{"id":37303,"date":"2018-07-09T18:49:54","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-21\/"},"modified":"2022-03-05T23:43:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-05T21:43:21","slug":"wall-21","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-21\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Genesis-21"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"21","date":"20250928","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","books_group":"Torah","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"posts":[{"order":1,"id":"39924","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Genesis 21 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Genesis 21 - Judy Hammond","slug":"genesis-21-judy-hammond","old_id":"39924","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Genesis 21","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/genesis-chapter-21-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"102628","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Hagar The Stranger ","post_title":"Hagar The Stranger","slug":"hagar-the-stranger","old_id":"102628","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Abraham wasn\u2019t sensitive to her oppression, but God wanted the nation that came from him to understand what oppression felt like\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In <\/span>my post on Genesis Chapter 16<\/span><\/a>, I related an interpretation of the Sarai and Hagar story provided by Rabbi David Fohrman. Rabbi Fohrman continued his analysis of this episode with a brilliant (in my opinion) comparison of these chapters with the story of the Israelites\u2019 experience in Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why, asks Fohrman, does the introduction of Hagar in Genesis 16 begin with a mention of her nationality as an Egyptian, almost immediately on the heels of God telling Abraham \u201cyour seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they (the Egyptians) will enslave and oppress them (15:13)?\u201d Is the Torah trying to draw our attention to a possible connection between these two historical episodes?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Consider these similarities, as explained by Fohrman:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the foretelling of the Israelites slavery (15:13) and with respect to Sarah\u2019s treatment of Hagar (16:6), the Torah uses the same word \u201c<\/span>inu<\/span><\/em> - oppressed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Chapter 21, Hagar was expelled from Abraham and Sarah\u2019s house and was left wandering in the desert, similar to the Israelites\u2019 eventual expulsion from Egypt and desert-wandering.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Before sending Hagar away, Abraham placed bread on her shoulder, evoking a similar image of the Israelites carrying their unleavened bread as they fled.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Hagar and her son Ishmael were close to perishing, an angel appeared to Hagar and told her \u201c<\/span>Al tiri\u2019<\/span><\/em> \u2013 do not fear (21:17)\u201d, and they were saved from dying of thirst by the miraculous appearance of a well. Similarly, when the Israelites were faced with certain death at the shore of the Red Sea, Moses told them \u201c<\/span>Al tira\u2019u<\/span><\/em> \u2013 do not fear (Exodus 14)\u201d, and they were saved from certain death by the splitting of the sea \u2013 another miracle involving water.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The moral that Rabbi Fohrman draws in this telling is that Hagar, as her very name suggests, was a stranger (<\/span>ger<\/span><\/em>) in Abraham and Sarah\u2019s household, and experienced oppression. This episode is a foreshadowing of the oppression to be experienced by the Israelites when they will be \u201ca stranger \u2013 <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em>\u201d in Hagar\u2019s homeland. Abraham wasn\u2019t sensitive to Hagar\u2019s oppression, but God wanted the nation that came from him to understand what oppression felt like. Unless we did, we would not be able to fulfill the future commandment \u201cYou shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him (Exodus 22).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Listen to Rabbi Fohrman\u2019s full audio-video explanation on the<\/span> AlephBeta website).<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":36806,"alt":"","title":"hagar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","width":626,"height":176,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-300x84.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":84,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","medium_large-width":626,"medium_large-height":176,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","large-width":626,"large-height":176,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","1536x1536-width":626,"1536x1536-height":176,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","2048x2048-width":626,"2048x2048-height":176,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","post_full_size-width":626,"post_full_size-height":176,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","home_baner-width":626,"home_baner-height":176}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Hagar The Stranger","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Abraham wasn\u2019t sensitive to her oppression, but God wanted the nation that came from him to understand what oppression felt like","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":36806,"alt":"","title":"hagar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","width":626,"height":176,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-300x84.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":84,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","medium_large-width":626,"medium_large-height":176,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","large-width":626,"large-height":176,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","1536x1536-width":626,"1536x1536-height":176,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","2048x2048-width":626,"2048x2048-height":176,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","post_full_size-width":626,"post_full_size-height":176,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","home_baner-width":626,"home_baner-height":176}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"469","name":"Egypt","old_id":"869"}]},{"order":3,"id":"102618","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Laughter Is The Best Medi-son ","post_title":"Laughter Is The Best Medi-son","slug":"laughter-is-the-best-medi-son","old_id":"102618","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The palette of laughter - from disbelief to joy to\u2026\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Abraham and Sarah finally have the child they desired and name him Isaac\/Yitzchak. In chapter 17, God tells Abraham he will have a son and \u201cAbraham threw himself on his face and <\/span>laughed<\/span><\/em> (<\/span>va-yitzchak<\/span><\/em>), as he said to himself, \u2018Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?\u2019\u201d(17:17). God dismisses Abraham\u2019s laughter at the promise and informs Abraham that the child should be named Isaac\/Yitzchak, Ostensibly because of Abraham\u2019s reaction, although God does not directly say so: \u201cGod said, \u2018Nevertheless, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac (Yitzchak)\u2019\u201d(17:18).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the next chapter, Sarah seems to have an identical reaction to the news, but not an identical response. \u201cAnd Sarah <\/span>laughed<\/span><\/em> (<\/span>va-titzchak<\/span><\/em>) to herself, saying, \u2018Now that I am withered, am I to have enjoyment\u2014with my husband so old?\u2019\u201d (18:12). God seems upset with her reaction: \u201cThen God said to Abraham, \u2018Why did Sarah laugh, saying, \u201cShall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?\u2019\u201d (18:13). God seems to question Sarah\u2019s faith by laughing at God\u2019s ability to have an elderly person conceive a son. Sarah, in turn, is embarrassed and she tries to hide what she did. \u201cSarah lied, saying, \u201cI did not laugh,\u201d for she was frightened. But He replied, \u201cYou did laugh\u2019\u201d (18:15).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why is Abraham\u2019s laughter dismissed and Sarah\u2019s is admonished? Even their way of laughing is not proportional to God\u2019s reaction. In chapter 17, Abraham literally falls on his face laughing, but in 18, Sarah laughs to herself!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Some commentators point out that in verse 13 God only says that Sarah laughed at herself and not him for \u201c<\/span>shalom bayit<\/span><\/em>\u201d(marital harmony) purposes.\u00a0 The implication is that Sarah did something wrong by including Abraham and that was why God was upset. However, in chapter 17, Abraham also laughs at both of them, so that answer does not seem to fit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If we look carefully at verse 13, God is talking to Abraham, not Sarah. If God was angry at Sarah, he should have admonished her! Perhaps God is upset because Sarah\u2019s reaction indicates that <\/span>Abraham<\/span><\/em> did not tell her. That is also why after Sarah lies, God only confirms that she laughed but does not rebuke her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God is angry at Abraham because by hiding the promise from Sarah, <\/span>Abraham<\/span><\/em> questioned God\u2019s ability to give them a child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sarah gets the last laugh in today\u2019s chapter: \u201cSarah said, \u2018God has brought me <\/span>laughter<\/em> <\/span>(<\/span>tzechok<\/span><\/em>); everyone who hears will <\/span>laugh<\/span><\/em> (<\/span>yitzchak<\/span><\/em>) with me.\u2019\u201d (21:6). This time, Sarah\u2019s laughter is flipped, and she is given the chance to be happy again and that everyone will be happy for her. Abraham, on the other hand, is punished for his failure to believe his wife could have a child. \u201cSarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing (<\/span>metzachek<\/span><\/em>).\u201d (21:9) Abraham\u2019s son Ishamel is ultimately exiled from the household by Sarah, for joking around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102619,"alt":"","title":"-6223a38d31263--6223a38d31264gen21-laughter smile.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6223a38d31263-6223a38d31264gen21-laughter-smile.jpg-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Laughter Is The Best Medi-son","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The palette of laughter - 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He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"She\u2019s the boss\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a> deals with the birth of Isaac, the banishment of Hagar and Ishmael and Abraham\u2019s covenant with Abimelech. When Sarah sees Hagar\u2019s son, Ishmael, playing, apparently, with her own son Isaac, she demands that Abraham cast out Hagar and Ishmael so that Ishmael will not share in the Abrahamic inheritance of Isaac. Abraham is much distressed, but<\/span> God says to him<\/span><\/a>: \u201cDo not be distressed\u2026Whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says \u2013 <\/span>shema be-kolah<\/em> <\/span>(\u201clisten to her voice\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is not the first time that Abraham has \u201clistened to the voice\u201d of his wife, Sarah.<\/span> Genesis 16:2<\/span><\/a> relates that Abram acted on her suggestion that he take Hagar as his concubine \u2013 <\/span>va-yishma\u2019 Abram le-kol Sarai<\/em> <\/span>(\u201cAnd Abram listened to the voice of Sarai\u201d). On this verse,<\/span> Midrash Genesis Rabbah<\/span><\/a> comments that what Abram listened to was actually the \u201cvoice of the Holy Spirit\u201d speaking through his wife (see<\/span> Rashi to Genesis 16:2<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A more extensive version of this tradition is preserved in<\/span> Talmud Bavli<\/span><\/a>, which identifies a little known figure,<\/span> Iscah<\/span><\/a>, apparently Abraham\u2019s niece, with Sarah. Rabbi Yitz\u1e25ak says that Iscah is in fact Sarah. She was called Iscah because she \u201csees\u201d [<\/span>sokhah<\/span><\/i>] by means of the Holy Spirit. For it is<\/span> written<\/span><\/a>: \u201cWhatever Sarah tells you listen to her voice\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Midrash Genesis Rabbah<\/span><\/a> further comments on Abraham\u2019s \u201clistening to\u201d (i.e., obeying) Sarah\u2019s voice. Our rabbis taught that she ruled over her husband. Generally, it is the man who gives orders, but<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>: \u201cWhatever Sarah tells you, do as she says\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Midrash Deuteronomy Rabbah<\/span><\/a> finds in our chapter an example of a man profiting by listening to his wife.<\/span> As Scripture says<\/span><\/a>: \u201cAnd Abram listened to the voice of Sarai\u201d. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahman said: This can be compared to a man to whom a son was born. An astrologer foretold that this child would become the head of a band of robbers. So, it would be best for his father to cast him away. When the father heard this, he exclaimed: \u2018Shall I then cast away my son?!' But when the father of the astrologer heard this, he said: \u2018Whatever my son has said hearken unto him.\u2019 Similarly, when Sarah saw Ishmael taking to evil ways, she told Abraham to cast him out and this grieved Abraham. Whereupon God appeared to Abraham and<\/span> said to him<\/span><\/a> : \u2018Do not be distressed over the boy or your slave. Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice.\u2019. And so, Abraham did indeed do as Sarah told him and cast Ishmael and his mother, Hagar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The result of Abraham \u201clistening to Sarah\u2019s voice\u201d here was that he was rewarded by having descendants through Isaac. As<\/span> God assures Abraham<\/span><\/a>: \u201c\u2026It is through Isaac that offspring shall be called for you \u2013 <\/span>Ki be-Yitzhaq yikare\u2019 lekha zara\u2019<\/span><\/em>.<\/em> God says: \u201cJust as there is the reward of one who listens to his wife, how much greater will be the reward for one who hearkens unto Me!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Francis Barraud, His Master's Voice, 1898 \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102623,"alt":"","title":"-6223c504d45cd--6223c504d45cegen21-dog victrola master's 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His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He would have painted his tamarisk \/ Like a mulberry tree in Van Gogh\u2019s eye\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cAnd Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-Sheva...\u201d<\/em> (Genesis 21:33)<\/p>\r\n

Did Abraham draw trees, not only plant them?<\/p>\r\n

He would have painted his tamarisk
\r\nLike a mulberry tree in Van Gogh\u2019s eye:
\r\nA candelabra aflame, lit by God,
\r\nOutshining a Mediterranean summer\u2019s morning sun.<\/p>\r\n

And Isaac\u2019s painting?
\r\nA Chinese ink-drawing:
\r\nOne small bird sitting on branch with yellow leaves;
\r\nAutumn dusk.<\/p>\r\n

Jacob\u2019s picture: against a backdrop of massing gray clouds,
\r\nWinter storm-winds mount a hill to attack
\r\nA solitary, dark olive-tree;
\r\nBranches bending, not breaking, not cracking, in the night.<\/p>\r\n

And my son\u2019s water-color of an oak in spring:
\r\nOne thick brown line,
\r\nA blotch of green,
\r\nHis smile of success.<\/p>\r\n

Masterpieces, four.<\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0\"Mulberry Tree\" by Vincent van Gogh, 1889 \/ flickr<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102626,"alt":"","title":"-6223c60cbbd74--6223c60cbbd75gen21-van gogh 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Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Drawing Trees","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"He would have painted his tamarisk \/ Like a mulberry tree in Van Gogh\u2019s eye","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":102626,"alt":"","title":"-6223c60cbbd74--6223c60cbbd75gen21-van gogh 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","post_title":"Jealousy, Spite - or Survival?","slug":"jealousy-spite-or-survival","old_id":"37335","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37333,"post_title":"Esther Jilovsky","slug":"esther-jilovsky","old_id":"37333","first_name":"Esther ","last_name":"Jilovsky","description":"Dr Esther Jilovsky is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. A native of Melbourne, Australia, she comes to the rabbinate with a PhD from the University of London in 2011. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she is the author of Remembering the Holocaust: Generations, Witnessing and Place and co-editor of In the Shadows of Memory: The Holocaust and the Third Generation. \r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr Esther Jilovsky is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52868,"alt":"","title":"esther jilovsky.jpeg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","width":3581,"height":5371,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1365,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How did living in this harsh landscape shape the lives of people in biblical times?","post_main_content_content":"

Driving from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea is like entering another world. The urban bustle of Jerusalem quickly gives way to stark rolling hills, as the road descends towards the lowest point on earth. Within a few minutes, the roadside vegetation just about disappears, replaced by smooth pale rock. At the beginning of the desert, the road winds down steeply through this landscape, barely changed since biblical times. The harsh rock glints in the strong sun, its smoothness belying the unforgiving nature of this landscape, the lack of water, the inescapable heat. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

When I read the Torah, I often find it difficult to imagine the lives of our patriarchs and matriarchs. They lived in such a different world. They were nomadic: wandering from place to place. Theirs was a world of tents and wells and camels, so removed from our modern world of houses, running water, cars and planes. Yet somehow, being in Israel, the very place where these stories happened, makes it easier to imagine. In the desert, I am repeatedly struck by the thought: How did living in this harsh landscape shape the lives of people in biblical times?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Genesis Chapter 21, we learn quite a lot about Sarah, our matriarch. When she and her husband Abraham were very old, Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac \u2013 so unbelievable that she laughed. Yet after this miraculous and joyous event, Sarah banishes Hagar, who had given birth to Abraham\u2019s son Ishmael. While this seems unkind, it is difficult to know what Sarah was thinking. We can never really know what\u2019s going on in another person\u2019s head. All the more so when this person lived thousands of years before us. Yet, travelling through the desert landscape, we can begin to imagine the harsh reality of their lives. Perhaps Sarah\u2019s decision was simply one of survival. Perhaps it was out of jealousy or spite. Or perhaps, she was simply following God\u2019s plan that Isaac be Abraham\u2019s heir. However uneasy we may find Sarah\u2019s banishment of Hagar today, the harsh desert landscape always reminds me just how different their world was from ours, and how little of it we can really understand.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54849,"alt":"","title":"jo24-desert","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert.jpg","width":1920,"height":1442,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-768x577.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":577,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-1024x769.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":769,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1154,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1442,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-1200x901.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":901,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-559x420.jpg","home_baner-width":559,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Jealousy, Spite - or Survival?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How did living in this harsh landscape shape the lives of people in biblical times?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54849,"alt":"","title":"jo24-desert","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert.jpg","width":1920,"height":1442,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-768x577.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":577,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-1024x769.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":769,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1154,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1442,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-1200x901.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":901,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-desert-559x420.jpg","home_baner-width":559,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"427","name":"Sarah","old_id":"827"},{"term_id":"430","name":"Land of Israel","old_id":"830"}]},{"order":7,"id":"37321","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sarah\u2019s Exiling ","post_title":"Sarah\u2019s Exiling","slug":"sarahs-exiling","old_id":"37321","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37136,"post_title":"Jill Borodin","slug":"jill-borodin","old_id":"37136","first_name":"Jill ","last_name":"Borodin","description":"Rabbi Jill Borodin, a native of Toronto, currently serves as the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle . Rabbi Borodin was ordained at JTS in 2001 and received her MA in Jewish Education there. Rabbi Borodin has lived in Canada, Israel, France and the United States and volunteered with the Jewish community in Romania under the auspices of the Joint Distribution Committee. ","short_description":"Rabbi Jill Borodin currently serves as the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle .","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37137,"alt":"","title":"jill borodin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jill-borodin.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Sarah\u2019s disappearance from the text follows her call for the banishment of Hagar and Ishmael","post_main_content_content":"

Both Sarah and Hagar make their final appearance in this chapter. \u00a0Hagar\u2019s final act is finding her son a wife from the land of Egypt. \u00a0Sarah\u2019s final act is her banishing Hagar and Ishmael - using the word <\/span>\u05d2\u05bc\u05b8\u05e8\u05b5\u059b\u05e9\u05c1,\u00a0garesh<\/em><\/span> - to banish. This word is only used in only one other place, in a description by God that the children of Israel will be permanently exiled from Egypt. \u00a0Sarah is hoping to create a permanent deportation and exile of Hagar, a longstanding member of their household. It is striking that her calling for the banishing of another are the final words we hear from her, leading one to speculate about the injury she caused herself by calling for the exile of another. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While the midrash associates the death of Sarah with the binding of Isaac, Sarah\u2019s disappearance from the text follows her call for the banishment of Hagar and Ishmael.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is not clear what Ishmael does to bring out the protective mama bear in Sarah. We are told that Sarah sees Hagar the Egyptian\u2019s son \u05de\u05b0\u05e6\u05b7\u05d7\u05b5\u05bd\u05e7,\u00a0metzachek<\/em> (playing). The rabbis suggest a number of possible negative activities. Perhaps the problem is that Ishmael is being Yitzhakesque, as the word \u05de\u05b0\u05e6\u05b7\u05d7\u05b5\u05bd\u05e7 derives from the same root as Yitzhak\u2019s name. It is his similarity to Yitzhak that provokes Sarah\u2019s fear that he will take the place of Yitzhak. There is not enough for both sons in Abraham\u2019s household.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sarah shifts to more negative and depersonalizing references to Hagar and Ishmael to lower their status and undermine their legitimacy in the house of Abraham. \u00a0Hagar gets called \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b8\u05de\u05b8\u05a3\u05d4,\u00a0ha'amah<\/em> (the slave) which is a new term used to describe her rather than by her name and there are many references calling out her foreign status, referring to her being an Egyptian. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The chapter tells an intense tale of danger and destruction when we dehumanize and call for the exile of others. There is an imbedded suggestion of a different path we can follow. \u00a0Our story ends with God hearing the voice of the boy where he is and opening Hagar\u2019s eyes to a well. This is a call to us to follow God\u2019s example to hear the cry of the vulnerable wherever they might be, and to open our own eyes and the eyes of others to wells and possibilities that were previously not seen.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":37744,"alt":"","title":"sarah-crying with baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","width":630,"height":607,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby-300x289.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":289,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":607,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":607,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":607,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":607,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":607,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby-436x420.jpg","home_baner-width":436,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Sarah\u2019s Exiling","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Sarah\u2019s disappearance from the text follows her call for the banishment of Hagar and Ishmael","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":37744,"alt":"","title":"sarah-crying with baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","width":630,"height":607,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby-300x289.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":289,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":607,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":607,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":607,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":607,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":607,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/sarah-crying-with-baby-436x420.jpg","home_baner-width":436,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"427","name":"Sarah","old_id":"827"},{"term_id":"432","name":"Exile","old_id":"832"}]},{"order":8,"id":"37306","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Can We Heed the Call? ","post_title":"Can We Heed the Call?","slug":"can-we-heed-the-call","old_id":"37306","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hearing all those who cry out - wherever they are","post_main_content_content":"

I'm writing this on the first of Elul, beginning the period of preparation for Rosh Hashana. But that day is never called Rosh Hashana in the Torah. It's called a Yom Tru'ah<\/em>, literally, a day of crying out, or, Zichron Tru'ah<\/em>, a remembrance of crying out. What cries do we remember? Strangely, the first cry that the Torah reading of the day guides us to remember is none other than the cry of Ishmael in chapter 21.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ishmael who mocked Isaac.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ishmael who was expelled from his home upon Sarah's insistence, and with God's approval.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ishmael against whom, in the midrashic imagination, the angels rise up, reminding God of what his descendants will do to the Jewish people. Hagar herself finds Ishmael 's cries too much to bear, and she casts him away. Despite all this, God insists on listening to Ishmael \"where he is\" (<\/span>b<\/span><\/i>a'asher hu sham<\/span><\/em>), in all his present pain, in all his current innocence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If I wish to remind God of the ability to listen to the cry of each person ba'asher hu sham <\/em>on Rosh Hashana, then I must be willing to challenge myself with this responsibility as well. When my child, my spouse, my loved one, is in pain, am I present for them, or do I feel compelled to cast them away as Hagar did, unable to empathize, unable to be with them in their suffering? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And when I am present, am I capable of listening to their cry based on where they are now, or do I impose some vision of where I think they should be, or my fears of where they will go? And if I can do this for a loved one, as Hagar could not, can I do it even for a person I reject, for an \"enemy\", as God did? The coming month is for considering these questions, for working on our own listening, to prepare ourselves fully for a \"day of crying out\".<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":85640,"alt":"","title":"ps77-crying tears","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Can We Heed the Call?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Hearing all those who cry out - wherever they are","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":85640,"alt":"","title":"ps77-crying tears","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"405","name":"Memory","old_id":"805"}]},{"order":9,"id":"37311","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"What is With You, Hagar? ","post_title":"What is With You, Hagar?","slug":"what-is-with-you-hagar","old_id":"37311","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":77754,"post_title":"Alex Maged","slug":"alex-maged","old_id":"77754","first_name":"Alex ","last_name":"Maged","description":"Alex Maged holds a Masters in Biblical studies from Yeshiva University.","short_description":"Alex Maged holds a Masters in Biblical studies from Yeshiva University.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36463,"alt":"","title":"Alex-Maged","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Alex-Maged.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What is with you, Angel?","post_main_content_content":"

In today\u2019s chapter, Hagar and her son, Ishmael, wander in the wilderness until they run out of water. Hagar, despondent, \u201ccast[s] the child under one of the bushes\u201d and declares \u201c\u2018Let me not see the child\u2019s death.\u2019\u201d At that point, a stranger appears and proclaims: \u201cWhat is with you, Hagar? Do not fear.\u201d Hagar\u2019s eyes are then \u201copened,\u201d and she perceives a well of water before her, from which Ishmael drinks and is saved.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Taken literally, the query posed to Hagar in this episode strikes us as tone-deaf. Here stands a mother about to lose her child. There should be little room to wonder \u201cwhat is with you?\u201d Nor do suggestions to \u201chave no fear\u201d seem particularly helpful, either; under the circumstances, Hagar has every reason to be afraid.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet perhaps there lies another message in these words. After all, Hagar\u2019s interlocutor is no mere stranger; in fact, the text tells us, he is an \u201cangel.\u201d And perhaps his attempt to comfort her is, in turn, not merely aspirational, but also prophetic. For, parsed phonetically, the Hebrew words \u201cWhat is with you?\u201d \u2013 \u05de\u05d4 \u05dc\u05da, <\/span>mah lach<\/span><\/em> \u2013 might also communicate <\/span>\u05de\u05dc\u05d0\u05da,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>malach<\/span><\/em>: \u201cangel.\u201d And the words \u201cDo not fear\u201d \u2013 \u05d0\u05dc \u05ea\u05d9\u05e8\u05d0\u05d9, <\/span>al tiri<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 might also communicate \u05d0\u05dc <\/span>\u05ea\u05e8\u05d0\u05d9<\/span><\/i> \u2013 \u201cyou shall not <\/em><\/span>see<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i>\u201d And so, there are in fact two conversations taking place in this text. A stranger assures Hagar that she need not fear; and if she listens closely enough, Hagar will readily realize why that is indeed so. \u05de\u05dc\u05d0\u05da, \u05d4\u05d2\u05e8\u2014\u201cI am an angel, Hagar.\u201d And with respect to your concern\u2014\u201clet me not <\/span>see<\/em> <\/span>the death of the child\u201d\u2014I promise you: \u201cYou shall <\/span>not<\/em> <\/span>see!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The exchange between Hagar and the angel thus serves as a prime example of the ways in which Biblical texts play with phonetics to develop multiple layers of meaning simultaneously. It also offers an important lesson. Many times, when confronted by adversity, we would prefer to simply look the other way. Yet if, instead, we \u201copen our eyes\u201d\u2014and our ears\u2014to the challenge at hand, we may find that the solutions we seek lie much closer than we realize.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":37329,"alt":"","title":"hagar2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","width":476,"height":610,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-234x300.jpg","medium-width":234,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","medium_large-width":476,"medium_large-height":610,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","large-width":476,"large-height":610,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","1536x1536-width":476,"1536x1536-height":610,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","2048x2048-width":476,"2048x2048-height":610,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","post_full_size-width":476,"post_full_size-height":610,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-328x420.jpg","home_baner-width":328,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What is With You, Hagar?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What is with you, Angel?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":37329,"alt":"","title":"hagar2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","width":476,"height":610,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-234x300.jpg","medium-width":234,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","medium_large-width":476,"medium_large-height":610,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","large-width":476,"large-height":610,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","1536x1536-width":476,"1536x1536-height":610,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","2048x2048-width":476,"2048x2048-height":610,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","post_full_size-width":476,"post_full_size-height":610,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-328x420.jpg","home_baner-width":328,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"452","name":"Angel","old_id":"852"}]},{"order":10,"id":"37735","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Everyone Who Hears Will Laugh With Me ","post_title":"Everyone Who Hears Will Laugh With Me","slug":"everyone-who-hears-will-laugh-with-me","old_id":"37735","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36835,"post_title":"Trisha Arlin","slug":"trisha-arlin","old_id":"36835","first_name":"Trisha ","last_name":"Arlin ","description":"Trisha Arlin is a liturgist, performer, teacher and very part-time rabbinic student at the Academy for Jewish Religion. She was liturgist-In-Residence at the 2014 National Havurah Committee Summer Institute. A collection of her work, PLACE YOURSELF, with a foreword by Rabbi Jill Hammer and art by Mike Cockrill, will be published in Fall 2018 by Dimus Parrhesia Press. \r\nIndividual prayers and kavannot can be found online on Ritualwell, the Open Siddur Project and on her blog, Trisha Arlin: Words of Prayer and Intention www.triganza.blogspot.com","short_description":"Trisha Arlin is a liturgist, performer, teacher and very part-time rabbinic student at the Academy for Jewish Religion.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36836,"alt":"","title":"trisha arlin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin.jpg","width":218,"height":240,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin.jpg","medium-width":218,"medium-height":240,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin.jpg","medium_large-width":218,"medium_large-height":240,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin.jpg","large-width":218,"large-height":240,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin.jpg","1536x1536-width":218,"1536x1536-height":240,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin.jpg","2048x2048-width":218,"2048x2048-height":240,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin.jpg","post_full_size-width":218,"post_full_size-height":240,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trisha-arlin.jpg","home_baner-width":218,"home_baner-height":240}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A poem about divine punch lines","post_main_content_content":"

\u05d5\u05b7\u05ea\u05bc\u05b9\u05a3\u05d0\u05de\u05b6\u05e8 \u05e9\u05c2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b8\u0594\u05d4 \u05e6\u05b0\u05d7\u05b9\u0595\u05e7 \u05e2\u05b8\u05a5\u05e9\u05c2\u05b8\u05d4 \u05dc\u05b4\u0596\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05d4\u05b4\u0591\u05d9\u05dd \u05db\u05bc\u05b8\u05dc\u05be\u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05c1\u05bc\u05b9\u05de\u05b5\u0596\u05e2\u05b7 \u05d9\u05b4\u05bd\u05e6\u05b0\u05d7\u05b7\u05e7\u05be\u05dc\u05b4\u05bd\u05d9\u05c3<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sarah said, \u201cGod has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh with me.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

May God always bring you laughter.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Because,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Having invented banana peels,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ladders with buckets of water teetering on the top<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Also politics, war and late in life children,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God appears to love a good pratfall.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And then there's that magic comedy number three: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, those cut ups!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(I snort when I laugh, maybe God thunders?)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Oh and punchlines,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God definitely invented punchlines.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Amen.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":100474,"alt":"","title":"2chron18-banana peel 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Diversity Despite Difference ","post_title":"Celebrating Diversity Despite Difference","slug":"celebrating-diversity-despite-difference","old_id":"37315","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36535,"post_title":"Ezra Butler","slug":"ezra-butler","old_id":"36535","first_name":"Ezra ","last_name":"Butler","description":"Ezra Butler used to study third century texts, but is currently an artist and independent researcher living in Chicago.","short_description":"Ezra Butler used to study third century texts, but is currently an artist and independent researcher living in Chicago.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36536,"alt":"","title":"EzraButler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","width":597,"height":761,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","1536x1536-width":597,"1536x1536-height":761,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","2048x2048-width":597,"2048x2048-height":761,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","post_full_size-width":597,"post_full_size-height":761,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What Abraham might have said to family and friends from near and far","post_main_content_content":"

Thank you so much for coming from far and near to help us celebrate Isaac\u2019s birth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s been more than a quarter century since I last saw some of you, when I left home, following the call I heard to go for myself. I know what people thought of me when I left. I have thought long and hard about the animus I had left in my wake. I needed the distance and the time. I ran away to redefine and find myself, and together with Sarah, I am proud to announce I have. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

25 years is a long time, even for an old man like myself. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s my age, or the fact that we are here celebrating the birth of my son, but I have some thoughts that I wanted to share. I really don\u2019t agree with any of you, your arcane beliefs or your aberrant lifestyles.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Raqim, I think that your obsession with Ba\u2019al is insane\u2026 but I love the beautiful poetry you write to celebrate him. Abdel, you all know that I detest what your statues stand for, but I think you are a true artist. And now that I have two sons, Iram, I cannot fathom killing one of them for God. But that doesn\u2019t mean that I must cut you out of my life because of your ritual filicide. It must have been one of the most difficult decisions of your life, and I made it harder by not being there for you.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While I may disagree with your beliefs, myths and actions, I believe we can all sit together at the same table to celebrate. I\u2019ve learned to try to find righteousness in people I once considered \u201csinners\u201d. When I left home, I would have never imagined arguing with God to save some Sodomites. I was too much of a zealot. But I \u00a0see them as people now, and I feel like their death is my failure.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Friendship and family should not based upon mutual agreement of the state of cosmic affairs. It\u2019s about the ability to sit together and laugh and cry. In my home, everyone is welcome.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this spirit, Sarah and I have made the decision, albeit prematurely, that our son Isaac will marry someone from back home, from Ur of the Chaldees. Let\u2019s bridge this long-standing rift, and remember that we are friends and family, no matter what we believe. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

May Isaac bring laughter and friendship to everyone he meets.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":89225,"alt":"","title":"ps115-diversity","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Celebrating Diversity Despite Difference","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What Abraham might have said to family and friends from near and far","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":89225,"alt":"","title":"ps115-diversity","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps115-diversity-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"425","name":"Pluralism","old_id":"825"},{"term_id":"474","name":"Difference","old_id":"874"}]},{"order":12,"id":"37313","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Why is Abraham Complicit in Cruelty? 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\"Cast out that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!\u201d (Genesis 21:10)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hagar is an enslaved woman with no means, and her name literally means, \"stranger;\" Sarah would rather imperil the lives of a vulnerable woman and child than share the inheritance that is legitimately his. Abraham balks, but God tells him to heed her and Hagar and Ishmael are sent out into the ruthless desert. There is no justice here. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abraham is silent and obedient. \u00a0Where is the man who bravely confronted the Holy One a few short chapters earlier and demanded compassion for the vulnerable? And in Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to bind Isaac to the altar and slit his throat, and he is again ready to simply follow instructions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Met with the chance to demand mercy for the people of Sodom, Abraham is a prophet fighting for the people. Met with the chance to demand even simple justice for his own children, and he is mute, inert. Complicit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The reason why, I think, goes back to Abraham\u2019s own father, Terah. The midrash tells us that the young Abraham one day smashed the idols that his father made (Genesis Rabbah 38:11). Terah, furious, took him to the politically powerful Nimrod and the two men threw him into a fiery furnace, to be burned alive\u2014he survived only through divine intervention. \u00a0This is the abusive model of parenting that Abraham learned\u2014that children are not to be protected. Justice doesn\u2019t apply to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Even when Abraham set out to the Promised Land, he couldn't extract himself from the patterns he had learned as a child. He didn\u2019t have a model of fathering that involves love, caring or compassion, and so when asked to behave without mercy to his own sons, he doesn't comprehend that things could go a different way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our obligation is to try to become as clear as possible on on the ways in which we may have been thrown in the fire, and to acknowledge that, even if we did get out\u2014we may not be as unscathed as we might think we are. Knowing where we're burned enables us to be careful as we move forward, to try to bring healing, rather than suffering, down the generational lines.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":37331,"alt":"","title":"hagar-abraham","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","width":629,"height":209,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","medium_large-width":629,"medium_large-height":209,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","large-width":629,"large-height":209,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","1536x1536-width":629,"1536x1536-height":209,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","2048x2048-width":629,"2048x2048-height":209,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","post_full_size-width":629,"post_full_size-height":209,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","home_baner-width":629,"home_baner-height":209}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Why is Abraham Complicit in Cruelty?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Could it be the abusive model of parenting he learned from his father?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":37331,"alt":"","title":"hagar-abraham","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","width":629,"height":209,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","medium_large-width":629,"medium_large-height":209,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","large-width":629,"large-height":209,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","1536x1536-width":629,"1536x1536-height":209,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","2048x2048-width":629,"2048x2048-height":209,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","post_full_size-width":629,"post_full_size-height":209,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","home_baner-width":629,"home_baner-height":209}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"}]},{"order":13,"id":"37319","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"To Ishmael ","post_title":"To Ishmael","slug":"to-ishmael","old_id":"37319","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36455,"post_title":"Malka Simkovich","slug":"malka-simkovich","old_id":"36455","first_name":"Malka ","last_name":"Simkovich ","description":"Dr. Malka Simkovich is the Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies and director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, as well as a Core Faculty member of Drisha Institute. 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I found a place beyond the brush
\r\n<\/span>shielded from the summer\u2019s burn
\r\n<\/span>I lay you here, my covenant,
\r\n<\/span>\u200band<\/span> promise, child, to return<\/span><\/p>\r\n

with honeyed fingers I\u2019ll touch your lips
\r\n<\/span>I\u2019ll bathe you in a silent stream
\r\n<\/span>\u200bsoon I\u2019ll give you a god to love
\r\n<\/span>I\u2019ll come to you in a quiet dream <\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/p>\r\n

once a child killed his brother
\r\n<\/span>walked this path, a howling dune
\r\n<\/span>once the desert was his altar
\r\n<\/span>\u200bhe wandered under a trembling moon<\/span><\/p>\r\n

in a darkened valley the child stopped
\r\n<\/span>ran his fingers in the sand
\r\n<\/span>\u201cHere a girl will lay her child,
\r\n<\/span>fleeing from a promised land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102643,"alt":"","title":"-6223d421b46a6--6223d421b46a9gen21-mother child 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Entering the Covenant ","post_title":"Sarah's Entering the Covenant","slug":"sarahs-entering-the-covenant","old_id":"37426","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36663,"post_title":"Beth Kissileff","slug":"beth-kissileff","old_id":"36663","first_name":"Beth ","last_name":"Kissileff ","description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (2016 - https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/reading-genesis-9780567381521), and the forthcoming Reading Exodus, and the author of the novel Questioning Return - https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Questioning-Return-Novel-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/1942134231. \r\nHer journalism appears in many publications; she has taught most recently at the University of Pittsburgh. Visit her online at www.bethkissileff.com. 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There are many ways to think about memory and being remembered in the Tanakh. We generally assume that the root z-ch-r<\/em> for \u00a0memory is the most common way to state this idea in the Bible. But there is another root as well: p-k-d<\/em>. According to my Bible concordance, z-ch-r<\/em> appears 222 times and p-k-d <\/em>appears 223. \u00a0We care about this because Genesis 21:1 opens with the verb \u201cp-k-d<\/em>\u201d which can mean \u201cremember for good\u201d or \u201cvisit\u201d as well as \u201cremember for bad\u201d and \u201ccount.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The important thing to know is that when it is used in the sense of \u201cremember for good\u201d \u00a0there is a covenantal element to it. The only other times it appears in Genesis in this way are in connection with Joseph\u2019s promise to the people Israel that God will surely visit them and bring them up out of Egypt (Genesis 50:24, 25). The other places the verb appears in Genesis are in chapters 39 (vv. 4,5), 40 (4), and 41 (34), in the sense of appoint or serve. Readers are alerted to the fulfillment of Joseph\u2019s promise of future visitation when God appears to Moses in Exodus 3:16, and says that \u201cI have surely visited you\u201d (<\/span>pakod pakadti<\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If God\u2019s \u201cvisitation\u201d of Sarah has a clear covenantal slant, then what does it mean here in chapter 21? \u00a0Many feminist scholars suggest that it means that although women are physically not part of the covenant of circumcision, it is the act of giving birth inscribes Jewish women in the covenant. \u00a0<\/span>Rabbi Ruth Sohn<\/span><\/a> writing in the<\/span> Torah: A Women\u2019s Commentary<\/span><\/a> states \u201c<\/span>Maybe circumcision is a male ritual to include men in a physical way in the covenant that women make real in their flesh when they bear the next generation.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The traditional commentator Rashi suggests that the meaning of the visitation of Sarah is pregnancy (Rashi on Genesis 21:1). Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel all have difficulty becoming pregnant and conceiving and it seems clear that overcoming barrenness is part of the plan for their covenantal participation. \u00a0Rabbi Sohn suggests the matriarchs play a decisive role \u201cin determining the transmission of this male covenant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The sense of \u201cp-k-d<\/em>,\u201d then, is much more than \u201cremembrance for good.\u201d I believe it means something akin to \u201cremembered for covenantal participation.\u201d When we see its appearance, we need to understand that it is signaling us to grasp the covenantal significance of anyone connected to it. 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New liturgy for an age-old transition","post_main_content_content":"

People have some distinct rituals of transition in their lives. Chapter 21 contains echoes of an ancient ceremony like this: \"The child grew up and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned\" (Genesis 21:8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Weaning is an important developmental stage. It is also a tangible separation of the infant from his mother. Spiritually, this is a moment when the parent puts his trust in the mercy of heaven and says: Nourish my children. In a world where there is no substitute for mother\u2019s milk, and an infant's fate would be death, it is clear why they will mark this transition with a party: a gathering replete with food and drink, joy and thanksgiving. When our eldest daughter was weaned from breastfeeding, we organized a weaning party. Together with my rabbinic colleagues, we crafted a blessing to be recited on behalf of the mother and the child: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cGod who blessed our mothers Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, bless the one who extended her kindness to her daughter and bestowed upon all that was good from the moment she was born as they both merited and fulfilled the verse: \"That you may suck from her breast\" (Isaiah 66:11). May the Holy Blessed One strengthen her parents' hands and bless them with wisdom, a kind heart, love and companionship and enable them to raise their daughter to value curiosity, creativity, love, Torah, marriage and good deeds. May the One who nourishes the entire world with goodness, grace, kindness, and compassion who gives bread to all because God\u2019s mercy is boundless and in whose great goodness ensures that we never have lacked nor will ever lack for food for ever and ever. \u00a0May God provide and nourish this child along with all inhabitants of the earth, for God nourishes and provides everyone, for His table is prepared for everyone just as He has prepared sustenance and food for all His creatures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Divine Election Based on Moral Considerations? ","post_title":"Is Divine Election Based on Moral Considerations?","slug":"is-divine-election-based-on-moral-considerations","old_id":"37325","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37274,"post_title":"Tomer Persico","slug":"tomer-persico","old_id":"37274","first_name":"Tomer ","last_name":"Persico","description":"Dr. Tomer Persico is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and teaches at the department for Comparative Religion in Tel-Aviv University. He is a social activist for freedom of religion in Israel and has published works on techniques of meditation in the Jewish tradition (past and present).\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Tomer Persico is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and teaches at the department for Comparative Religion in Tel-Aviv University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37277,"alt":"","title":"tomer persico","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","width":125,"height":102,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","thumbnail-width":125,"thumbnail-height":102,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","medium-width":125,"medium-height":102,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","medium_large-width":125,"medium_large-height":102,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","large-width":125,"large-height":102,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","1536x1536-width":125,"1536x1536-height":102,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","2048x2048-width":125,"2048x2048-height":102,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","post_full_size-width":125,"post_full_size-height":102,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","home_baner-width":125,"home_baner-height":102}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Reflections on Isaac and Ishmael, Jews and Arabs","post_main_content_content":"

The reader of the stories of Hagar\u2019s expulsion (Genesis Chapter 16 and here in Chapter 21) is impressed by a repeating pattern: various family developments cause Sarah to expel Hagar in the desert. There, an angel of God finds her and rescues her from death and promises her greatness and protection. This Divine intervention is perceived by us as carrying a moral valence: the good God helps the needy Hagar and promises her a bright future, as compensation or as a consolation prize for her grief. In my opinion, however, this interpretation is incorrect.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If we look at the stories of the Bible, it seems that indeed, \u00a0although the characters God chooses share certain features in common, it is not something related to a just reward or punishment. God simply chooses the lowly and weak: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Saul, David - all lowly in one form or another. However, their election did not come as compensation for something bad that had happened to them. In fact, often they are chosen even though they themselves do rather bad things (David is a prime example of this). Divine election in the Bible has no direct relationship to morality.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Election that is driven by moral considerations is something we encounter later. For example, in the words of Jesus what is called the Sermon on the Mount in the Christian Bible (\"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land\" which is found in Matthew 5:3) or in midrashim of the Sages (for example, the midrash on the diminution of the moon relative to the sun, in Tractate Chullin 60b). \u00a0In those instances, there is a close connection between the conclusions that are drawn and God\u2019s will to provide some type of compensation or reward. In the words of Ethics of the Fathers (5:23), \u201caccording to the effort\/pain is the reward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What becomes evident here is a cultural shift that is expressed in the perception of God's actions: from the view that at least part of God's greatness is his ability to choose \"out of nothing\" without any reason or logic, to the view that sees a moral basis for election not only as a necessity, but as a virtue, a virtue that the Supreme Judge can appropriately boast.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And yet, at this time, these two concepts compete with one another, and even today it is happening around the relationship between Isaac and Ishmael, i.e. Jews and Arabs. On the one hand, there is the concept that claims that \"God promised us\" the entire country and the \"Arabs\" should move out of the way. \u00a0And on the other hand, there is a claim that, without meeting moral standards, the Divine election is invalid or irrelevant. Ask yourself how you perceive Divine election: Is it an order without a justification, or a call and even a moral demand?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102634,"alt":"","title":"-6223cd1dddb4e--6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass tree book 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Diem ","post_title":"Carpe Diem","slug":"carpe-diem","old_id":"37327","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34002,"post_title":"Yonatan Feintuch","slug":"rabbi-dr-yonatan-feintuch","old_id":"34002","first_name":"Yonatan","last_name":"Feintuch","description":"Rabbi Dr. Yonatan Feintuch resides with his wife Carmit and their six children in Jerusalem.\r\nHe co-heads (with his wife, Carmit) the 'Ilana de-Haye' Beit Midrash for women in Katamon, Jerusalem, and teaches Talmud, Midrash, Tanach and Jewish Education at Bar Ilan University, Yeshivat Har Etzion Beit Midrash for Women in Migdal Oz and Herzog College in Alon Shvut.\r\nHe studied at various Yeshivot and Batei Midrash, including Yeshivat Har Etzion and Beit Morasha, and holds a PhD in Talmud from Bar Ilan University.\r\nHe writes and speaks on issues of Tanach, Midrash and Aggadot of the Talmud, with a special emphasis on issues of the dynamics between halakha and aggada in the Talmud.\r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr. Yonatan Feintuch co-heads (with his wife, Carmit) the 'Ilana de-Haye' Beit Midrash for women in Jerusalem, and teaches at Bar Ilan University, Yeshivat Har Etzion Beit Midrash for Women and Herzog College.\r\n","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34003,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr. Yonatan 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importance of the here and now","post_main_content_content":"

The midrash brings us a debate between God and his angels at the moments when Ishmael is about to die from thirst. The angels argue against saving Ishmael, due to the evil his descendants will perform, specifically against Israel. The answer that the rabbis put in God's mouth, by expounding the words in the verse 'for God has heeded the cry of the boy \u201c<\/span>where he is<\/span>, <\/span>ba'asher hu sham<\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/em> (21:17); is that a person is judged according to his present state and deeds.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why does the idea of comparison between the present and the future outcome come up here? Wouldn't it have been more natural for the angels, if they wanted to play prosecutor, to mention Ishmael's past deeds that aggravated Sarah?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbis often based midrashic interpretations on intertextual associations. The phrase <\/span>ba'asher hu sham<\/span><\/em> does not appear elsewhere in scripture, but if we break it up into two \u2013 <\/span>ba'asher hu<\/em> <\/span>and <\/span>hu sham<\/span><\/em> \u2013 we get two rare phrases, and intriguingly both appear in<\/span> only <\/span>one<\/span><\/em> other book in the Bible \u2013 Kohelet\/Ecclesiastes (3:9; 7:2; 1:5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One central theme in Kohelet is his questioning the object of one's toil in this world \u2013 e..g: 'What value, then, can the man of affairs get from what he (<\/span>ba'asher hu<\/span><\/em>) <\/span><\/i>earns'? (3:9). Kohelet is just being pessimistic, but this can be phrased positively: valuing the present, living for the day. The present is worth living in its full intensity, not only as a means for achieving the future, just as the life Ishmael can live has a value that exists independently of his future.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":75672,"alt":"","title":"ez46-time 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Birth of a Child is a Miracle, Not To Be Taken For Granted ","post_title":"The Birth of a Child is a Miracle, Not To Be Taken For Granted","slug":"the-birth-of-a-child-is-a-miracle-not-to-be-taken-for-granted","old_id":"37317","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We cherish what we wait for and what we most risk losing","post_main_content_content":"

Early in the story, we read that Abraham was \u201cvery wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.\u201d He had everything except one thing \u2013 a child. The first Jew feared he would be the last. Sarah gives Abraham her handmaid Hagar, hoping that she will give him a child. She gives birth to a son whose name is Ishmael, meaning \u201cGod has heard.\u201d Abraham\u2019s prayer has been answered, or so we think. Hagar and Ishmael are banished soon after. Finally, the story seems to have a happy ending. After all the promises and prayers, Abraham and Sarah at last have a child. Then comes the story which, in all the intervening centuries, have not lost their power to shock. Abraham must take his son up the mountain to give him as an offering to God. He does all he is instructed until the last moment when he hears: \u201cDo not lay a hand on the boy.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why all the promises and disappointments? Why the hope so often raised, so often unfulfilled? Why the binding? Why put Abraham and Sarah through the agony of thinking that the son for whom they have waited for so long is about to die? There are many answers in our tradition, but one transcends all others.\u202f<\/span>W<\/span><\/i>e cherish what we wait for and what we most risk losing<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i>\u202fLife is full of wonders. The birth of a child is a miracle. Yet, precisely because these things are natural, we take them for granted, forgetting that nature has an architect, and history an author.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86553,"alt":"","title":"ps88-fetus baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Birth of a Child is a Miracle, Not To Be Taken For Granted","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We cherish what we wait for and what we most risk losing","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86553,"alt":"","title":"ps88-fetus baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps88-fetus-baby-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"471","name":"Miracle","old_id":"871"},{"term_id":"472","name":"Birth","old_id":"872"}]},{"order":19,"id":"42828","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"God and Strangers ","post_title":"God and Strangers","slug":"god-and-strangers","old_id":"42828","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42813,"post_title":"Covenant & Conversation","slug":"covenant-conversation","old_id":"42813","first_name":"","last_name":"Covenant & Conversation","description":"Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks\u2019 weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Edition is aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha. Each element of the Family Edition is progressively more advanced; The Core Idea is appropriate for all ages and the final element, From The Thought of Rabbi Sacks, is the most advanced section. Each section includes Questions to Ponder, aimed at encouraging discussion between family members in a way most appropriate to them. We have also included a section called Around the Shabbat Table with a few further questions on the parsha to think about. The final section is an Educational Companion which includes suggested talking points in response to the questions found throughout the Family Edition.","short_description":"Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42814,"alt":"","title":"CCfamilylogo-693x457","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","width":693,"height":457,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","medium_large-width":693,"medium_large-height":457,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","large-width":693,"large-height":457,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","1536x1536-width":693,"1536x1536-height":457,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","2048x2048-width":693,"2048x2048-height":457,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","post_full_size-width":693,"post_full_size-height":457,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-637x420.jpg","home_baner-width":637,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Family study materials on Parashat Vayera from \"Covenant and Conversation\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":42816,"alt":"","title":"covenant and conversation - Sacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","width":723,"height":426,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","medium_large-width":723,"medium_large-height":426,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","large-width":723,"large-height":426,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","1536x1536-width":723,"1536x1536-height":426,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","2048x2048-width":723,"2048x2048-height":426,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":426,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-713x420.jpg","home_baner-width":713,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Family Study Materials","tile_main_caption":" God and Strangers","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"for Parashat Vayera","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42816,"alt":"","title":"covenant and conversation - Sacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","width":723,"height":426,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","medium_large-width":723,"medium_large-height":426,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","large-width":723,"large-height":426,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","1536x1536-width":723,"1536x1536-height":426,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","2048x2048-width":723,"2048x2048-height":426,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":426,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-713x420.jpg","home_baner-width":713,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"}]},{"order":20,"id":"37366","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 21 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 21","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-21","old_id":"37366","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05e6\u05d7\u05e7 - Tzachak - Laughter","post_main_content_content":"

The root <\/span>tz-ch-k<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>\u201claugh,\u201d the root of the name \u201cIsaac\u201d (<\/span>Yitzchak<\/span><\/em>) has appeared prominently throughout these stories, cropping up in different forms for the past five chapters. Here in Chapter 21 we are presented with three additional instances of its use. While we may think of laughter as one thing, these texts show just how emotionally complex and multifaceted the act of laughing can be.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The first instance of laughter in the Tanakh is in chapter 17, when Abraham expresses doubt and even derision at the idea of a child being born to him and Sarah, aged as they are: \u201cAbraham threw himself on his face and <\/span>tzachak<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>laughed, as he said to himself, \u201cCan a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?\u201d (v. 17). It is a cynical life of disbelief - the same one Sarah laughs in the following chapter: \u201cAnd Sarah <\/span>tzachakah<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>\u00a0laughed to herself, saying, \u201cNow that I am withered, am I to have enjoyment\u2014with my husband so old?\u201d (v. 12). They each doubt their own fertility - and that of their spouse. For some reason, only Sarah\u2019s laugh bothers God, and only she gets nailed for it (see vv. 13-15 there). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The next instance of <\/span>tz-ch-k<\/span><\/em> is in the following chapter, with a different meaning altogether, for when Lot urges his sons-in-law to leave the doomed city of Sodom, they think he\u2019s kidding: \u201cBut he seemed to his sons-in-law as one who <\/span>metzachek<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> jests\u201d (v. 14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In today\u2019s chapter we have the baby-naming, and find out that the son born to Sarah and Abraham is to be called <\/span>Yitzchak<\/span><\/em>, \u201che who laughs.\u201d (Or as my grandmother used to joke, little boy \u201cLafayette\u201d). But lest we think he is named for the laughter of derision or disbelief, Sarah is quoted as saying: (v. 6). \u201cGod has brought me <\/span>tzchok<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> laughter; everyone who hears <\/span>yitzchak<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>will laugh with me.\u201d This time, a laughter of pure joy, celebration.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But the story doesn\u2019t end there. Only three verses later (v. 9), it is reported, \u201cSarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham <\/span>metzachek<\/span><\/em>.\u201d This incenses Sarah, leading to her final banishment of Hagar and Ishmael. What bothered her so much - wasn\u2019t he just playing around? To explain Sarah\u2019s wrath, commentators come up with different interpretations of this \u201c<\/span>metzachek<\/span><\/em>,\u201d going so far as to insinuate even sexual harassment. (They actually have a prooftext for this, since in 26:8, Isaac was reported in sexual play with Rebekah: \u201cAbimelech king of the Philistines, looking out of the window, saw Isaac <\/span>metzachek et,<\/span><\/em> fondling his wife Rebekah\u201d). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Robert Alter (in his translation and commentary of The Five Books of Moses, W.W. Norton, 2004) makes an intriguing suggestion, proposing another meaning of <\/span>tz-ch-k<\/span><\/em>. Of Ishmael\u2019s actions he writes: \u201c...construe it as \u2018Isaacing-it\u2019 - that is, Sarah sees Ishmael presuming to play the role of Isaac, child of laughter, presuming to be the legitimate heir\u201d (p. 103, n. 9).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Artwork by: Ben Schachter<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":37367,"alt":"","title":"G21-laughter-BSchachter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter.jpg","width":1448,"height":1214,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-300x252.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":252,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-768x644.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":644,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-1024x859.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":859,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter.jpg","1536x1536-width":1448,"1536x1536-height":1214,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter.jpg","2048x2048-width":1448,"2048x2048-height":1214,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-1200x1006.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1006,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-501x420.jpg","home_baner-width":501,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"

Artwork by: Ben Schachter<\/p>","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","tile_main_caption":"\u05e6\u05d7\u05e7 - Tzachak - Laughter","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":37367,"alt":"","title":"G21-laughter-BSchachter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter.jpg","width":1448,"height":1214,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-300x252.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":252,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-768x644.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":644,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-1024x859.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":859,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter.jpg","1536x1536-width":1448,"1536x1536-height":1214,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter.jpg","2048x2048-width":1448,"2048x2048-height":1214,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-1200x1006.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1006,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/G21-laughter-BSchachter-501x420.jpg","home_baner-width":501,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Robert Kneschke (shutterstock 161025986)","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"301","name":"Ben Schachter","old_id":"701"},{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":21,"id":"37304","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter- Gen 21 ","post_title":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter- Gen 21","slug":"lessons-on-the-daily-chapter-gen-21","old_id":"37304","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter - Gen 21","tile_main_caption":"Short talks by Adam Mintz and by David Silber","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Rabbi Silber's teachings are dedicated in memory of Joan Silverstein Meyers and Ellen Goodstein Koplow. ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/sets\/genesis-chapter-21","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":22,"id":"39672","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Chapter Summary - Genesis 21 ","post_title":"Chapter Summary - Genesis 21","slug":"chapter-summary-genesis-21","old_id":"39672","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Chapter 21 Summary: Expulsion\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

This is one chapter in which there are three stories:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. \u00a0<\/span> The birth of Isaac (verses 1-8)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. \u00a0<\/span> The expulsion of Ishmael and Hagar (verses 9-21)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. \u00a0<\/span> The covenant between Abraham and Abimelech (verses 22-34)<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Between the first two stories, the connection is clear: Isaac is born and now there is an official heir, a joint son to Abraham and Sarah. \u00a0Rather quickly (in eight verses) the complex family picture disintegrates. Sarah demands from Abraham that he \u201cCast out that slave-woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac\u201c (verse 10). \u00a0This act is difficult for Abraham; but when Sarah gets support from God who instructs Abraham \u201cwhatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued for you\u201d (verse 12), the expulsion happens.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Similar to Chapter 16 (when the pregnant Hagar runs away from Sarah), God appears to Hagar who is lost in the wilderness. \u00a0God rescues her and her son from near death and bestows upon Ishmael the blessing: \u201cfor I will make a great nation of him\u201d (verse 18).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The last scene in the chapter is a different story all together. \u00a0Perhaps it is the continuation of the story of the relationship between Abimelech the King of Gerar and Abraham which is told in Chapter 20. \u00a0It tells the story of the pact between Abraham and Abimelech that was established via an oath using seven ewes, sheep next to a well, which formed the basis for the name of the place: Beer Sheva (literally \u201cthe well of the oath\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Points to Ponder:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    1. \u00a0<\/span> Isaac is born and the great joy is accompanied (almost) by a song: \u00a0\u201cGod has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh with me\u2026.Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children! \u201d (verses 6-7).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    2. \u00a0<\/span> The laughter that accompanies Isaac with the announcement of his birth to Abraham (Genesis 17:17) and to Sarah (Genesis 18:12) changes from laughter that derives from lack of faith to laughter that reflects great joy.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    3. \u00a0<\/span> The verb \u201cto laugh\u201d plays an additional role in the chapter in verse 9, and ostensibly in a negative connotation \u201cSarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing (related to the word \u201claughter\u201d).\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    4. \u00a0<\/span> In the story of the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael the labels used to refer to the characters reflects the painful constellation of relationships. \u00a0Look in verses 9-13 and note who calls Ishmael \u201cthe son of the maid servant\u201d and who calls him \u201cthe boy\u201d and for whom is he \u201chis son.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    5. \u00a0<\/span> In Chapter 16 Ishmael receives his name based on God hearing Hagar\u2019s suffering whereas in our chapter in verse 17 \u201cfor God has heeded the cry of the boy where he is.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Genesis 21","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/37303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}