Shana Tova and welcome to each of you, including my parents and father-in-law. My name is Joan Katz; I am a member here at the Egalitarian Minyan.
Last winter my daughter Miriam and I participated together in a thoughtful series of pre-bat mitzvah classes sponsored by the women's yeshiva Matan. When the teacher dramatized the Biblical Hannah of today's Haftorah, she presented a classic Rabbinic interpretation: Hannah as paradigm of the righteous woman. Surely Hannah must not be good enough yet, for God had not answered her prayer with a child. According to the Gemarra, Berachot 31:b, Hannah even challenges God to find fault with her observance of the mitzvot for which women are traditionally obligated, and takes Him to task saying "HaKadosh Baruch Hoo, Master of the Universe, of all the multitudes you created in your world, is it so difficult in your eyes to give me one son?" Since God Himself has closed Hannah's womb, Hannah would use T'shuvah, T'fillah and Tz'dakah to convince Him to change His decree. The pregnant young teacher of the Matan class painted a compelling model to emulate.
This interpretation is the "old standby." Pray hard, give charity, change your evil ways, and you still have a chance to convince God to change His mind and inscribe you in the book of life. Try hard enough, God will answer. This premise is crystallized in the liturgical refrain of today's Musaf, "U-t'shuvah u-t'fillah u-tz'dakah ma'avirin et ro'a ha-g'zeirah/But repentance, prayer and charity avert the evil of the decree."
Yet hearing the story of Hannah interpreted in this familiar way in a room of two dozen 11 year old girls, I was taken aback. Given the stark statistics we know about infertility, more than a few of these girls are being coached toward a life of unhappiness...if not outright religious disillusion....with most of their loving mothers in the room nodding in agreement!
Thinking of how my fellow classmates-these young girls-could internalize this Torah lesson, I really "heard" this classic interpretation anew. Zeal can be a positive attribute, but I was frightened for the girls in the room who may grow up thinking that we, like Hannah, can expect God to answer us personally if only we pray intensely enough, try hard enough, and make the right choices. Was this the primary meaning of the text I want to pass on to my daughter?!
It was shocking, because as adults we know that not all prayers are answered as requested. It is one thing to build a relationship with God through prayer and mitzvot, but another matter to depend on "catching" His attention to convince Him to save us with miracles on our behalf. It is only a small step from this kind of thinking to blaming the victim for her own misfortunes. What a blow to the self esteem of a young woman unable to conceive or realize her desires! Even the beloved Hannah's self confidence is shaken by her co-wife Penina's taunting.
I am also troubled by this reading of the story because I am personally unwilling to believe that unexpected turns in life-from inability to conceive like Hannah, or a child born with a genetic anomaly, or the untimely death of a loved one--are always in my control or are my fault for being human or not being perfect enough. Or that my faith in myself-or the Divine-- is tied to His granting my wishes. I suspect that most of you feel the same way.
This interpretation of our Haftorah matches a custom not uncommon in our larger Jewish community of responding to the life-threatening illness of a student by petitioning God to save the teen through the communal recitation of Psalms paired with a renewed fight against lashon harah/devisive speech. In other words: "U-t'shuvah u-t'fillah u-tz'dakah ma'avirin et ro'a ha-g'zeirah."
But what is the message to our teens when the child we are praying for does die? Which faith is shattered when one's best doesn't work?
So, if we do not expect a direct, one-to-one correlation between prayer and God's intercession, then what do we learn from Hannah's prayer?
In other words, how else can I read this text?
Over Rosh HaShana, we read not only the story of Hannah, but also selections from three other narratives with common themes: relationships between husbands and mates, their response to infertility, birthing and loosing children, and succession.
In the Torah portion for today and tomorrow, we read about Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael.
In the Haftorah we just finished, we heard about Elkana, Penina and Hannah, and Shmuel.
Following in tomorrow's Haftorah is Jeremiah's vision of God and his bride Israel and her return.
Given the similarities of these themes, I thought I might discover another aspect to Hannah's dilemma by comparing Hannah's experience to these other stories. When I laid out the elements of each story side by side, I could see clearly that the dimension shaping each of these tales was not just concern over progeny but communication with God: Prayer.
In Genesis, Abraham talks to God openly, asking God for direction when Sarah wants to send away Hagar, and later, sacrificing his son Isaac.
Sarah talks to God through her laughter when the angels visit her to foreshadow Isaac's birth. Her silence and death immediately after the Akedah is perhaps another statement.
Isaac asks straightforward questions of his father on their walk up Har Moriah in performance of a holy deed, prays in silence, and then participates in God's plan.
Hagar is direct, in the desert, "Do not let me see my son die".
Ishmael wails in the voice of a child.
In Samuel, Elkana visits the Temple at Shiloh with his family each year.
Penina visits as well, eating her portion of the sacrifice, but we what read of her is mockery rather than prayer, causing her co-wife Hannah torment instead of joy at the Festival.
Hannah first prays from her heart-silent, private, intense--and later with poetic praise.
Samuel devotes his life to the service of God, hearing His voice.
Jeremiah, the prophet, here relays God's promise that if we turn to Him, there will eventually be a joyful answer to the prayers of our ancestors.
The picture of an archetypical pattern for prayer began to emerge, providing me with a more resonant model for this season. With apologies to the Jeremiah fans, I will focus more on the Genesis and Samuel stories.
As these scenes unfold, what is the pattern for prayer?
First, the setting for each interlude is a potent emotional landscape. Beside the despair of infertility running through these stories, there are other emotional triggers. Watching Ishmael play with Isaac, Sarah is driven to the brink with jealousy. Imminent death is the final provocation for the banished Hagar to call out to God. Balancing fear and trust, Isaac's unrecorded response to the Akedah is no less poignant to our imaginations. We can "get into their moment" with empathy; the stories come to life because we can fill in the text with our own emotional gloss.
There is also a realization that change is needed. Sarah is bothered by the relationship between her son and his half brother as counter to God's plan. Hannah realizes that she cannot bear the bitterness eating at her. Elkana, full of love, is troubled by his wife's despair.
Next, the person responds to the problem by getting up and going outside the home, often pushed: Hagar to the desert of Beer-sheva, Abraham to the land of Moriah, and Hannah to the temple at Shiloh.
At the center of each story, as I mentioned above, a communication with God, a "prayer", takes place.
Amazingly, in each episode, God responds! The response when God actually answers is a hearty surprise! Sarah laughs. Abraham is so focused on his son Isaac on the altar that the angel has to call twice, "Abraham! Abraham!" to get his attention. God has to open Hagar's eyes so she can see the well. Hannah is inspired to compose a clairvoyant song of praise.
One senses, particularly by their surprise, that our ancestors were well aware that not all prayer is answered. Stories such as Moses' repeated but unsuccessful beseeching of God to let Him enter the Promised Land, were in their consciousness as well as ours.
Now look at how the response is delivered: through an intermediary. "Malach/angel-messengers" speak to Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar; a priest to Hannah; and a prophet Jeremiah to Israel.
There are also long lasting consequences to these prayers. I won't go into the details here, but if you read to the end of each character's life, you will find that after they are blessed with this closeness to God and a place in history, their mundane lives are never the same again.
What does this teach us about how to pray?
Here is the sequence: a problem that needs change, an emotional trigger, a change of scenery, communication with God in words or deeds, recognition of the answer, surprise at getting an answer, and lasting reverberations.
Prayer helps us focus and identify a need for change. Prayer starts with us.
Going outside your comfort zone-away from home or to a holy spot-- is not a bad thing.
Prayer has many voices and we see many examples in these text.
Prayer can be an empowering experience leading to personal growth. Hagar, feeling helpless, deserted, with her life out of control, leaves the well with the strength to raise a son and marry him off with material blessings-a successful single mother. Hannah, feeling low on self-worth, finds the courage to speak out to Eli, respectfully confronting his authority by challenging him when he misconstrues her as a drunken woman.
The answer to prayer is delivered in many ways. It can be through physical change, pregnancy for example; through an intermediary, such as an angel; or through the vision of a priest or prophet. God does not personally answer the prayer "face to face" in any of these stories-except to tell Abraham to listen to his wife when she complains!
The recipients' eyes need to be opened to seeing differently to find the answers. The language used in these texts is rich in words like weeping and seeing. God opens Hagar's eyes to see the well of water; Abraham looks and is surprised to see a ram for sacrifice in the bushes. Seeing what was unseen before; God unclouding vision. We have to be ready for the answer-it can sometimes come as a surprise. Finding the right answer is perhaps the real task of prayer.
Lastly, this process can have life-changing impact...though not always in the ways we expect. We should be ready to embrace the reverberations.
How would I teach Hannah as a model for the 11 year old girls?
I would argue that Hannah's is not primarily a story of infertility, fertility or bargaining, rather Hannah's story is a story of prayer heard. It is miraculous because she got precisely what she asked for. We know that God considered Hannah's encounter with Him successful; after Samuel's birth, He eventually blesses her with five more children.
But not every prayer is answered in the way it was asked. We bother to pray because the endeavor of prayer itself can bring change; it helps us see different paths. Hannah's prayer could have also been a success if answered another way. She was consoled, returning to participate joyfully in the Festival, even before she learned of her pregnancy; Eli's blessing does not promise her a child. When her life was changed, she had the vision to understand the gift she was given.
Most of the characters in these texts are introduced to us before they are parents. Children are the desired outcome, but it is not too far of a stretch to understand them as a metaphor for renewal or meaning. These stories can help us understand a process for personal change where "getting what we ask for" is not the primary measure of whether we are "good enough" yet.
I would say to these young girls, that Hannah, in distress, actively used the tools she had at her disposal to try to change her situation.
She drew strength from her husband's love and support.
She did not hide out at home, but went with the family to bring the sacrifice and take part in the festivals.
She prayed to God privately instead of grousing about life being unfair.
She took an action to bring change.
She was aware that prayer is a relationship demanding intensity.
Following her vow are the words: "v'haya ki hirbita l'hitpalael lifnai Adoni. As she continued to pray before God. v'haya ki hirbita l'hitpalael lifnai Adoni."
There were more words to her prayer we do not have recorded. She continued to pray until she felt she was answered.
Hannah used many voices in her prayer: sacrifices, petition, vow, praise, dedication of her child to the temple...and she still continued to pray.
In praying, Hannah's eyes are opened to her future, and even to the future of Israel.
Yes, I would say to the girls that Hannah is a wonderful role model:
Hannah does t'shuvah by using prayer as a catalyst for change.
Hannah turns to God in t'fillah to find answers for her life.
Hannah does the ultimate tz'dakah; dedicating her first fruits to God.
"U-t'shuvah u-t'fillah u-tz'dakah ma'avirin et ro'a ha-g'zeirah. /Returning, prayer and good deeds lighten the harshness of the decree."
In this New Year, may we each come to be blessed like Hannah.
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