[Avodah] Yishmael and hester panim

[Ilana Sober]

Another thought on the parsha:

Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer:

Yishmael's first wife was from Moav. Avraham went to visit him - promising
Sarah he wouldn't get down from the camel. Only the wife was home. Avraham
asked her for a bit of bread and water, and she refused. He asked her to
give Yishmael a message - change the threshold of your house; it is not
suitable for you. Yishmael understood and divorced his wife, and his mother
took him a wife from her father's house named Fatima.

Three years later, the exact same story - but when Avraham asked Fatima for
bread and water she brought them out for him. Avraham davenned for his son
and the house of Yishmael was filled with good things. When Yishmael came
she told him what had happened and he knew that his father still had mercy
on him, k'rachem av al banim.

Could this be a mashal for the Jewish people in galut, at a time of hester
panim? We do not actually see G-d, just Yishmael was never home when his
father arrived. But G-d's love for us is eternal, and He has not deserted
us. We need to cultivate an awareness of His presence so that we can hear
and respond to His guidance and recognize and give thanks for His brachot.

- Ilana