene where two of the angels who had visited Abraham go to Sodom. Lot begs them to get off the street and take shelter in his home where he will provide a feast. However, shortly thereafter it seems all the residents of Sodom congregate around Lot’s house and demand to have carnal relations with the two visitors (hence the term Sodomize).

To make a fascinating story short, the angels save Lot, his wife and two daughters, while raining fire and brimstone upon Sodom. Lot’s wife, who looks back upon the destruction against the angel’s command is transformed into a pillar of salt. To make the story even more unusual, Lot’s daughters seem to think that it was the end of humanity and that they are the only humans left, so in a noble effort to continue humanity, they get their father drunk and each have relations with him during his inebriated state on successive nights and each give birth to a son.

A year later, Sarah herself gives birth to a son, as prophesized. He is named Isaac (in Hebrew, Yitzchak, meaning will laugh, due to the almost comic event of a 90-year old woman giving birth. Abraham is 100 years old. When Isaac is weaned, Abraham and Sarah throw a big party to commemorate the event. However, Sarah is disturbed by Yishmael’s behavior and orders Abraham to banish him and his mother Hagar from their household. Abraham is not happy, but God intervenes as per Genesis 21:12:

But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed over the boy or your maidservant; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says,”

That last phrase, whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, has been quoted by many a Jewish wife in the four millennia since as prooftext that a Jewish wife is always right.

God also tells him that they will be fine, and Yishmael himself will be the founder of a great nation. Abraham dutifully follows God’s command and sends Hagar and Yishmael on their way with water and provisions.

However, something goes wrong. They get lost. They wander in the desert, and their water and provisions are exhausted. Hagar is ready to give up. Then an angel appears and shows her the water well that was in plain sight. The Torah tells us how Hagar finds a wife for Yishmael from Egypt and he indeed became the father of a great and unruly nation.

The reading ends with one of the most poignant (and misunderstood) readings of the Book of Genesis, where God asks Abraham to bring his son Isaac as “an offering.” Abraham is willing and travels to the mountain God directs him to. At the last minute an angel from God tells Abraham that Abraham has proven himself and there is no need to sacrifice Isaac. It is also the same narrative that is read from the Torah during the Rosh Hashana (New Year) liturgy.

The very last few sentences of the reading, brings a short genealogical listing of Abraham’s siblings, who not coincidentally includes the name of Rebecca, the woman who would become Isaac’s wife.

To be continued.