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November 6, 1998/ 17 Cheshvan 5759, Vol. 51, No. 7
Tit for tat in God's arena
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Vayera/Genesis 18:1-22:24
The story of the binding of Isaac, how God commands Abraham to take his only son and to bring him to Mt. Moriah as a burnt offering, is certainly one of the most difficult episodes in the entire Torah.
Turning to the chapter that immediately precedes this, we come across the account of Hagar and Ishmael nearly dying in the desert, after being sent off with minimal provisions by Abraham. It is this suffering of mother and son that is being replayed in the suffering of father and son (Abraham and Isaac) when they ascend to Mt. Moriah.
Of course, there are transcendent reasons why Abraham must now undergo this particular test involving the sacrifice of his son. But the fact remains that given the Jewish principle of measure-for-measure, we can discern a cause-effect link between the explicit torment of Hagar and Ishmael and the implicit torment of Abraham and Isaac.
Although it is Sarah who decides that Hagar and Ishmael are to be sent away, and God himself commands Abraham to listen to his wife, neither God nor Sarah insisted that the banished mother and son receive minimal provisions for their desert sojourn. It is Abraham who sends them off with only "some bread and a skin of water" (Genesis 21:14). Abraham was condemning his concubine and son to almost certain death. And indeed, they would have died had it not been for Hagar's cries, and for the angel who alerts her to the presence of a well.
A careful reading of the biblical text strengthens the parallels between Hagar's journey with Ishmael, and Abraham's journey with Isaac. The exact same phrase, "early next morning," opens the action of both events; Abraham places the bread and jug of water on Hagar's back, and Abraham places the wood on Isaac's back; Hagar wanders in the desert with Ishmael, and Abraham goes to an uncertain place for the binding; an angel saves Ishmael's life, and an angel saves Isaac's life. The striking parallels between the accounts would suggest that the God of justice makes Abraham experience vis a vis Isaac the very anguish that the patriarch made Hagar feel vis a vis Ishmael.
The interconnection between Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael is a major biblical theme. Once Hagar became pregnant she began to treat Sarah condescendingly. When Sarah complained to her husband, Abraham told her that she could do whatever she wants with her maid. "Then Sarah treated her (Hagar) harshly and she ran away from her" (Genesis 16:6).
The RaDak (Rabbi David Kimhi 1160-1235) wrote: "Sarah acted neither in accordance with the trait of ethical conduct, nor in accordance with the trait of piety; ... What Sarah did was not good in the eyes of God. And Abraham didn't stop Sarah from treating Hagar badly, even though he knew it was wrong, in order to maintain domestic peace in the house."
Clearly, the Radak is underscoring the fact that the behavior of Abraham and Sarah toward Hagar cannot be condoned; rather, it is a lesson in how we are not to behave.
Isaac and Ishmael are intimately connected with each other. Not only are they - and only they - both given names by God (Genesis 16:11 and 17:19), but they both become significant patriarchal figures. Isaac's son, Jacob, may become the father of twelve tribes, but this privilege is also granted Abraham's other son. "As for Ishmael ... He shall be the father of twelve chieftans, and I will make of him a great nation" (Genesis 17:20).
The geographic location where Ishmael's life was saved and God revealed himself to mother and son - Beer-lehai-roi - resonates throughout Isaac's life. Rebecca meets her husband as he emerges from meditations in fields "from the vicinity of Beer-lahai-roi" (Genesis 24:62).
Furthermore, after Abraham's burial, which was taken care of by both brothers equally, we read the following, "After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac settled near Beer-lahai-roi" (Genesis 25:11).
Isaac begets Jacob - Israel, father of the covenant nation, inheritor of the promised land. And the destiny of Israel becomes a function of how we behave towards Ishmael.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Efrat, Israel.
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