[Avodah] Yishmael

[T613K at aol.com]

From: "Yisrael Medad" _yisrael.medad at gmail.com_ 
(mailto:yisrael.medad at gmail.com) 

 

>>Since we're on the subject, those who read the parsha carefully  noticed an
example of semantic deconstruction.  The verses  21:16-17read:

*"And she [Hagar] sat over against him, and lifted up her  voice, and wept.
And God heard the voice of the lad;"*

True, the  Midrash notes that Hashem listens to those who pray, and
extrapolates that  Yishmael must have prayed, but the literay aspect is why
didn't he listen to  Hagar and why doesn't it explicitly say that Yishmael
prayed?  There's a  subtle dislocation here.  A mother's voice is not up to
the mark?   And why not write "an Yishmael prayed, too  and..."?<<





.
>>>>>
"A mother's voice is not up to the mark?"  It depends which  mother.  Hagar's 
voice was not up to the mark.  At least in part (I'm  assuming) because she 
didn't stay near her son but moved away from him because  she didn't want to 
see him die -- IOW it was her own distress she cared about  more than her son's. 
 She would rather he die alone than that she  have to experience the horror 
of witnessing his death.  So her tefilla  -- "Please don't let me see my son 
die" rather than "Please save my son's life"  -- wasn't up to snuff.
 
>>And why not write "and Yishmael prayed, too  and..."?<<  Because the Torah 
almost never puts in one extra  word.  Whenever the necessary information can 
be inferred from what /is/  stated, there is no need to spell out what is 
/not/ stated.  You find  examples of this all over Chumash, where missing 
information can be inferred  from the text.   "Hashem answered Yishmael" tells you all 
that you  need to know -- makes it obvious that Yishmael prayed.
 
 
An example that comes to mind is with Dena and Shechem.  Not until  we read 
that her brothers took her from Shechem's home (after killing all the  men of 
the city) do we realize that she has been held captive during all the  
preceding conversations and negotiations.  ("My son loves her, please let  him have 
her." "These Jews want to intermarry with us and do business with us,  let's go 
along with them" etc)  When you realize that she was kidnapped and  held 
captive the whole time, it puts a different spin on the actions of Shimon  and Levy.



--Toby  Katz
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