"For she [Hagar] said: Have I also here looked after him
that sees me?" Rashi notes that this is in the
interrogative, as if to say: `And did I think that even
here, in the deserts, I would also see the messenger of
Hashem after having seen him in the home of Avrohom? For
there, I was accustomed to seeing angels.' And know that she
was in the habit of seeing them, for when Monoach (father of
Shimshon) saw an angel merely once, he declared: `We shall
surely die.' Yet she saw angels, one after another, and was
not frightened."
Hagar was accustomed to seeing angels and is not taken aback
this time. But we must ask if the awe and fear which
envelops a person in the presence of angels is an experience
one can get used to?
Truly, angels are not frightening in the threatening sense.
What imposes fear and awe upon a person is the very
encounter of a mortal with spirituality which is beyond his
power of containing. As Rashi comments upon the verse in
Yeshaya 6:5, "`For I was unworthy of gazing upon the
Divine Presence.' We find an example of this by Monoach who
said: `We shall surely die for we have seen a divine angel.'
" Monoach's fear was that he was unworthy of this
revelation. Similarly, Yaakov Ovinu memorialized Peniel with
its name " . . . because I saw an angel face to face and
lived." The Ibn Ezra explains Monoach's statement as
previously, and as we saw with Yaakov.
But can one develop immunity and nonchalance, so to speak,
against this form of dread? What, then, is the significance
of the fact that Hagar had become `used' to seeing
angels?
It is interesting that there was another maidservant who
reached spiritual heights in spite of her station. She
attained such levels that even the saintly tanoim
considered themselves below her. This was Rebbe's
servant.
The gemora in maseches Moed Koton 17 tells,
"Rebbe's maid once saw a man hitting his grownup son and she
imposed a ban upon him based on what Chazal established that
one who strikes an adult son transgresses the prohibition of
putting a stumbling block before the blind, since he is
placing his son in a very difficult situation. The son, in
his anger, is liable to strike back. It is further written
that the sages of her time did not lift the ban for three
subsequent years!"
The Rosh presents the following question: "The Raavad is
puzzled why that person remained ostracized by the Sages for
three years. Why did they not annul her ban? And if we
presume that she died during that period, couldn't Rebbe
have annulled the ban? But we know that Rebbe died before
her. Still, the question remains: couldn't Rabbon Gamliel,
his son, have annulled the ban? For the rule is that if
someone was put into cheirem, but the identity of the
ban imposer was not known, then one went to the nosi,
in any case, who had the authority to have it lifted. So we
see that the authority of the nosi is supreme; it is
the last resort in any case.
"The Raavad answers that in the case where the imposer's
identity is unknown, then surely one had to go to the
nosi. For in the event of any sofeik one
follows the majority and even the majority of Yisroel does
not outweigh the nosi. But if the identity of the
imposer of the ban is known and is important in his [or her]
own right, no one will weigh himself against that person.
For, even if he is his equal in wisdom, he may not be his
equal in fear of sin, or greatness (gedulah) or age?
All these factors are significant in the case of permitting
something that another has forbidden."
The Raavad's conclusion is most surprising: "Here, the maid
in Rebbe's household was very wise and G-d-fearing as well,
and the sages were reluctant to weight themselves against
her. In the end, the gedolei hador combined forces to
release the cheirem."
R' Yosef Leib Bloch Hy'd, author of Shiurei
Daas, is perplexed: how curious it is that the servant
in Rebbe's household, who was not altogether Jewish, only
partially so, and the sages could not permit that which she
had forbidden! Even Rabbon Gamliel, the nosi, who had
learned the entire Torah, did not dare to stand against her
and weigh his level against hers in order to permit what she
had forbidden because of the combination of her excessive
wisdom and piety that was so evident. But we cannot help
wondering where she acquired such sublime levels. Had she
truly studied Torah or delved into wisdom? Without Torah,
how can one attain such degrees of wisdom?
An incisive question, but the conclusion which the Gaon of
Telz arrives at is even more incisive and penetrating. We
can infer from this episode the tremendous gain from
shimush talmidei chachomim. Nothing supersedes it.
When one lives in the home of a Torah sage, fully observes
his conduct and ways and absorbs all of the lessons provided
on a daily basis in all the details of his conduct, he
cannot help but grow spiritually to the highest level
possible, to be above and beyond anyone else. Indeed, to
such a level that even Rabbon Gamliel, his very son, who
studied under his illustrious father and practiced all of
his teachings, could not permit that which she had
forbidden. She was in greater proximity to [Rebbe]; she
attended to his needs at all times and had the opportunity
to observe and emulate his holy ways, to study his conduct
and to intuit the very inner workings of his mind and
soul.
R' Yosef Leib takes this even further and says that "the
ultimate of wisdom is repentance and good deeds." And the
prime means of attaining this goal is by observing the ways
of a Torah sage and seeing the reflection of his very heart
and soul through his conduct, in every nuance, every aspect
of his life. This can be achieved only through serving the
talmid chochom in an exalted and exacting way, and it
is even possible without learning Torah itself.
We cannot help but add a necessary corollary: it is obvious
that a Jew cannot be truly wise and pious if he is not
simultaneously learned in Torah, if he does not know and
pursue its wisdom and holiness, as one who is commanded to
do so, and strives indefatigably in this direction. And if
he does not study Torah, then he has no learning and no
shimush. Rebbe's maid was not obligated and not able
to study Torah. Nevertheless, she had an exalted soul which
enabled her to attain such levels which surpassed those of
the leaders of the generation so that they could not undo
her nidui. Her level was so great and the impact of
what she said was very exalted and it could only be removed
by someone who reached this same level so that his soul was
even greater. And none who saw themselves as such could be
found for the span of three years! Not even Rebbe's own son,
Rabbon Gamliel, could compare with her exalted spiritual
level and fulfillment.
Now, we no longer need ask how Hagar, Avrohom's maid, could
become so exalted as to be familiar with angels and not
tremble in awe before them.
