- Clergy
- Shabbat
One of the best moments of my day is walking my son into the ECC. We have the same ritual each morning: he runs giggling across the field, then we hold hands and walk to the play yard, give one more hug, and he walks in. Those seconds when we walk the few steps from the field to the play yard holding hands are too short but still fill me up - feeling his little hand in mine.
This week’s parsha, Vayera, includes the story of a mother and her son. It is one that ultimately ends with hope, but begins in grief.
Hagar is Sarah’s Egyptian maid, whom Sarah gave to Abraham so that Abraham may have a child. That child, Ishmael, grew up in Abraham’s house. But once Isaac was born, Sarah urges Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away, concerned for how Ishmael’s behavior (and his entitlement to an inheritance from Abraham) could potentially harm Isaac.
So early one morning, Abraham gives Hagar some bread and water, and sends them off. Hagar and Ishmael wander in the wilderness until there is no bread or water left to nourish them. And then, Hagar comes to a nightmare realization:
“When the water was gone from the skin, she left the child under one of the bushes, and went and sat down at a distance, a bowshot away; for she thought, ‘Let me not look on as the child dies.’ And sitting thus afar, she cried out and wept.” (Genesis 21:15-16)
Hagar’s feeling of insecurity is especially painful this week. As funding for SNAP benefits lapses, food insecurity is deeply felt by too many in our country at this moment. Last Sunday, the line on the 6th Street side of our Glazer Campus to pick up groceries from the Karsh Center extended longer than we've seen in months, and the Karsh Center's food pantry saw a 32% increase in the average number of families served. That demand is expected to continue rising.
The story of Hagar crying out in agony and in terror of being unable to feed her son isn’t just a story we read this week; it is a reality for exponentially more of our neighbors and community members right now.
In our parsha, God hears Ishmael’s cry and sends an angel to call to Hagar and tell her, “Fear not… Come, lift up the boy and make your hand strong in his, for I will make a great nation of him.” (Gen. 21:17-18)
The image of an outstretched hand is a common one to illustrate help, but Hagar’s hand as she reaches for her son’s is more than that: it is strength. As she holds his vulnerable hand in hers, she makes her own hand strong for him.
I am in awe of the Karsh Center’s expanding response during this vulnerable time of dramatically increasing food insecurity for people in our city and our community. In the coming weeks, and perhaps months, may we all partner in making our hands strong enough to offer the necessary help, nourishment and sustenance this critical moment requires. Here are a few tangible ways that you can help and provide strength:
And we pray that this story that begins in grief ends very soon with hope.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Leah Fein