| Every year in the fall we start reading the Torah in the synagogue, and we go on reading one section every week until we have finished it, just in time to start over at the same time the next year. In addition to this annual cycle, on our (many!) holidays we do special, out-of-sequence readings. Generally these are sections of the Torah that discuss the holiday concerned, so it’s clear why they were chosen. But on Rosh HaShana, the New Year, the reading is a bit surprising and puzzling: On the first day of the holiday we read the story of how Abraham’s wife Sarah insists that he expel his concubine Hagar and her son Ishmael from their home. After Abraham sends them away, Hagar and Ishmael become lost in the desert and almost die, but God intervenes and saves them. Then on the second day we read the story of the binding of Isaac in which God tests Abraham by asking him to kill his son as a sacrifice. Abraham unprotestingly agrees, but once again God intervenes at the last minute and tells Abraham that he does not need to give up his son. Both of these stories are shocking and moving, but their connection to the New Year is obscure. Since Rosh HaShana is supposed to be the anniversary of the creation of the world, we might have expected to read the creation story from Genesis. Or, since on the New Year we are supposed to be repenting of our sins and hoping to be forgiven and saved, we might have thought we would read the story of the exodus from Egypt, our prototypical salvation. Some years ago a possible explanation occurred to me: ten days after Rosh HaShana comes Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. When the temple in Jerusalem still stood, on this day the high priest would carry out a ritual to make atonement for the people. Two goats were brought before him, and one was randomly chosen to be slaughtered on the altar. The other goat was spared. It was the scapegoat, and was sent out into the wilderness as the symbolic bearer of all the people’s sins. Since the temple was destroyed two thousand years ago, we no longer carry out this ritual, but in the synagogue we do read the Torah’s description of it. My thought was that the stories of Ishmael and Isaac are read on Rosh HaShana as a prefigurement of the Yom Kippur temple ritual that we will read about ten days later. Ishmael is like the scapegoat who is sent out into the desert, and Isaac is like the goat who is (almost) killed on the altar. This year in our synagogue Richard Tupper gave a d’var torah that addressed the question of why we read about Hagar and Ishmael from a different perspective. He pointed out that Hagar’s experience is similar to that of the Israelites in Egypt. She is mistreated by Sarah as the Israelites were oppressed by the Egyptians, and her expulsion from Abraham’s house is like the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt into the wilderness. In this sense, what we are reading is a parallel to the exodus story and it expresses what we hope will happen: We will repent, God will forgive our sins, and we will survive. Further, Tup continued, the choice of the story of Hagar, rather than a Jewish character, is particularly apt. The holiday is supposed to be the birthday not of our people specifically, but of the whole world. Making Hagar the protagonist emphasizes that this is the day of judgement for the whole world, and that every person is important. I still believe that the explanation I offered is likely the reason the stories of Ishmael and Isaac were chosen to read on Rosh HaShana. However, understanding that doesn’t give you much of a moral lesson. Tup’s insights give us something important and helpful to think about. May we all be inscribed for a good and sweet new year. |
| Created on 28 September 2025, updated on 28 September 2025 by Samuel Ethan Fox |