(Ep.48) Rosh Hashana: Change your Path

So on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Torah reading tells us the story of Hagar and Yishmael being sent away from Abram's house.

According to the Midrash, Sarah saw that Yishmael's influence was not good for Yitzchak.

While wandering in the desert, they ran out of water.

Hagar puts Yishmael under a bush and walks away to cry because she can't bear to watch her son suffer.

Then the Torah tells us something interesting.

Vayshma Elohim is kol hanar ba'asher usham.

And Hashem heard the voice of the boy from where he was.

Now two big questions come out from this story.

The Torah says Hagar cries, but it never explicitly says Yishmael cries.

If Hashem was going to hear anyone's cries, shouldn't it have been Hagar's? And why does the Torah phrase basher husham? What does that come in to add? Why does the Torah need to tell us that? It's very possible that Ishmael was crying, but it wasn't an ordinary cry that people could hear out loud.

It was a cry of improvement from deep inside.

Ishmael had hit rock bottom and he knew he needed to make a real change in his life.

That kind of inner cry is something only Hashem can hear, which is why the Torah doesn't describe it as regular crying.

This also explains the phrase basher husham.

This isn't just talking about his physical location under a bush in the desert.

It's talking about where he was in his life.

He was in a bad place, but he realized he needed to change.

When we recognize that we need to fix ourselves and we call out to Hashem, Hashem listens.

Hashem helps us, but we have to take that first step to help ourselves first.

So on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Torah reading tells us the story of Hagar and Yishmael being sent away from Abram's house.

According to the Midrash, Sarah saw that Yishmael's influence was not good for Yitzchak.

While wandering in the desert, they ran out of water.

Hagar puts Yishmael under a bush and walks away to cry because she can't bear to watch her son suffer.

Then the Torah tells us something interesting.

Vayshma Elohim is kol hanar ba'asher usham.

And Hashem heard the voice of the boy from where he was.

Now two big questions come out from this story.

The Torah says Hagar cries, but it never explicitly says Yishmael cries.

If Hashem was going to hear anyone's cries, shouldn't it have been Hagar's? And why does the Torah phrase basher husham? What does that come in to add? Why does the Torah need to tell us that? It's very possible that Ishmael was crying, but it wasn't an ordinary cry that people could hear out loud.

It was a cry of improvement from deep inside.

Ishmael had hit rock bottom and he knew he needed to make a real change in his life.

That kind of inner cry is something only Hashem can hear, which is why the Torah doesn't describe it as regular crying.

This also explains the phrase basher husham.

This isn't just talking about his physical location under a bush in the desert.

It's talking about where he was in his life.

He was in a bad place, but he realized he needed to change.

When we recognize that we need to fix ourselves and we call out to Hashem, Hashem listens.

Hashem helps us, but we have to take that first step to help ourselves first.