A simple example is Rule #15: If we are given an explanation for someone’s name, that explanation is almost always wrong. This is true of Eve, Moses, Samuel and Isaac, just to mention some of the most obvious.
So…
Halpern’s Rule #9:THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES
Rule #9 alerts us to a link between two seemingly unrelated stories – the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael by Abram and Sarai on the one hand, and on the other hand, the Exodus.
First, the Exodus – I have underlined important phrases.
Abraham has a dream in which he is told for the first time that he will be the father of a great nation. But he is also told that his children will be strangers in a land not theirs, that they will be made servants and treated harshly.
Aha! The Exodus.
When the Children of Israel finally leave Egypt, they are in such a hurry that they do not have time for their bread to rise. Instead, they put the bread on their shoulders and wander into the wilderness. No sooner are they out of Egypt than they experience two water crises. At the shores of the Red (Reed) Sea the people panic and cry out to Moses. Moses answers and tells the people, “Do not fear.” The Red Sea parts, and Israel escapes. Just days later Israel has no water, and Moses saves Israel by putting a branch in the well of bitter water, making it sweet.
We all remember that story, but we may not remember the story of Hagar’s expulsion.
Hagar is Sarai’s Egyptian servant, who Sarai gives to Abram to have a child with. When Hagar (whose name means the stranger) gets pregnant, Sarai treats her so harshly that Hagar flees for her life. Finally, Sarai demands that Abram send Hagar and her son Ishmael away. Abram gives Hagar a jug of water, gives her bread which he puts on her shoulder and sends mother and child into the wilderness. In a couple of days the water is gone, and Hagar leaves Ishmael so she does not have to watch him die. She cries out to God, and an angel answers her, “Do not fear!” As if by magic a well appears, saving them.
Two stories with exactly the same language, even exactly the same words. Coincidence? I think not.
These two stories drive home the same messages:
Love the stranger. Do not wrong the stranger.
That which is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else.
Sarai oppressed the Egyptian and treated her harshly.
The Egyptians oppressed us and treated us harshly.
What goes around comes around.
And there are strangers among us still.
How are we treating them?
B’Shalom
Rabbi Stanley Halpern