Parshat Vayeira: Hagar and Ishmael

There's so much to see in this week's parsha that Evan Wolkenstein, experiential educator, decides to zoom in and focus on the story of two relatively minor characters. (Although one of them - baby Ishmael - is an actual minor. Snort.)

This is Episode 4 of the weekly Torah cartoon from G-dcast.com. Each week, a different storyteller - some musical, some poetic, some just straight-up, tell the story of the current Torah portion...and then we animate it!

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• jewish
• judaism
• torah
• bible
• old testament
• tanach
• bar mitzvah
• bat mitzvah
• abraham
• sarah
• hagar
• ishmael
• isaac
• desert
• godcast
• g-dcast
• midrash

[kugakuga]

Perhaps infanticidal is a harsh word to describe Sarah,n maybe Hagar provided reasons to be hated by Sarah(by looking down at Sarah for being barren).But at that time for a woman alone to be isolated from a group with just an infant in the dessert meant death.I'm sorry, but,I find it hard to say it was like for Ishmael to "ride the subway with his mom".In history,a person's character is not usually black n white.Hagar,Sarah,n Abraham are both victim and a person with mistake.Only G-d is perfect.

[tzedekyahu]

Infanticidal? They lived in the desert and always had. That's like saying its infanticidal for a child to ride the subway with his mom. My first thought was "is this guy Jewish" after I heard that comment. Hagar spent her time putting Sarah down.

[fredex426]

@chunahyosef Really? Does rabbinic tradition excuse Sarah's (and Abraham's) actions by blaming the victim (Hagar and Ishmael) because Sarah saw that she was lowered in her maidservant's esteem? Even the angel describes Sarah's treatment as "harsh." Sarah's behavior is flawed, even infanticidal, and Abraham is viewed as failing to protect his first-born child, Ishmael. This is a failure by Abraham. Our ancestors were far from perfect and it is not self-hating to acknowledge that and learn.

[chunahyosef]

Sorry if it's harsh, but in your description of Sarah, I get the vibe that you've got a little of self-hating Jew in you. Why don't you state the Torah's validation of Sarah's 'harsh' treatment of Hagar. You choose one thing to say or the other, ya' know what about 'Hagar lowered Sara in her esteem" that the Torah says is the reason for Sara's reaction?