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

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Midrash interprets "mitzak" here as any of the following:
1) Ishamel tried to rape Isaac. This is derived from the subsequent use of "mitzachek" in Toldot where Yitchak and Rivka are pretending to be brother and sister, until Avimelech sees the two of them "mitzachek" and realizes they are husband and wife.

2) Ishamel tried to kill Isaac.

3) Ishmael tried to get Isaac to worship idols.

The link is obvious because these are the three "yehareg v'al yeavor" sins (murder, idolotry, sexual immorality). Not sure if there is a better source in midrash for the other two.

Midrash also asserts that Hagar was an instigator in this, although there is no textual support for this.

In this light, Sarah is seeking physical and moral protection for her child.