The story of the banishing of Hagar, which is at the center of this week's parasha, raises a number of difficulties. What was Avraham's attitude toward Hagar and Yishmael? On one hand, he opposes banishing them and agrees to do so only when God commands him to listen to Sara (Bereishit 21:11-12). On the other hand, when he does send them away, he gives them only a little bread and water (21:14); he does not provide them with a reserve supply of water; he does not provide them with servants or gifts, nor even equip them with a map so that they will not become lost. As a contrast, we discover later on in the parasha – when Avraham sends away the children of his concubines – how he could have sent off Yishmael, his beloved son, as well:[1]
But to the sons of the concubines that Avraham had, Avraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from Yitzchak, his son, while he yet lived – eastward, to the east country. (Bereishit 25:6)
We might understand Yishmael being sent away empty-handed if we assume that Avraham fears he might return home and sabotage Yitzchak's inheritance, and acts to prevent this scenario. Yishmael is, after all, Avraham's lawful son, and has legal grounds to demand a portion of the inheritance.[2] Had Avraham given Yishmael gifts and sent him off in style, his actions might have been interpreted as an acknowledgment of sorts of Yishmael's status as heir. Avraham therefore gives him an ignominious send-off, to prevent any doubts about Yitzchak's exclusive status. The sons of the concubines, in contrast, have no legal rights, so there is no concern that they will undermine Yitzchak's status as sole heir.
Esav vs. Yishmael
We can elaborate further on this point. As we know, Sefer Bereishit describes a process of selection among the first generations of humanity, starting from Kayin and Hevel, continuing with Noach and his family, and leading up to Avraham and his descendants. Avraham has two sons from two wives: Yitzchak, son of Sara, is chosen over Yishmael, son of Hagar. Yitzchak has two sons from Rivka, and Yaakov is chosen over Esav. The process of selection continues among Yaakov's sons, but all twelve tribes are included within the chosen nation – Am Yisrael.
Who occupies a higher level – Yishmael or Esav? Our initial response might be that Esav occupies a higher level since, like Yaakov, he is the son of both Yitzchak and Rivka, while Yishmael shares only a father with Yitzchak but has a different mother. However, the text paints a different picture.
First of all, let us consider Hagar. There is no question that Hagar is a special person, insofar as she merits to bear a descendant to the house of Avraham. An angel is revealed to her, which is not a common occurrence among regular people. Moreover, Hagar obeys the angel's command: "Return to your mistress and submit yourself under her hands" (Bereishit 16:9) – even though it was after experiencing such submission that she ran away from Sara in the first place.[3]
What of Yishmael himself? His name is established by the angel even before his birth, just as Yitzchak's name is established by an angel. God grants Yishmael blessings that recall the blessings to the forefathers, and he has twelve children – paralleling the twelve tribes of Israel. In future generations, too, Yishmael's descendants do not worship idols and they practice circumcision, while Esav's descendants are idolatrous and do not circumcise. It is not for nothing that the Gemara notes that Yishmael repents at the end of his life, and there are figures in Jewish history (such as R. Yishmael, the Kohen Gadol) who are named after him, whereas we do not find Jews named after Esav.
These parallels (and contrasts) underline the necessity, as noted above, of banishing Yishmael in a way that will leave no doubt that Yitzchak is Avraham's sole heir. Now we understand why Yishmael is sent away empty-handed and with no support.
"And she cast the child under one of the shrubs"
With this understanding of Avraham's actions, let us now look at Hagar's behavior. Seemingly, she acts very strangely. When the water that she is sharing with her only son runs out, Hagar makes no attempt to provide relief for her son in his final moments; rather, she abandons him, thinking only of herself: "Let me not look upon the child's death" (Bereishit 21:16). The text does not describe her as "placing" him on the ground, but rather as "casting (va-tashleich]" her child under a shrub (21:15). This does not seem to reflect a normal maternal instinct – and especially not the behavior of a woman who has lived for some time in Avraham's home.
To better understand Hagar's actions, we need to look at the final section of the parasha – the account of the Akeda (the binding of Yitzchak). What we discover is that paralleling the binding of Yitzchak by Avraham, Hagar too is required to sacrifice her son and to bind him on the altar of a test of faith.
"For in Yitzchak shall your seed be called"
One of the most perplexing difficulties arising from the story of the Akeda – and one that has occupied countless commentators through the ages – is the question of how Avraham resolves in his own mind the contradiction between the Divine promise, "for through Yitzchak shall your seed be called" (Bereishit 21:12), and the Divine command to slaughter his son (22:2). (The midrash famously addresses this question, but its resolution is unsatisfying.) Of course, we might posit that Avraham's perfect faith requires him to accept God's command unquestioningly and with love, but aside from the psychological improbability, there is also a more essential question: how is Avraham to know which command to obey? Should he slaughter his son, or should he put all his efforts into the fulfillment of the Divine promise? Perhaps passing the test means refusing to slaughter Yitzchak, despite the explicit command to do so?
There seems to be a simple answer to this question. Let us imagine that God promises someone that a certain object will bring him great wealth, and the person then goes and sells the object. It seems that such an act does not violate God's promise. When God promises something, it is always possible that the promise will not be fulfilled. Of course, God does not go back on His word, but sometimes the person himself rebels against the promise, in the sense that his actions cause it to be broken. Thus, we might explain that in the test of the Akeda, God calls upon Avraham to forgo the promise that "in Yitzchak shall your seed be called." Avraham is asked not only to slaughter his only son, whom he loves, Yitzchak, but also to forgo the entire future of Am Yisrael.
This explanation might resolve the exegetical difficulty raised above, but at the same time, it creates a different one, no less troubling: Why would God call upon Avraham to relinquish so much?
Sara vs. Hagar
"And it came to pass after these things that God tested Avraham." (Bereishit 22:1)
The opening words of the account of the Akeda point to a connection between this episode and the preceding ones. The Torah does not explain the nature of this connection, but the link between the Akeda and the banishing of Hagar is easy to see: Sara and Avraham are required to face exactly the same test that was faced by Hagar. Just as Avraham was promised that "in Yitzchak shall your seed be called," and later on he was commanded to bind his son on the altar – so Hagar, too, is promised by the angel (when she leaves Avraham's house for the first time), "I shall greatly multiply your seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude" (Bereishit 16:10). Later on, when she is banished again, it appears as though Yishmael's end is drawing near and God's promise is broken. It seems that God wants Avraham to face the same situation that Hagar had faced previously.
Did Hagar pass the test of sacrificing her child? Let us try for a moment to put ourselves in her place. Hagar is trying to understand why the promise conveyed to her by the angel is disintegrating. The answer to the question seems simple: she sinned and has been found unworthy of God's promise, thus God has annulled it and now wants to end Yishmael's life. Hagar therefore tries to cut off contact between herself and her son, so as to prevent his death. She casts him under a shrub, demonstrating that she is no longer connected to him and cannot be punished for her sins by his death.
And indeed, the separation between Hagar and Yishmael is immediate. Although the Torah notes that Hagar wept but makes no mention of Yishmael weeping, God hears "the voice of the boy where he is" (Bereishit 21:17).[4] Hagar's actions are somewhat reminiscent of Chana, mother of the prophet Shmuel. After years of childlessness, she prays for a son she can dedicate to God. Thus, the child will not be hers, but will belong to God – such that any sins Chana bears should not present an obstacle to him being born.
Let us dwell for a moment on Hagar's actions. When a person is faced with a test, there are three possibilities. The first and second are straightforward: pass or fail. But there is also a third possibility: to protest against the test and refuse to submit to it. When God tests Avraham, He calls to him and Avraham answers, "Here I am." The meaning of this answer is a readiness to face the test. Hagar, on the other hand, is not willing to be tested. If her child may die solely as a test of whether she will then deny or oppose God, her response is to cast him under one of the shrubs, severing the connection between them. She distances the child from herself, declaring, as it were, that what happens to him happens without her knowledge; she cannot be tested through her son.
Avraham too, like Hagar, understands that God wants him to forgo the promise of progeny. For this reason, he makes no attempt to argue with God (as he did when informed of the impending destruction of Sedom), since this surrender depends on Avraham's own free will. He has the possibility of declaring himself unwilling to face this test – but he chooses instead to bind Yitzchak as a sacrifice and is prepared to slaughter him. Thus, Avraham faces the same test which he caused Hagar to encounter. But while Hagar refuses the test, Avraham passes it.
Not only Avraham emerges victorious from the Akeda. The midrash teaches that Sara, too, passes the same test:
"And Avraham came to eulogize Sara" (Bereishit 23:2) – Where did he come from? …. From Mount Moria. For Sara had died of that sorrow [of the Akeda]; therefore the [account of the] Akeda is followed immediately by, "And the life of Sara…" [i.e., the account of her death]. (Bereishit Rabba 58:5)
Since it is Sara who initiates the banishing of Yishmael, she, too, must undergo the test of the binding of Yitzchak. God informs Sara about the Akeda (even though He knows in advance that Yitzchak will not die) in order to put Sara, too, to the test. It is a test for her too, not just for Avraham.
The significance of the test
In sending Yishmael away, Avraham adopts extreme measures in order to fulfill as perfectly as possible the Divine command, "for in Yitzchak shall your seed be called." Such measures can only be justified when a person is truly committed to God's command with every fiber of his being. The purpose of the Akeda is to test Avraham's level of dedication: Does the banishing of Yishmael in disgrace stem from Avraham's self-annulment before God's command, or did he have improper motivations? When Avraham binds Yitzchak, sacrificing his own entire future and legacy on the altar of God's command – then, and only then, is it clear that Yishmael was banished out of the same absolute commitment:
For now I know that you are God-fearing, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me. (Bereishit 22:12)
(Translated by Kaeren Fish; edited by Sarah Rudolph)
[1] It is possible that when Avraham sends off the children of the concubines, he has already learned a lesson from the results of the way he sent off Hagar and Yishmael – but it is difficult to imagine that he could not have thought about this from the outset. Notably, neither Sara nor God tells Avraham how to send Hagar and Yishmael away from his home, and seemingly neither would object to a more generous farewell.
[2] Yishmael's status as the son of a handmaid is identical to the status of the sons of the handmaids of Yaakov. Perhaps he is personally less worthy, but since Avraham takes Hagar as a wife in view of Sara not having borne children, Yishmael is his legal son for all intents and purposes.
[3] The angel tells Hagar at the well, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude" (Bereishit 16:10). This expression, "I will greatly multiply (harbeh arbeh)," is an unusual one, and it occurs in only two other places in Tanakh: one is God's punishment to Chava, where He tells her, "I will greatly multiply your pain and your travail" (3:16); the second is after the binding of Yitzchak, when He promises Avraham, "I will greatly multiply your seed… and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through your seed" (22:17). It seems that Avraham is called upon to repair some of the negative results of the sin of Adam (just as Noach was supposed to do, but was unsuccessful). Avraham's first child was subject to suffering under Sara's hands as a continuation of the difficulties entailed in the curse to Chava. After Yishmael is sent away from Avraham's house, the blessing passes to Yitzchak, but with a certain difference: Yishmael is "a wild man, his hand against all, and the hand of all against him" (16:12); he is destined to be in constant conflict with his neighbors. Yitzchak, in contrast, is not destined to wage war against the nations; on the contrary: "all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through his seed" (18:18).
[4] Chazal hint to this when they note that God looked upon Yishmael as he was, at that time, without regard for the personality he would develop later on.
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