My Musing
What should be the priority? Can we fairly distribute limited resources?
Really, where should we focus our energies? In this midrash, we get an insight.
– The Future.
מדרש תנחומא (ורשא) פרשת חיי שרה סימן ח
(בראשית כה:א)"וַיֹּסֶף
אַבְרָהָם וַיִּקַּח אִשָּׁה, וּשְׁמָהּ קְטוּרָה"
And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah.
"וַיֹּסֶף
אַבְרָהָם" מה כתיב למעלה מן הענין (בראשית כד: סז) "וַיְבִאֶהָ
יִצְחָק, הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ, וַיִּקַּח אֶת-רִבְקָה וַתְּהִי-לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה,
וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ; וַיִּנָּחֵם יִצְחָק, אַחֲרֵי אִמּוֹ" מכאן אתה למד שאם מתה אשתו
של אדם ויש לו בנים שלא ישא אשה עד שישיא את בניו ואחר כך ישא אשה לעצמו. שכך עשה אברהם
אחר מיתת שרה. השיא את יצחק ואחר כך נשא אשה לעצמו. מנין? ממה שכתוב "וַיְבִאֶהָ יִצְחָק"
ואחר כך "וַיֹּסֶף אַבְרָהָם".
“And Abraham took another”, what is written above this episode? “And Isaac
brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his
wife; and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted for his mother.” From here you
learn that if a person becomes a widower and he has sons, that he should not
marry another woman until he arranges for his children to get married and then
he can get married. And that is how Abraham acted after the death of Sarah. He
married off Isaac and then married a woman himself. From whence do we know
this? From that it is written, “And Isaac brought her” and afterwards it is written,
“And Abraham took another.”
אמר יצחק, 'אני לקחתי אשה ואבי עומד בלא אשה.' מה עשה? הלך והביא
לו אשה. רבי אומר, היא הגר היא קטורה, ולמה נקרא שמה קטורה? שהיתה קשורה כנוד. ורבותינו
אומרים, אשה אחרת לקח.
ומה טעם של רבי שאומר
הגר היא קטורה? שכתוב ביצחק (בראשית כד:סב)
" וְיִצְחָק בָּא מִבּוֹא, בְּאֵר לַחַי
רֹאִי; וְהוּא יוֹשֵׁב, בְּאֶרֶץ הַנֶּגֶב" אותה שכתוב בה (בראשית טז:יג-יד) " וַתִּקְרָא שֵׁם-יְקוָה הַדֹּבֵר אֵלֶיהָ, אַתָּה אֵ-ל רֳאִי:
כִּי אָמְרָה, הֲגַם הֲלֹם רָאִיתִי--אַחֲרֵי רֹאִי. עַל-כֵּן קָרָא לַבְּאֵר, בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי--הִנֵּה בֵין-קָדֵשׁ,
וּבֵין בָּרֶד" מכאן אתה למד שהיא הגר.
Said Isaac, ‘I took a wife and
my father is without a wife.’ What did he do? He went a brought him a wife.
Rebbe said, she was Hagar, she was Keturah. And why was she called Ketura? That
she was tied like a water skin. And our
rabbis say, he took a different woman. And what is the reasoning of Rebbe that
he says that Hagar was Keturah? That it is written regarding Yitzchak, “And
Isaac came from the way of Beer-lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the land of the
South.” That is the one written regarding her (Hagar) “And she called the name
of the LORD that spoke unto her, Thou art a God of seeing; for she said: 'Have
I even here seen Him that seeth Me?' Wherefore
the well was called 'Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.”
דבר אחר: למה נקרא שמה קטורה? שנאים מעשיה כקטרת.
(בראשית כה:ב)
"וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ, אֶת-זִמְרָן וְאֶת-יָקְשָׁן, וְאֶת-מְדָן, וְאֶת-מִדְיָן--וְאֶת-יִשְׁבָּק,
וְאֶת-שׁוּחַ." הוי אומר (איוב ח:ז)
" וְהָיָה רֵאשִׁיתְךָ מִצְעָר; וְאַחֲרִיתְךָ, יִשְׂגֶּה מְאֹד."
אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא בעולם הזה הצדיקים מולידים טובים ורעים,
אבל לעולם הבא כלם יהיו צדיקים. (ישעיה ס:כא) "וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים, לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ
אָרֶץ; נֵצֶר מטעו [מַטָּעַי] מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי, לְהִתְפָּאֵר." ואומר (ישעיה ס:כב) "הַקָּטֹן יִהְיֶה לָאֶלֶף, וְהַצָּעִיר לְגוֹי עָצוּם; אֲנִי יְקוָה, בְּעִתָּהּ
אֲחִישֶׁנָּה"
וכן יהי רצון אמן.
Another idea:
Why was she called keturah? That her actions were pleasing like the incense
(ketoret)
“And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian,
and Ishbak, and Shuah.” That is the fulfillment of the verse “And though thy
beginning was small, yet thy end should greatly increase.”
Said the Holy One, blessed be He, in
this world, the righteous bear both good and evil children. But in the world to
come, they all will be righteous. “Thy people also shall
be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever; the branch of My
planting, the work of My hands, wherein I glory.” The smallest shall become a
thousand, and the least a mighty nation; I the LORD will hasten it in its time.
And so it may be His will, Amen.
אין תגובות:
הוסף רשומת תגובה