Lech Lecha – You’ve Gotta Have Heart

You’ve gotta have heart	You’ve gotta have hope
All you really need is heart	Mustn’t sit around and mope
When the odds are sayin’ you’ll never win	Nothin’s half as bad as it may appear
That’s when the grin should start	Wait’ll next year and hope

Lyrics, Damn Yankees^[1]

 

A centenarian is told that he will soon become a father.  His response:  laughter:

Avraham threw himself on his face and laughed and said in his heart, “To a one-hundred-year-old, will a child be born? Will Sarah, at ninety years old, give birth?”

וַיִּפֹּ֧ל אַבְרָהָ֛ם עַל־פָּנָ֖יו וַיִּצְחָ֑ק וַיֹּ֣אמֶר בְּלִבּ֗וֹ הַלְּבֶ֤ן מֵאָֽה־שָׁנָה֙ יִוָּלֵ֔ד וְאִ֨ם־שָׂרָ֔ה הֲבַת־תִּשְׁעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה תֵּלֵֽד׃

[Gen. 17:17]

That Avraham laughed doesn’t really tell us much.  There are many different kinds of laughter.  There is the belly laughter we experience when watching Seinfeld.  There is joyous laughter, nervous laughter, stress-relieving laughter, and mocking laughter.  There is even cruel laughter.  Which kind of laughter did Avraham emote?

Before we try to answer that question, let’s peek at next week’s parsha where a nonagenarian overhears that she will soon be pregnant:

And they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “Behold in the tent.”	וַיֹּֽאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֔יו אַיֵּ֖ה שָׂרָ֣ה אִשְׁתֶּ֑ךָ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֵּ֥ה בָאֹֽהֶל:
And he said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah heard from the entrance of the tent, and it was behind him.	וַיֹּ֗אמֶר שׁ֣וֹב אָשׁ֤וּב אֵלֶ֨יךָ֙ כָּעֵ֣ת חַיָּ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־בֵ֖ן לְשָׂרָ֣ה אִשְׁתֶּ֑ךָ וְשָׂרָ֥ה שֹׁמַ֛עַת פֶּ֥תַח הָאֹ֖הֶל וְה֥וּא אַֽחֲרָֽיו:
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, coming on in years; Sarah had ceased to have the way of the women.	וְאַבְרָהָ֤ם וְשָׂרָה֙ זְקֵנִ֔ים בָּאִ֖ים בַּיָּמִ֑ים חָדַל֙ לִֽהְי֣וֹת לְשָׂרָ֔ה אֹ֖רַח כַּנָּשִֽׁים:
And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have become worn out, will I have smooth flesh? And also, my master is old.”	וַתִּצְחַ֥ק שָׂרָ֖ה בְּקִרְבָּ֣הּ לֵאמֹ֑ר אַֽחֲרֵ֤י בְלֹתִי֙ הָֽיְתָה־לִּ֣י עֶדְנָ֔ה וַֽאדֹנִ֖י זָקֵֽן:
And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Is it really true that I will give birth, although I am old?’	וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ה אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֑ם לָ֣מָּה זֶּה֩ צָֽחֲקָ֨ה שָׂרָ֜ה לֵאמֹ֗ר הַאַ֥ף אֻמְנָ֛ם אֵלֵ֖ד וַֽאֲנִ֥י זָקַֽנְתִּי:
Is anything hidden from the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you, at this time next year and Sarah will have a son.”	הֲיִפָּלֵ֥א מֵֽ-ה דָּבָ֑ר לַמּוֹעֵ֞ד אָשׁ֥וּב אֵלֶ֛יךָ כָּעֵ֥ת חַיָּ֖ה וּלְשָׂרָ֥ה בֵֽן:
And Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you laughed.”	וַתְּכַחֵ֨שׁ שָׂרָ֧ה | לֵאמֹ֛ר לֹ֥א צָחַ֖קְתִּי כִּ֣י | יָרֵ֑אָה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | לֹ֖א כִּ֥י צָחָֽקְתְּ:

[Gen. 18:9-15]

Why is Avraham’s laughter overlooked while Sarah is taken to task for laughing?  Rashi offers an explanation by examining how Onkelos^[2] translates laughter in each scenario.

And Abraham fell on his face and rejoiced: Heb. וַיִּצְחָק. Onkelos renders this as an expression of joy, וַחֲדִי “and he rejoiced,” but the one [וַתִּצְחָק] in the case of Sarah (below 18:12) [he renders] as an expression of laughter.	ויפל אברהם על פניו ויצחק: זה תירגם אנקלוס וחדי, לשון שמחה, ושל שרה לשון מחוך.
You learn that Abraham believed and rejoiced, but Sarah did not believe and ridiculed, and for this reason, the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with Sarah, but was not angry with Abraham.	למדת שאברהם האמין ושמח, ושרה לא האמינה ולגלגה. וזהו שהקפיד הקב”ה על שרה ולא הקפיד על אברהם:

[Gen. 3:16]

Onkolos subtly hinted – and Rashi not-so-subtly declared – that God was angry with Sarah because her laughter had a disbelieving, mocking tone to it.  Avraham’s laugh, on the other hand, was an expression of pure joy.

God heard both Avraham and Sarah laugh but only she made him angry.  Jeff Miller may have difficulty telling the difference between sincerity and sarcasm, but surely God could appreciate who is happy and who is not!  כִּי־ה֥וּא יֹ֜דֵ֗עַ תַּֽעֲלֻמ֥וֹת לֵֽב, For He knows the secrets of the heart.  (Tehillim 44:22).

We are still left wondering why Onkolos came to this conclusion.  The text uses the same verb -ִצחק  – in each anecdote.  Was Onkolos merely working backwards from God’s disparate reaction?  Did Onkolos (and Rashi) jerry-rig an explanation that justifies why God gave Avraham a pass?  Or is there a clue in the Torah itself  that the elderly couple reacted differently to the + on the home pregnancy test?  Let’s take a closer look:

AVRAHAM’S REACTION	SARAH’S REACTION
Avraham threw himself on his face and laughed and said in his heart (בְּלִבּ֗וֹ) …	And Sarah laughed within herself (בְּקִרְבָּ֣הּ), saying,

Avraham laughed (presumably out loud) and spoke to his heart.  Sarah suppressed her laughter internally, בְּקִרְבָּ֣הּ.  Rashi suggests that קִרְבָּ֣הּ is a play on words. Sarah reflected on her “insides”, her womb, and asked herself, אפשר הקרבים הללו טעונין ולד, “Is it possible that these insides will carry a child…?” It was a rhetorical question; she simply did not believe it was possible.  Avraham, on the other hand, speaks not his (or his wife’s) expired reproductive organs but to his heart.

The idiom “to speak one’s heart” is generally understood as meaning “he thought”.  Esav, David Hamelech, and Haman speak to their hearts at one time or another.  So, too, does God speak to His heart, even though He obviously does has not a corporeal organ that pumps blood.^[3]

When the Torah tells us that God “spoke to His heart”, Ramban notes that דבר תורה כלשון בני אדם, the Torah is written in Human language; it is intended for a human audience.  Torah uses human terms and expressions and ideas to try to capture the ineffable and indescribable divine.  The same principle applies to all Torah; .the expressions are meant to resonate with the audience.  On a basic level, “to speak to his heart” simply means an unspoken thought.  Still, it stands in contrast with Sarah speaking to her (no longer functioning) womb.

But ‘heart’ is an even more powerful metaphor when we consider that the prevailing view in the ancient Near East was that the mind itself was seated in the heart.  Our Torah reflects this idea.  Remember that Shlomo Hamelech asked for “an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad…” (I Kings 3:9).

Sarah is addressing her failed reproductive organ.  Her laughter is an expression of sorrow and pain.  Avraham is no fool; he recognizes the reality of old age.  But he focuses his energies on the center mass of his body.  He is putting his faith in the unfathomable wisdom of God against all rhyme or reason.  He is not choosing faith over science; he is declaring that God is the source of both!

Now we can also understand why Avraham’s laughter is accompanied by “falling on his face”, which is an act of contrition.  As he bows down, Avraham is demonstrating his obeisance to God, just as he did just a few verses earlier when the angels first appeared.

Are we being unfair to Sarah?  She and Avraham may have suffered together as a couple through years of infertility, but they are still two individuals, carrying very different baggage.  The Minchat Yehudah, seeking to soften our criticism of Sarah, comments that Avraham had the benefit of hearing the news directly from God while Sarah overheard it from an angel.  It’s easier “to have heart”, suggests the Minchat Yehudah, when God is your confidant.  Indeed, one midrash interprets God’s comment to Avraham:

“And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Is it really true that I will give birth, although I am old?’“

as a tacit criticism of him for not sharing the news of the impending pregnancy with Sarah as soon he received the prophecy.  “She is your partner, Avraham!  Keep her in the loop!”

Sarah may have momentarily laughed inappropriately, but she quickly gained her composure and became an object of force in her nuclear family.   There can be no doubt that Sarah Imeinu rose to the occasion, putting her heart and soul into bring a mate, mother, and matriarch.

 

Shabbat Shalom!

[1].  One of the first lessons I learned in rabbinical school was to avoid – at all costs – (mis)using the power of the pulpit by “zinging it” to someone from the bimah.  Sorry, Rabbi Felner; I cannot help myself.  The title of this Torah Byte and lyrical quote here is in honor of my friends who root for the Bronx Bombers (A”H).  Perhaps you now have an inkling how it feels to cheer for the hapless Mets.

[2].  Onkolos is the authoritative Aramaic translation of the Torah which, according to tradition, was also revealed to Moshe Rabbeinu at Sinai.  See, TB Megilah 3a.

[3] See, e.g., Gen 6:6, 8:21.