Sarah is the wife of Abraham, who is generally considered the first “Hebrew” (what we would call a Jew). God promises that Abraham’s offspring will be more numerous than the stars and sand, but Abraham and Sarah are very old and still childless, though Abraham has a son named Ishmael with his second wife, Hagar.

Then one day, three messengers (angels, or men, depending on the interpretation) arrive at Abraham and Sarah’s tent. They announce that Sarah will bear a child the next year. Sarah laughs, saying that it’s too late for her - but she miraculously becomes pregnant and gives birth, the next year, to Isaac.

Sarah’s relationship to Hagar and Ishmael remains fraught throughout their time in the household together. One day, angry at Ishmael’s behavior at Isaac’s weaning-feast, Sarah banishes them to the wilderness.

The following episode happens a number of years later (interpretations differ on exactly how many years.) Jews often refer to the story we are about to read as the Akeidah, the “Binding” of Isaac.