Tobias Divack Moss October 16, 2018
WikiTorah-Lech Lecha
Bereshit
Noach
•Creation •Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel
•The Flood •Tower of Babel
Lech Lecha •Abraham and Sarah...and Hagar
Vayera
Chayei Sarah
•Testing Abraham
•Burying Sarah and Abraham
The Linked Texts of Our Tradition a. Inner-biblical references i. Within the same book ii. Within the Bible b. Classical Rabbinic (Talmudic +) i. Midrash Agadah—storytelling tied to verses ii. Midrash Halakha—legal decisions tied to verses c. Medieval i. Running Commentary ii. Poetry (Liturgical and Secular) d. Modern i. Chassidic and Modern Midrash ii. Poetry, film, theater, organization slogans, etc. iii. Our own thoughts and contributions!
Meditation on Torah Study Whenever I enter the classroom I ask myself, can there be a dialogue between young students and an old teacher? Between a rebbe in Indian Summer and boys enjoying the spring of their lives? Whenever I start the shiur, the door opens up and another old man comes in and sits down. He is older than I am. He is my grandfather – his name is Reb Chayim Brisker. Without him I cannot say my shiur. Then more visitors show up. Some of the visitors lived in the eleventh century and some lived in the twelfth century. Some lived in the thirteenth century and some even lived in antiquity: Rashi, Rabeinu Tam, Rashba… What do I do? I introduce them to my pupils and the dialogue commences. The Rambam says something and Rabeinu Tam disagrees. A boy jumps up – he has another idea. The Rashba smiles gently. I try to analyze what the young boy meant – another boy intervenes. We call upon Rashi to express his opinion and suddenly a symposium of generations comes into existence. We all speak one language. We all chat. We speak together. We discuss. We enjoy each other’s company. We all pursue one goal. We are all committed to a common vision and we all operate under the same categories. There is a collegiality, friendship, a comradeship between young and old, between antiquity and Middle Ages and modern times. –Rabbi Joseph Soloveichik
Genesis 16:1
Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
א׳:בראשית ט״ז וְ שָׂ ַרי֙ ֵ ֣אשֶׁ ת אַ בְ ָ ֔רם ֥ל ֹא יָלְ ָ ֖דה ל֑ וֹ וּשׁ ָ ֥מהּ הָ ָ ֽגר׃ ְ וְ לָ ֛הּ ִשׁפְ ָח֥ה ִמצְ ִ ֖רית
4 MEDIEVAL COMMENTATORS ON THIS VERSE:
Rashi
“ שפחה מצריתA hand-maid, an Egyptian”— She was a daughter of Pharaoh; when he saw the miracles which had been performed for Sarah’s sake he said, “It is better for my daughter to be a handmaid in this man’s house than be mistress in another man’s house” (Genesis Rabbah 45:1).
Radak
ולה שפחה מצרית, had Hagar been of Canaanite origin, Avram would not have agreed to sleep with her. Her name is mentioned out of respect for Avram.
רש"י בַּ ת פַּ ְרעֹ ה.שׁפחה מצרית כְּ שֶׁ ָראָ ה נִ ִסּים שֶׁ ַנּﬠֲשׂוּ,הָ יְ תָ ה מוּטָ ב שֶׁ ְתּהֵ א בִ ִתּי:לְ שָׂ ָרה אָ מַ ר ִשׁפְ חָ ה בְּ בַ יִת זֶה וְ ל ֹא גְ ִב ָירה :בְּ בַ יִ ת אַ חֵ ר רד"ק כי אילו היתה,ולה שפחה מצרית .כנענית לא היתה לקחה לאמתה .וזכר שמה לכבוד אברהם
Chizkuni
ושמה הגר, “whose name was Hagar;” when Pharaoh handed over his daughter to Sarai, [when the latter was a captive in his Palace,] he had said to her: “my daughter is your compensation for my having wronged you.” As a result she is called Hagar.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ושמה הגר, “whose name was Hagar.” She had been given to Sarai when she was a prisoner in Pharaoh’s palace. As a reminder of that experience she was called Hagar—your reward. It was as if to say Hagar was a reward for your chastity.
חזקוני ושמה הגר כשמסר פרעה את בתו לשרה ,אמר לה בתי היא אגרך .לכך נקראת הגר
רבנו בחיי מבית פרעה.ושמה הגר - נתנה לה ולכך נקראה הגר כלומר הגר שכר,הא אגריך .על צניעותיך