(א) וְשָׂרַי֙ אֵ֣שֶׁת אַבְרָ֔ם לֹ֥א יָלְדָ֖ה ל֑וֹ וְלָ֛הּ שִׁפְחָ֥ה מִצְרִ֖ית וּשְׁמָ֥הּ הָגָֽר׃ (ב) וַתֹּ֨אמֶר שָׂרַ֜י אֶל־אַבְרָ֗ם הִנֵּה־נָ֞א עֲצָרַ֤נִי יְהֹוָה֙ מִלֶּ֔דֶת בֹּא־נָא֙ אֶל־שִׁפְחָתִ֔י אוּלַ֥י אִבָּנֶ֖ה מִמֶּ֑נָּה וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע אַבְרָ֖ם לְק֥וֹל שָׂרָֽי׃ (ג) וַתִּקַּ֞ח שָׂרַ֣י אֵֽשֶׁת־אַבְרָ֗ם אֶת־הָגָ֤ר הַמִּצְרִית֙ שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ מִקֵּץ֙ עֶ֣שֶׂר שָׁנִ֔ים לְשֶׁ֥בֶת אַבְרָ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וַתִּתֵּ֥ן אֹתָ֛הּ לְאַבְרָ֥ם אִישָׁ֖הּ ל֥וֹ לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ (ד) וַיָּבֹ֥א אֶל־הָגָ֖ר וַתַּ֑הַר וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ כִּ֣י הָרָ֔תָה וַתֵּקַ֥ל גְּבִרְתָּ֖הּ בְּעֵינֶֽיהָ׃ (ה) וַתֹּ֨אמֶר שָׂרַ֣י אֶל־אַבְרָם֮ חֲמָסִ֣י עָלֶ֒יךָ֒ אָנֹכִ֗י נָתַ֤תִּי שִׁפְחָתִי֙ בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ כִּ֣י הָרָ֔תָה וָאֵקַ֖ל בְּעֵינֶ֑יהָ יִשְׁפֹּ֥ט יְהֹוָ֖ה בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינֶֽיׄךָ׃ (ו) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אַבְרָ֜ם אֶל־שָׂרַ֗י הִנֵּ֤ה שִׁפְחָתֵךְ֙ בְּיָדֵ֔ךְ עֲשִׂי־לָ֖הּ הַטּ֣וֹב בְּעֵינָ֑יִךְ וַתְּעַנֶּ֣הָ שָׂרַ֔י וַתִּבְרַ֖ח מִפָּנֶֽיהָ׃ (ז) וַֽיִּמְצָאָ֞הּ מַלְאַ֧ךְ יְהֹוָ֛ה עַל־עֵ֥ין הַמַּ֖יִם בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר עַל־הָעַ֖יִן בְּדֶ֥רֶךְ שֽׁוּר׃ (ח) וַיֹּאמַ֗ר הָגָ֞ר שִׁפְחַ֥ת שָׂרַ֛י אֵֽי־מִזֶּ֥ה בָ֖את וְאָ֣נָה תֵלֵ֑כִי וַתֹּ֕אמֶר מִפְּנֵי֙ שָׂרַ֣י גְּבִרְתִּ֔י אָנֹכִ֖י בֹּרַֽחַת׃ (ט) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהּ֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה שׁ֖וּבִי אֶל־גְּבִרְתֵּ֑ךְ וְהִתְעַנִּ֖י תַּ֥חַת יָדֶֽיהָ׃ (י) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהּ֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה הַרְבָּ֥ה אַרְבֶּ֖ה אֶת־זַרְעֵ֑ךְ וְלֹ֥א יִסָּפֵ֖ר מֵרֹֽב׃ (יא) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהּ֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה הִנָּ֥ךְ הָרָ֖ה וְיֹלַ֣דְתְּ בֵּ֑ן וְקָרָ֤את שְׁמוֹ֙ יִשְׁמָעֵ֔אל כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֥ע יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־עׇנְיֵֽךְ׃ (יב) וְה֤וּא יִהְיֶה֙ פֶּ֣רֶא אָדָ֔ם יָד֣וֹ בַכֹּ֔ל וְיַ֥ד כֹּ֖ל בּ֑וֹ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כׇל־אֶחָ֖יו יִשְׁכֹּֽן׃ (יג) וַתִּקְרָ֤א שֵׁם־יְהֹוָה֙ הַדֹּבֵ֣ר אֵלֶ֔יהָ אַתָּ֖ה אֵ֣ל רֳאִ֑י כִּ֣י אָֽמְרָ֗ה הֲגַ֥ם הֲלֹ֛ם רָאִ֖יתִי אַחֲרֵ֥י רֹאִֽי׃
(1) Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. (2) And Sarai said to Abram, “Look, יהוה has kept me from bearing. Consort with my maid; perhaps I shall have a child through her.” And Abram heeded Sarai’s request. (3) So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian—after Abram had dwelt in the land of Canaan ten years—and gave her to her husband Abram as concubine. (4) He cohabited with Hagar and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was lowered in her esteem. (5) And Sarai said to Abram, “The wrong done me is your fault! I myself put my maid in your bosom; now that she sees that she is pregnant, I am lowered in her esteem. יהוה decide between you and me!” (6) Abram said to Sarai, “Your maid is in your hands. Deal with her as you think right.” Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from her. (7) A messenger of יהוה found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, (8) and said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” (9) And the messenger of יהוה said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit to her harsh treatment.” (10) And the messenger of יהוה said to her,
“I will greatly increase your offspring,
And they shall be too many to count.” (11) The messenger of יהוה said to her further,
“Behold, you are pregnant
And shall bear a son;
You shall call him Ishmael,
For יהוה has paid heed to your suffering.
(12) He shall be a wild ass of a person;
His hand against everyone,
And everyone’s hand against him;
He shall dwell alongside of all his kin.” (13) And she called יהוה who spoke to her, “You Are El-roi,” by which she meant, “Have I not gone on seeing after my being seen!”
Discussion Questions:
- Who do you think the narrative sides with in this scene?
- Do you see yourself in this story?
Excerpt from "Achti" by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
I am pained I did not call you
By the name your mother gave you.
I cast you aside,
Cursed you with my barrenness and rage,
Called you “stranger”/ Ha-ger,
As if it were a sin to be from another place.
They used me to steal your womb,
Claim your child,
As if I owned your body and your labor
I, whom they call “See Far Woman” / Sarah,
Could not witness my own blindness.
But you, my sister,
You beheld angels,
Made miracles in the desert,
Received divine blessings from a god,
Who stopped talking to me.
Only at the end,
When I witnessed my young son screaming under his father's knife,
Only then
Did I realize our common suffering.
Mohja Kahf, “Hagar Writes a Cathartic Letter to Sarah as an Exercise Suggested by her Therapist”
Dear Sarah, life made us enemies
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
What if we both ditched the old man?
He could have visitation rights with the boys
alternate weekends and holidays.
Yeah, especially the Feast of the Sacrifice—
everybody has forgotten anyway
that it began with me abandoned in the desert
watching my baby dehydrate for days—
I dared God to let us die.
Anyway, you and I,
we’d set up house,
raise the kids,
start a catering business, maybe.
You have brains.
So do I.
We could travel.
There are places to see
besides Ur and this nowheresville desert
with its tribes of hooligans
No. Your lips always thin when you disapprove,
like the mother I can hardly remember
from before I wound up in your house.
I was barely more than a girl. You are the one
Who brought me there from Egypt.
You used to laugh back then. In those days,
You could bear to look at me.
Oh, Sarah, you need years of therapy
Can’t you admit that what he did to me was cruel?
Admit it – for just one second
It won’t make you hate him forever
just long enough to know the world won’t fall apart.
Long enough to pity him, yourself, me
Laugh, Sarah, laugh
Imagine
God, the Possibility.
Sincerely Love,
Hagar
Discussion Questions:
- Each of these poems seek to write a resolution between Sarai and Hagar that doesn't happen in the Bible. What do you see as the problem each poet identifies as the core problem that caused their suffering?
- What do you make of the theme of seeing/looking in these poems?
The story with flipped genders, from Beit Toratah
Genesis 16
1 And Sar, Emrama’s man did not impregnate her. And he had a Mitzri houseservant named Hagher.
2 And Sar said to Emrama, “Now, please, Tehovah has blocked me from impregnating; please come to my house-servant; perhaps I will be built up through him.” And Emrama listened to Sar’s voice.
3 And Sar, Emrama’s man, took Hagher the Metzerotit, his house-servant, after Emrama had lived ten years in the land of Kenona, and gave him to Emrama, his woman, for a man.
4 And she came to Hagher, and he impregnated; and when he saw that he had impregnated, his master became lighter in his eyes.
5 And Sar said to Emrama, “My wrongdoing be upon you: I put my housservant in your lap and when he saw that he had impregnated, I was lowered in his eyes. May Tehovah judge between me and you.”
6 And Emrama said to Sar, “Here, your houseservant is in your hands; do to him what is proper in your eyes.” And Sar tormented him, and he fled from his face.
7 And the messenger of Tehovah found him by the water fountain in the desert, by the fountain on the way to Shuri.
8 And she said, “Hagher, Sar’s houseservant, where do you come from? And where are you going?” And he said, “I am fleeing from the face of my master Sar.”
9 And the messenger of Tehovah said to him, “Return to your master, and be tormented under his hands.”
10 And the messenger of Tehovah said to him, “I will greatly multiply your seed and they shall be too many count.”
11 And the messenger of Tehovah said to him, “You have impregnated and will father a daughter; and you will name her Tishmaelah, for Tehovah has heard your torment.
12 And she will be a wild khova. Her hand will be in all, and every hand will be in her; and she will dwell over all of her sisters.”
13 And he called the name of Tehovah that spoke to him, “You are a goddess that sees me,” for he said, “I’m still seeing after She saw me!”
14 So, she named the well Be’er-Lekhaya-Ro’ati; it is between Kadshi and Bardi.