See No Evil

There is a staggering Midrash on the passage in this week’s portion of Lech Lecha, where Hagar proposes an additional name for God that is as unexpected as it is profound. 

Hagar has been treated harshly by Sarai, her mistress. It is a distressing passage to read. With the approval and encouragement of Sarai, Hagar serves as a surrogate parent. She is carrying Avram’s child, and allegedly Hagar exhibits a haughty attitude which is hurtful, and Sarai retaliates impelling Hagar to leave. There are then no less than five verses where Hagar is in conversation with an angel of God. The dialogue opens curiously with the angel enquiring “where have you come from, and where are you going?” She is assured that all will work out well, she will return home, bear a son who will be called Yishmael, כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֥ע יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־עׇנְיֵֽךְ׃ on account of God hearing your suffering.

Hagar then in an act of gratitude and awe, offers a prayer like utterance,16;13:

וַתִּקְרָ֤א שֵׁם־יְהֹוָה֙ הַדֹּבֵ֣ר אֵלֶ֔יהָ אַתָּ֖ה אֵ֣ל רֳאִ֑י כִּ֣י אָֽמְרָ֗ה הֲגַ֥ם הֲלֹ֛ם רָאִ֖יתִי אַחֲרֵ֥י רֹאִֽי׃

And she called GOD who spoke to her, “You Are El-roi,” “God of Seeing.” by which she meant, “Have I not gone on seeing after my being seen!”. Meaning, could I have ever imagined that here also, in the wilderness. Rashi explains the term Halom is an exclamation of surprise, perhaps related to the colloquial expression in modern Hebrew Helem, shock or trauma. In a sense Hagar is as surprised as we may be in the insistent intervention of God through the angels that engage in a long and what may appear to be unwarranted concern.

Here is what the Midrash, Bereishit Rabba offers on this remarkable declaration;

. אַתָּה אֵל רֳאִי, אָמַר רַבִּי אַיְּבוּ אַתָּה הוּא רוֹאֶה בְּעֶלְבּוֹן שֶׁל עֲלוּבִין

“You are the God who sees me” – Rabbi Aivu said: It is You who sees the wretchedness of the wretched.

An empathetic and compassionate view that serves not only as an interpretation but more as an enjoinment. So pertinent during these times when too many ‘rabbis’ choose to miss this and an abundance of other texts, in their injudicious choices generating immoral rulings.

When stepping back and reflecting on some of the other events recorded in Lech Lacha, the enchantment of these actions become rather unsettling. Earlier in the portion, famine hits the Land of Canaan, and Avram is forced to travel south to Egypt where there is more sustenance. An ominous foreordained cycle that recurs throughout the book of Bereishit. Avram fears that “If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live.” he therefore devises a plan; “Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.” Predictably and harrowingly, Sarai was abducted by the Egyptians. Where were the angels and God? Why for her is there no apparent concern or visitor enquiring “where have you come from, and where are you going?” Yes God indeed inflicted Pharaoh and his household with plagues, but for how long was Sarai a hostage? The Torah’s attention is focussed on Avram, וּלְאַבְרָ֥ם הֵיטִ֖יב בַּעֲבוּרָ֑הּ who did rather well economically from this “transaction”. Why did The Seer of the humiliation to which people are subjected by others, not see?

There is a passage in Tractate Bava Metzia 59a, quoted by Sforno that may shed light on this conundrum. In relating to the tragedy and trauma following the destruction of the Temple, Rabbi Elazar teaches; 

מִיּוֹם שֶׁנֶּחְרַב בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, נִנְעֲלוּ שַׁעֲרֵי תְפִילָּה

Since the day the Temple was destroyed the gates of prayer were locked, and prayer is not accepted as it once was… However there is an exception, the gates of tears were not locked, and one who cries before God may rest assured that her/his prayers will be answered. Sforno expands this idea: the prayer of people complaining (shedding tears) of being dealt with unfairly by their fellow human beings, those gates have not been closed and those pleas will not go unanswered. 

The Rabbis are seeking to comfort those whose world has fallen apart, those who may feel impotent, that prayers are no longer effective. They do so through Hagar who was convinced that her case does not merit attention, nor the gates of heaven opening. The most vulnerable, those with the least expectations, due to their perceived lowly status are not ignored. The most timeless of teachings can become the most urgent of demands, if we believe that God sees the humiliation of the humiliated, we cannot afford to look away.