A midrash is a Jewish story about the stories in the Bible. Midrashim* traditionally are supposed to answer questions and are ways to make the Bible more accessible. Kat�s group at camp put on a play based upon some midrashim that they (and the group head more so than she should have) made up. A few of them worked but one of them has been bouncing around in my head and bothering me for days.

The question their story revolved around was why Sarah behaved so badly toward Abraham (and later Hagar) when it was Sarah who had given Hagar to Abraham so that he could have a son. After Hagar conceived, the Bible says that her mistress (i.e. Sarah) was lowered in her esteem. As Hagar is lording her fertility over Sarah, I�m not sure Sarah�s feelings about Hagar after that need much explanation. But these were teens and an older, childless leader and they apparently have never been in that place when one can�t conceive in which the whole world seems pregnant except you and you feel less of a woman (or a man.)

I�m also not convinced that her feelings about Abraham at that moment need much explanation. Yes, she blames him for Hagar�s behavior toward her saying, �The wrong done to me is your fault.� She�s jealous and she�s hurt. It�s often easier to make a noble gesture than to live with the consequences when that noble gesture is accepted. Perhaps she secretly hoped that Abraham would turn down her offer of Hagar or that Abraham would fail to get Hagar pregnant.

What I do know is that I reject the explanation they gave in the midrash in the play. In the play, Sarah gets angry with Abraham and Hagar and casts Hagar out because she suddenly realizes that she has failed a test with God. She decides that as God has assured Abraham that one of his own children will become his heir that God must have a very specific plan. It is as though the Sarah of this story believes in a predetermined plan. She then decides that trying to force the issue by giving Abraham Hagar therefore made her a failure and a sinner. Apparently, she then decides that she is to right things by casting Hagar out so that things can go back the way that they were before she offered Hagar to Abraham. The play suggests that this action is noble.

How many problems do I have with this explanation? They number as the threads in my living room carpet�the current one, not the old one that had few threads left. First, it suggests that the duty of those who would follow God is to sit back and not try to make anything happen because that thing might interfere with the plan. Second, it suggests that God�s plan is so specific that there is no room for people to do on their own and, if that is true, then none of us should be responsible for our actions because we might be following God�s plan when we are mean to each other. Third, it absolves Sarah of any of her dark side. It invites us to think of her as noble even when hurt feelings and jealous are at least part of what is driving her actions. Fourth, it allows Sarah to treat Hagar completely as a thing. Hagar is used when she is given to Abraham and she is used again when destroying her seems the best way to hide �the mistake.�

No, I think this midrash was a failure (although the acting in the play was fine.) Still, it made me think for days and, in that sense, it was a success.

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*Midrashim is the plural of midrash.

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