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Shabbat Shalom. I will be in San Francisco this weekend, celebrating a wedding of a dear friend and classmate of mine. I am disappointed, since I won’t be able to share my Bar Mitzvah parsha with you all. But here are some thoughts:
In Vayeira, we read about the second and final expulsion of Hagar. Sarah gives Abraham her slave as concubine so that he can have a child with her. This is literally the source of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian Handmaid’s Tale. Hagar is not a good look for the Jews. She brings out the worst in Sarah who becomes jealous and demands her husband expel her. Why did she make the final cut? She seems like a tangent, a distraction from the larger story of the Jewish people. I think Hagar teaches us that anyone, Jewish or not, can be a model of Tzedek, of righteousness.
The Torah makes this clear: she is the only non-Jewish woman that God speaks to directly. But she never talks to others. She only speaks once. She says, perhaps in a prayer to God, אַל־אֶרְאֶ֖ה בְּמ֣וֹת הַיָּ֑לֶד “Don’t let me see my child die.” Haemek Hadavar, a 19th century commentator, explains “she wanted to cry out loud. But she did not want the child to hear her crying; as this is hard for a sick person - whether he will recover or whether he will die. Hence she distanced herself further וַתֵּ֣שֶׁב מִנֶּ֔גֶד וַתִּשָּׂ֥א אֶת־קֹלָ֖הּ וַתֵּֽבְךְּ and she raised her voice and cried.” The Torah continues to spell out her righteousness. When God opens her eyes and shows her water, she immediately gives water to her son before herself.
The rabbis know that Hagar is righteous. After Sarah’s death, Abraham remarries a woman named Keturah. There is a rabbinic midrash that this new bride Keturah is actually Hagar. Keturah is her real name. The midrash asks, why is she named Keturah? One explanation is that she is perfumed, mekuteret, she is literally made beautiful by the fragrance of mitzvot and ma’asim tovim, good deeds. Despite such a hard life, she is still a righteous woman.
I want to challenge all of us to act like Hagar. Even enslaved, without a voice, she is powerful, she does mitzvot. It is easy to feel powerless, especially in such tumultuous times. What is hard is to continue to advocate in the face of powerlessness. Often the most important things are the hardest to do. Unlike Hagar, thank God, we are free. Unlike Hagar, we have a voice, we have a say in our fate. While it may feel small, we all have power to change the world around us. Voting IS a mitzvah, both a right and responsibility, a way to fulfill our civic duty.
The midterm election on November 3rd is fast approaching. I beg for you to use your voice. The state of the world may feel overwhelming, but voting is one small thing you can do to ensure that you are not powerless. Voting is a way to use your voice and make sure the nation hears you.
BH, Rebecca and I will vote early today. And I encourage you all to do the same. Both Iowa and Illinois allow for same-day voter registration on Nov 3rd. Check out more information on voting, including up to 2 hours paid time off in Illinois (wow) at https://www.vote411.org.
-Rabbi David Magazine Malamud
email: rabbidavidmm@gmail.com
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