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Your donation will be tax deductible in the US to the extent allowed by the IRS.
To make a tax-deductible donation by wire transfer in the US, please contact:
Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
The Midrash teaches: Judge a person not by what he might do in the future but according to his current situation.
I would like to focus on the story of Hagar and Ishmael and what the Midrash learns from this story.
The verses (Genesis: 21:9) tell us:
וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה אֶת בֶּן הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְאַבְרָהָם מְצַחֵק
Sarah sees the son of Hagar doing some bad things (there are several explanations for this word מצחק but we will not discuss them now), and so she orders Abraham to expel them (Gen. 21:10) –
וַתֹּאמֶר לְאַבְרָהָם גָּרֵשׁ הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת וְאֶת בְּנָהּ כִּי לֹא יִירַשׁ בֶּן הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת עִם בְּנִי עִם יִצְחָק
Abraham feels sorry for his son Ishmael, his first born. It doesn’t seem right to him, but God tells him to obey Sarah and do whatever she says. So, he wakes up in the morning, takes some bread and water (Gen. 21:14)
וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּקַּח לֶחֶם וְחֵמַת מַיִם וַיִּתֵּן אֶל הָגָר שָׂם עַל שִׁכְמָהּ וְאֶת הַיֶּלֶד וַיְשַׁלְּחֶהָ
Hagar wanders in the desert of Beer Sheba. When they run out of water, she throws her child under one of the bushes (Gen. 21:14-15)
וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתֵּתַע בְּמִדְבַּר בְּאֵר שָׁבַע. וַיִּכְלוּ הַמַּיִם מִן הַחֵמֶת וַתַּשְׁלֵךְ אֶת הַיֶּלֶד תַּחַת אַחַד הַשִּׂיחִים.
Midrash Tanhuma reads this verse carefully and ads some details to this story.
First, it refers to the words תחת אחד השיחים (under one of the bushes). These are not difficult words, but it seems unusual for the Torah to mention details like this. The sages give their insights –
“R. Yosé ben Halafta said: It was the place at which an angel had spoken to her previously.”
The word שיח means bush, but also conversation, so R. Yose connects this story to the previous one, when Hagar ran away from her mistress and God’s angel spoke to her and blessed her.
“R. Berechiah said: It indicates that she spoke harshly towards the Lord [שהטיחה דברים קשים כלפי [מעלה R. Berechiah also reads the word שיחים as speech, but he ads the word תחת as הטיחה, she threw or slammed harsh words at God.
But what did she say?
“Is it possible, Master of the Universe, that you are like an ordinary human being, who gives a gift and then withdraws it? Did you not tell me: Your seed will multiply exceedingly? Yet now my son is about to perish from thirst.” And the midrash continues: “The Holy One, blessed be He, thereupon commanded the angel to disclose the well to her. The angel responded: Master of the Universe, why do you bring forth a well for this wicked person who will ultimately waylay travelers and wayfarers?”
This explains, according to the midrash, the prophecy that Hagar was given when she ran away from Sarah that Ishmael will make his living out of robbery and stealing ידו בכל ויד כל בו. Other midrashic traditions emphasize that his offspring will torture the Children of Israel.
Knowing this, the angel raises a moral question: is it right to help someone who will eventually become a wicked person, perhaps even a killer?
The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: What is he now? Isn’t he righteous? I judge a man only on his state at the time he stands in judgment before Me. Therefore, it is written (Gen. 21:17): “And God heard the voice of the lad there where he is.”
כִּי שָׁמַע אֱלֹהִים אֶל קוֹל הַנַּעַר בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא שָׁם.
The matter of helping someone in need though they might eventually turn against us became very actual during the last year. Many Israelis objected the idea of humanitarian aid brought into Gaza, claiming that we are helping the enemy. But is it right to prevent water and food from children who had done no harm? Or from the elderly people? Or from any civilian who had done no harm?
This midrash teaches us an important lesson: just like God told the angel – a person should be judged not by what he might do in the future but according to his current situation. And as long as this person had done no harm, we should treat them as righteous and not prevent them from receiving the help they need.
SHAVUA TOV FROM SCHECHTER
image: Hagar & Ishmael, Ida Waugh, ca. 1892, (Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts), from wikicommons
Dr. Gila Vachman is a Lecturer in Midrash at The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies and coordinates The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary’s Torah Lishmah program at Neve Schechter in Tel Aviv.
Dr. Gila Vachman received her BA (summa cum laude) in Talmud and Hebrew Literature, MA (summa cum laude) in Midrash and Aggadah, and her PhD from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is also a lecturer in Midrash and Aggadah at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Born on Kibbutz Yavne, Dr. Vachman is married, the mother of three children, and lives in Jerusalem.
