Give Me a “Hey”!
13 years after his son Yishmael was born, when Avram was 99 years old, HaShem said to him, “I will make a covenant between us. I will make you the father of many nations and from now on, your name will no longer be Avram. It is Avraham, meaning the father of many. I will be your G-d and the G-d of all of your descendants forever and ever!”
Then HaShem commanded Avraham to circumcise himself (called a Bris Milah), as a sign of the covenant between them. He also commanded Avraham to pass on the covenant of circumcision to every Jewish male at the age of 8 days old.
There was still more news! Sarai got a new name, too – Sarah. And HaShem promised that Sarah would have a son. Now this made Avraham laugh with joy! After all, he was almost 100 years old and Sarah was 90!
HaShem told Avraham that his son’s name would be Yitzchak, meaning “he will laugh.”
