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Why did Hagar carry the sick Yishmael through the desert for days, then suddenly throw him down and abandon him to die alone? The answer reveals a fundamental truth: even maternal kindness can be rooted in pure selfishness. Only when charity and kindness flow from obligation to God — not personal feeling or benefit — do they remain real chesed (חסד) and resist breaking down under pressure.
The shiur addresses a foundational question many Jews raise: "I give charity, I care for others — why do I need tefillin or Shabbos (שבת)? Isn't charity what's really important?" The Torah (תורה) itself appears to support this argument. In Bereishis 18:19, God explains why He chose Avrohom: "For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of Hashem (ה׳), to do charity and justice." The Rambam (רמב"ם) in Hilchos Dei'os defines "keeping the way of Hashem" as developing character traits of kindness and compassion. So it would seem that the essence of the Jewish mission is charity and justice, not ritual observance. Rabbi Zweig challenges this conclusion by analyzing the shocking story of Hagar and Yishmael from Parshas Vayeira (Bereishis 21:9–16). After Sarah sees Yishmael mocking (Rashi (רש"י) explains he is involved in idolatry, murder, or at minimum threatening Yitzchok), she demands that Avrohom expel Hagar and her son. God instructs Avrohom to listen to Sarah. Avrohom sends Hagar away with bread and water. When the water runs out in the desert, Hagar casts down her sick son — who is either 18 or 24 years old according to various midrashim — and walks 400 yards away, saying, "Let me not see the death of the child." She then sits and weeps.
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Up Next in this Series
Why does the Torah emphasize Rivka's Aramean ancestry when describing her marriage to Yitzchok? The shiur reveals that Arameans were master manipulators with extraordinary sensitivity to others' psychology. Rivka inherited this keen insight but channeled it into genuine chesed, which requires understanding what recipients actually need rather than what givers want to provide.
Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Bereishis 18:19, 21:9-16
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Why does the Torah separate Avrohom's eulogy for Sarah from his crying for her? The shiur shows that Sarah required a public eulogy focused on the communal loss of a leader, not Avrohom's private grief. This teaches that we must view Jewish tragedies through a national lens first, seeing attacks on Am Yisrael as collective losses that dwarf personal concerns.
