We often think of Abraham's journey as beginning with the covenant God made with him, the "covenant of the pieces," promising him descendants as numerous as the stars. But as Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) reminds us, this happened when Abraham and Sarah were still childless. They believed their inability to conceive was a punishment for not living in the Holy Land. Yet, even after ten years in Palestine, Sarah remained barren.
It's fascinating how the tradition portrays Sarah here. She doesn't wallow in jealousy. Instead, she takes initiative. Recognizing the issue might lie with her, she offers her slave, Hagar, to Abraham as a wife. But there's a crucial detail: Sarah first frees Hagar. Hagar was Sarah's property, a gift from Pharaoh, her father. This wasn't just a casual decision; Sarah had raised Hagar in righteousness, making her a suitable partner for Abraham. Abraham, guided by the Ruach (spirit) Hakodesh (holy spirit), agreed to Sarah's proposal.
Things quickly become complicated. No sooner does Hagar conceive than she begins to look down on Sarah, despite Sarah's kindness. When other noblewomen visited, Sarah would encourage them to check on "poor Hagar." But Hagar would use these visits to subtly undermine Sarah. "My lady Sarah," she'd say, "isn't what she seems. If she were truly righteous, wouldn't she have conceived by now? I became pregnant immediately!"
Sarah, refusing to engage in petty arguments, directs her frustration at Abraham: "It is thou who art doing me wrong." She reminds him of her sacrifices – leaving her homeland, pretending to be his sister in Egypt to protect him. Now, she feels betrayed. "O that God might look upon the injustice which hath been done unto me...and grant us offspring, that we have no need of children from Hagar."
Abraham, ever the modest and unassuming figure, gives Sarah full authority over Hagar. He only cautions her, "Having once made her a mistress, we cannot again reduce her to the state of a bondwoman." But Sarah, perhaps blinded by hurt and resentment, disregards this warning. She forces Hagar back into servitude and, according to the legend, even casts an "evil eye" upon her, causing a miscarriage. Hagar flees into the wilderness.
It's there, in the midst of her despair, that angels appear to Hagar. They instruct her to return and tell her that she will bear a son, and that his name will be Ishmael. He is one of six individuals, tradition tells us, whose names were given by God before their birth. (The others being Isaac, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and the Messiah.)
Thirteen years pass after Ishmael’s birth. Then comes the command for Abraham to circumcise himself and all the males in his household, marking them with the sign of the covenant. Abraham hesitates, fearing it would isolate him from others. But God reassures him, "Let it suffice thee that I am thy God and thy Lord, as it sufficeth the world that I am its God and its Lord."
Abraham seeks counsel from his friends, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Aner and Eshcol advise against it, citing Abraham's age and the potential for recognition by enemies. Only Mamre encourages obedience. "God succored thee from the fiery furnace," he reminds Abraham, "He helped thee in the combat with the kings…and thou dost hesitate to execute His behest concerning the circumcision?"
Ultimately, Abraham obeys, performing the circumcision openly, on the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and on the very spot where the Temple altar would later stand. The act, according to tradition, serves as a never-ceasing atonement for Israel.
What are we to make of this complex story? It's a tale of faith, doubt, jealousy, and ultimately, obedience. It highlights the humanity of our ancestors – their struggles, their flaws, and their unwavering commitment to God despite it all. It reminds us that even in moments of uncertainty and conflict, the covenant endures.
The covenant of the pieces, whereby the fortunes of his descendants were revealed to Abraham, was made at a time when he was still childless. As long as Abraham and Sarah dwelt outside of the Holy Land, they looked upon their childlessness as a punishment for not abiding within it. But when a ten years' sojourn in Palestine found her barren as before, Sarah perceived that the fault lay with her. Without a trace of jealousy she was ready to give her slave Hagar to Abraham as wife, first making her a freed woman. For Hagar was Sarah's property, not her husband's. She had received her from Pharaoh, the father of Hagar. Taught and bred by Sarah, she walked in the same path of righteousness as her mistress, and thus was a suitable companion for Abraham, and, instructed by the holy spirit, he acceded to Sarah's proposal. No sooner had Hagar's union with Abraham been consummated, and she felt that she was with child, than she began to treat her former mistress contemptuously, though Sarah was particularly tender toward her in the state in which she was. When noble matrons came to see Sarah, she was in the habit of urging them to pay a visit to "poor Hagar," too. The dames would comply with her suggestion, but Hagar would use the opportunity to disparage Sarah. "My lady Sarah," she would say, "is not inwardly what she appears to be outwardly. She makes the impression of a righteous, pious woman, but she is not, for if she were, how could her childlessness be explained after so many years of marriage, while I became pregnant at once?" Sarah scorned to bicker with her slave, yet the rage she felt found vent in these words to Abraham: "It is thou who art doing me wrong. Thou hearest the words of Hagar, and thou sayest naught to oppose them, and I hoped that thou wouldst take my part. For thy sake did I leave my native land and the house of my father, and I followed thee into a strange land with trust in God. In Egypt I pretended to be thy sister, that no harm might befall thee. When I saw that I should bear no children, I took the Egyptian woman, my slave Hagar, and gave her unto thee for wife, contenting myself with the thought that I would rear the children she would bear. Now she treats me disdainfully in thy presence. O that God might look upon the injustice which hath been done unto me, to judge between thee and me, and have mercy upon us, restore peace to our home, and grant us offspring, that we have no need of children from Hagar, the Egyptian bondwoman of the generation of the heathen that cast thee in the fiery furnace!" Abraham, modest and unassuming as he was, was ready to do justice to Sarah, and he conferred full power upon her to dispose of Hagar according to her pleasure. He added but one caution, "Having once made her a mistress, we cannot again reduce her to the state of a bondwoman." Unmindful of this warning, Sarah exacted the services of a slave from Hagar. Not alone this, she tormented her, and finally she cast an evil eye upon her, so that the unborn child dropped from her, and she ran away. On her flight she was met by several angels, and they bade her return, at the same time making known to her that she would bear a son who should be called Ishmael—one of the six men who have been given a name by God before their birth, the others being Isaac, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and the Messiah. Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael the command was issued to Abraham that he put the sign of the covenant upon his body and upon the bodies of the male members of his household. Abraham was reluctant at first to do the bidding of God, for he feared that the circumcision of his flesh would raise a barrier between himself and the rest of mankind. But God said unto him, "Let it suffice thee that I am thy God and thy Lord, as it sufficeth the world that I am its God and its Lord." Abraham then consulted with his three true friends, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, regarding the command of the circumcision. The first one spoke, and said, "Thou art nigh unto a hundred years old, and thou considerest inflicting such pain upon thyself?" The advice of the second was also against it. "What," said Eshcol, "thou choosest to mark thyself so that thy enemies may recognize thee without fail?" Mamre, the third, was the only one to advise obedience to the command of God. "God succored thee from the fiery furnace," he said, "He helped thee in the combat with the kings, He provided for thee during the famine, and thou dost hesitate to execute His behest concerning the circumcision?" Accordingly, Abraham did as God had commanded, in bright daylight, bidding defiance to all, that none might say, "Had we seen him attempt it, we should have prevented him." The circumcision was performed on the tenth day of Tishri, the Day of Atonement, and upon the spot on which the altar was later to be erected in the Temple, for the act of Abraham remains a never-ceasing atonement for Israel.
