by Rabbi Ron Stern
“Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing.”
This benign passage begins a story of cruelty that ends with Hagar and her son Ishmael being cast into the wilderness to die. Sarah’s jealousness over her handmaid’s fecundity drives her to demand that her husband expel the boy and his mother lest Ishmael subvert Isaac’s inheritance. Hagar and Ishmael wander in the hostile desert until their water is depleted and the desperate mother gently sets her son down out of sight so that she will not see him die. In the Torah’s recounting, God intervenes and saves them both while promising that Ishmael will also be the father of a great nation. (You can read the original here)
It is a painful story that leaves us wondering how the legendary patriarch and matriarch of the Jewish people could perpetrate such abuse. That God tells Abraham not to worry and heed his wife is small consolation to the modern reader.
Perhaps, in an attempt to provide the Biblical couple with cover, the medieval commentator Rashi finds all fault with Hagar and Ishmael by interpreting the text to reveal that they are idol worshippers and sinners worthy of banishment. Rashi’s voice has influenced all subsequent Jewish readers of the story who insist upon Abraham and Sarah’s innocence and Hagar and Ishmael’s malevolence.
Later Jewish tradition imagines Ishmael as the ancestor of the Arab nations. Perhaps this reading evolved because the Quran re-imagines that Ishmael was Abraham’s intended sacrifice at Mount Moriah rather than Isaac. But neither of those conclusions are in the story as the Bible tells it!
How can so many different perspectives evolve from one, admittedly powerful, story? It all depends on your perspective. The preconceived notions and unique perspectives of each source changes the entire meaning of the story for their readers.
The lesson for us is that we too interpret our life stories, the stories of others, and events in our world through our “perspective-colored” glasses. Recognizing our innate (and quite normal) biases is an important first step toward being a wise witness to the world around us. In an environment where so much is presented to us with intentional or unintentional distortion, our ability to recognize the agendas of the actors and the biases of the sources leads us towards wisdom and a better grasp of the truth. In turn, our acquired knowledge allows us to better navigate an increasingly complex world.