Hagar

[cellio]

Shabbat morning I heard a new-to-me interpretation of Hagar from one of our lay torah readers. Hagar is Sarah's maid-servant (or slave; the distinction is unclear to me), and when it becomes clear Sarah isn't going to be able to have a child she tells Avraham to have one with Hagar, which he does. Things seem fine and dandy until Sarah has Yitzchak, at which point she wants to throw Hagar and Yishmael out. (Is there midrash that casts Sarah in a better light than the plain reading of the text?)

Bruce pointed out that Hagar gets dumped on a lot but always manages to retain her dignity. She doesn't argue with the initial charge to have a son with Avraham. She doesn't lash out when she remains a slave instead of being promoted to concubine or half-wife. When Avraham and Sarah throw her out with nothing more than some bread and water, she leaves quietly. When she appeals to God, it's on behalf of her son, not for herself. She's been treated pretty badly (and I'm not saying one should stand silent when that happens!), but she manages to get by somehow.

I haven't given Hagar much thought in the past. We give high honor to the patriarchs and matriarchs even when they behave badly, but Hagar deserves some credit too. She should (IMO) have been more assertive earlier on, but she didn't lash out when it might have been justified. I wonder what the feminist torah commentaries (which I haven't read) have to say about her.

Comments

[cellio]

That's a good point -- she presumably learned from the earlier experience (including learning that God notices her).