One day Ava came to me with an intense painting in her hands.
"This is for you!"
and she told me a terrible story:
"My mother was sick in her soul.
She painted "Hagar and Ismael in the Desert".
When I left for India I asked not to be in contact with anyone.
When I finally returned, my mother was dead~~~~
She had taken her own life~~~~"

Shocked and moved to tears I asked Ava:
"But why are you giving away something
that connects to your mother so deeply?"

She said simply:
"I just know, that it's you who should have the picture."

The picture is not with me now [April 2004].
It is in my former mobile home, which I bequeathed to Tamir.
In July 2003 this home was carted away by some authority
which asks for a horrendous amount of money to set it free.
But I had photographed the picture in January 2003,
while leaning it on the back of that old army-bus, my former home.
It will guide me from now on.

After I had "settled" in Arad, in Dec. 2004,
Tamir brought me the painting.
How grate-full I am, that he had rescued it to a safe place,
before my bus was taken from him.

Unlike my other biblical sculptures on this site,
I shall not comment or interpret the texts.
May they speak for themselves.
For readers who have the priviledge to read the text in the original,
and not "like kissing your bride through a veil" (Ben-Gurion)
I ask you to open Bereshit chapter 16, and chapter 21

Genesis 16: 1- 17:
(According to Fox' translation
which follows the rules of Buber-Rosenzweig

"Now Sarai, Avram's wife, had not borne him (children).

She had an Egyptian maid - her name was Hagar.
Sarai said to Avram:
Now here, YHWH has obstructed me from bearing;
pray come in to my maid,
perhaps I may be built-up-with-sons through her!
Avram hearkened to Sarai's voice:

Sarai, Avram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian-woman, her maid,
at the end of ten years of Avram's being settled in the land of    Canaan,
and gave her to her husband Avram as a wife for him.

He came in to Hagar, and she became pregnant.

But when she saw that she was pregnant,
her mistress became of light-worth in her eyes.
Sarai said to Avram:
The wrong done to me is upon you!
I myself gave my maid into your bosom,
but now that she sees that she is pregnant,
I have become of light-worth in her eyes.
May YHWH see-justice-done between me and you!
Avram said to Sarai:
Here, your maid is in your hand,
deal with her however seems good in your eyes.
Sarai afflicted her, so that she had to flee from her.

But YHWH's messenger found her by a spring of water in the     wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
He said:
Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence do you come, whither are you going?
She said:
I am fleeing from Sarai my mistress.

YHWH's messenger said to her:;
Return to your mistress and let yourself be afflicted under her hand!

And YHWH's messenger said to her;
I will make your seed many, yes, many, it will be too many to count!


And YHWH's messenger said to her:
Here, you are pregnant,
you will bear a son;
call his name: Yishmael/God Hearkens,
for God has hearkened to your being afflicted.



He shall be a a wild-ass of a man,
his hand against all, hand of all against him,
yet in the presence of all his breothers shall he dwell.

Now she called the name of YHWH, the one who was speaking to    her:
You God of Seeing!
for she said:
Have I actually gone on seeing here
after his seeing me?
Therefore the well was called:
Well of the Living-One Who-Sees-Me.
Here, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

Hagar bore Avram a son,
and Avram called the name of the son whom Hagar bore: Yishmael.
Avram was eighty years and six years old when Hagar bore    Yishmael to Avram.

Genesis 17: 1; 15-26

Now when Avram was ninety years and nine years old
YHWH was seen by Avram
     [his name is transformed into Avraham and he is told about      circumcision as a sign of the covenant and then:]

God said to Avraham:
As for Sarai your wife - you shall not call her name Sarai,
for Sara/Princess is her name!
I will bless her, and I will give you a son from her,
I will bless her
so that she becomes nations,
kings of peoples shall come from her!
But Avraham fell on his face and laughed,
he said in his heart:
  To a hundred-year-old man shall there be (children) born?
  Or shall ninety-year-old Sara give birth?

Avraham said to God:
If only Yishmael might live in your presence.

God said:
Nevertheless,
S ara your wife is to bear you a son,
you shall calll his name; Yitzhak/He Laughs.
I will establish my covenant for the ages, for his seed after him.
And as for Yishmael, I hearken to you:
Here, I will make him blessed, I will make him bear fruit,
    I will make him many, exceedingly, exceedingly ---
he will beget twelve (tribal) leaders,
and I will make a great nation of him.
But my covenant I will establish with Yitzhak, whom Sara will bear     to you at this set-time, another year hence.

When he had finished speaking with Avraham,
God went up, from beside Avraham.

Avraham took Yishmael his son ....
and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that same day,
as God had spoken to him.
Avraham was ninety-nine years old when he had the flesh of his    foreskin circumcised,
and Yishmael his son was thirteen years old when he had the flesh    of  his foreskin circumcised.
On that same day
were circumcised Avraham and Yishmael his son...

Genesis 21:2-21

Sara became pregnant and bore Avraham a son in his old age,
at the set-time of which God had spoken to him.
And Avraham called the name of his son, who was born to him,
    whom Sara bore to him:
Yitzhak/He Laughs.
And Avraham circumcised Yitzhak his son at eight days old,
as God had commanded him.
Avraham was a hundred years old when Yitzhak his son was born to     him.
Now Sara said:
God has made laughter for me,
all who hear of it will laugh for me.
And she said:
Who would have declared to Avraham:
Sara will nurse sons?
Well, I have borne him a son in his old age!
The child grew and was weaned,
and Avraham made a great drinking-feast on the day that Yitzhak     was weaned.

Once Sara saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian-woman, whom she    had borne to Avraham, laughing.
She said to Avraham:
drive out this slave-woman and her son,
for the son of this slave-woman shall not share-inheritance with my     son, with Yitzhak! 
The matter was exceedingly bad in Avraham's eyes because of his     son.
But God said to Avraham:
Do not let it be bad in your eyes concerning the lad and concerning     your slave-woman;
in all that Sara says to you, hearken to her voice,
for it is through Yitzhak that seed will be called by your (name).
But also the son of the slave-woman --- a nation will I make of him,
   for he too is your seed.

Avraham started-early in the morning,
he took some bread and a skin of water
and gave them to Hagar - placing them upon her shoulder -
    together with the child and sent her away.
She went off and roamed in the wilderness of Be'er-sheva.
And when the water in the skin was at an end, she cast the child     under one of the bushes,
and went and sat by herself, at-a-distance, as far away as a bowhot,
for she said to herself:
Let me not see the child die!

So she sat at-a-distance, and lifted up her voice and wept.
But God heard the voice of the lad,
God's messenger called to Hagar from heaven and said to her:
What is (the matter) with you, Hagar? Do not be afraid,
for God has heard the voice of the lad there where he is.
Arise, lift up the lad and grasp him with your hand,
for a great nation will I make of him!

God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water;
she went, filled the skin with water, and gave the lad to drink.
And God was with the lad as he grew up,
he settled in the wilderness, and became an archer, a bowman.
He settled in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took him a    wife from the land of Egypt.

Im Anfang 16: 1- 17
According to "Die Verdeutschung der Schrift" by Martin Buber ,
together with Franz Rosenzweig.

Sarai, Abrams Weib, hatte ihm nicht geboren.
Sie hatte aber eine aegyptische Magd, ihr Name war Hagar.
Sarai sprach zu Abram:

Da ER mich doch versperrt fuers Gebaeren,
geh doch ein zu meiner Magd,
vielleicht, dass ich aus ihr bekindet werde.
Abram hoerte auf die Stimme Sarais.


Sarai, Abrams Weib, nahm Hagar die Aegypterin, ihre Magd, nach Ablauf    von zehn Jahren, die Abram im Lande Kanaan siedelte,
und gab sie Abram, ihrem Mann, ihm zum Weib.


Er ging ein zu Hagar, und sie wurde schwanger.

Als sie aber sah, dass sie schwanger war, wurde ihre Herrin gering in     ihren Augen.
Sarai sprach zu Abram:
Ueber dich meine Unbill!
Selber gab ich meine Magd in deinen Schoss,
nun sie sieht, dass sie schwanger ist, bin ich in ihren Augen gering    geworden.
Richte ER zwischen mir und dir!

Rembrandt: Sarah complains about Hagar

Abram sprach zu Sarai:
Da, deine Magd ist in deiner Hand, tu mit ihr was deinen Augen gutduenkt.
Sarai drueckte sie. Sie aber entfloh ihr.


SEIN Bote fand sie am Wasserquell in der Wueste, am Quell auf dem      Wege nach Schur.
Er sprach:
Hagar, Sarais Magd, woher bist du gekommen, wo ziehst du hin?
Sie sprach:
Vor meiner Herrin Sarai bin ich fluechtig.

SEIN Bote sprach zu ihr:
Kehre zu deiner Herrin und druecke dich unter ihre Haende!

SEIN Bote sprach zu ihr:
Mehren will ich, mehren deinen Samen, er werde nicht gezaehlt vor   Menge.

SEIN Bote sprach zu ihr:
Da, schwanger bist du,
gebaeren wirst du einen Sohn,
seinen Namen rufe:
Jischmael, Gott erhoert,
denn erhoert hat ER deinen Druck.

Ein Wildeselmensch wird der,
seine Hand wider alle, aller Hand wider ihn,
all seinen Bruedern ins Gesicht macht er Wohnung.

Sie aber rief SEINEN Namen, des zu ihr Redenden:
Du Gott der Sicht!
Denn sie sprach:
Sah auch wirklich ich hier
dem Michsehenden nach?
darum rief man den Brunnen
Brunn des Lebenden Michsehenden.
Da ist er, zwischen Kadesh und Bared.

Hagar gebar dem Abram einen Sohn.
Abram rief den Namen seines Sohns, den Hagar gebar:
   Jischmael.
Abram war sechsundachtzig Jahre, als Hagar Abram den Yischmael    gebar.

Im Anfang 17: 1; 15-26

Als aber Abram neunundneunzig Jahre war,
Liess ER von Abram sich sehen
[sein Name wird umgewandelt in "Abraham" und ihm wird mitgeteilt,
dass die Beschneidung ein Zeichen des Bundes sein wird. Darauf:]

Gott sprach zu Abraham:
Sarai, den Weib, ihren Namen sollst du nicht mehr Sarai rufen,
denn Sara, Gebieterin, ist ihr Name.
Segnen will ich sie und will dir auch aus ihr einen Sohn geben,
segnen will ich sie, dass sie zu Staemmen werde,
Koenige von Voelkern sollen werden aus ihr.

Abraham fiel auf sein Antlitz und lachte,
er sprach in seinem Herzen;
Einem Hundertjaehrigen soll geboren werden? und Sara soll als    Neunzigjaehrige gebaeren?

Abraham sprah zu Gott:
Wenn nur Jischmael lebt vor dir!


Gott sprach:
Dennoch,
Sara, dein Weib gebiert dir einen Sohn,
seinen Namen sollst du rufen; Jizchak, Er lacht.
Mit ihm will ich meinen Bund errichten zum Weltzeit-Bund fuer seinen    Samen nach ihm.
Doch auch fuer Jischmael erhoere ich dich;
da, ich habe ihn gesegnet, ich lasse ihn fruchttragen, lasse ihn sich    mehren reich, ueberreich,
zwoelf Fuersten wird er erzeugen, ich will ihm geben zu einem grossen    Stamme zu werden.
Meinen Bund aber werde ich mit Jizchak errichten, den Sara dir gebiert     zu dieser Frist im andern Jahr.
Er hatte vollendet mit ihm zu reden,
und Gott stieg auf, hinauf von Abraham.

Abraham nahm Jischmael seinen Sohn....
und beschnitt das Fleisch ihrer Vorhaut an ebendem Tag,
wie Gott mit ihm geredet hatte.
Neunundneunzig Jahre war Abraham, als das Fleisch seiner Vorhaut    beschnitten wurde,
und dreizehn Jahre war Jischmael, sein Sohn, als das Fleisch seiner   Vorhaut beschnitten wurde.
An ebendem Tag wurde Abraham und Jischmael, sein Sohn, beschnitten...

Im Anfang 21:2-21

Sara wurde schwanger und gebar Abraham auf sein Alter einen Sohn,
zu der Frist, von der Gott ihm geredet hatte:
Und Abraham rief den Namen seines Sohnes, der ihm geboren worden    war, den Sara ihm geboren hatte;
Jizchak, Er lacht.
Abraham beschnittt Jizchak seinen Sohn zu acht Tagen, wie Gott ihm   geboten hatte.
Abraham aber war hundert Jahre, als Jizchak sein Sohn ihm geboren    wurde.

Sara sprach:
Ein Lachen hat Gott mir gemacht,
alljeder ders hoert lacht ueber mich.
Und wieder sprach sie:
Wer haette Abraham zugeraunt:
Soehnlein wird Sara saeugen?!
Wohl, einen Sohn habe ich ihm auf sein Alter geboren!
Das Kind wuchs gross und wurde entwoehnt,
und Abraham machte ein grosses Trinkmahl, am Tag da Jitzchak    entwoehnt wurde.

Einst sah Sara den Sohn Hagars der Aegypterin, den sie Abraham geboren    hatte, spottlachen.
Sie sprach zu Abraham:
Vertreibe diese Sklavin und ihren Sohn,
denn nicht soll der Sohn dieser Sklavin mit meinem Sohn, mit Jizchak,    erben.
Sehr arg war die Rede in den Augen Abrahams wegen seines Sohns.
Aber Gott sprach zu Abraham:

Nicht sei es arg in deinen Augen um den Knaben und um deine Sklavin,
in allem, was Sara zu dir spricht, hoere auf ihre Stimme,
denn in Jizchak wird dir Same berufen.
Aber auch den Sohn der Sklavin, zum Stamm will ich ihn machen
  denn dein Same ist er.

Abraham stand fruehmorgens auf, nahm ein Brot und einen Schlauch    Wassers
und gab es Hagar - legte es auf ihre Schulter - samt dem Kind und    schickte sie fort.
Sie ging und verirrte sich in der Wueste Ber-scheba.
als nun das Wasser im Schlauch zuende war, warf sie das Kind unter    einen der Straeucher
und ging und sass fuer sich, gegenueber, wie Bogenzieler entfernt,
denn sie sprach:
Ich kann nimmer zusehn, wie das Kind stirbt.
so sass sie gegenueber, erhob ihre Stimme und weinte.
Gott aber hoerte die Stimme des Knaben,
Gottes Bote rief Hagar vom Himmel her zu und sprach zu ihr:
Was ist dir, Hagar! Fuerchte dich nimmer,
denn gehoert hat Gott auf die Stimme des Knaben ebendort wo er ist, -
auf, hebe den Knaben und umfasse ihn mit deiner Hand, denn zum grossen   Stamm will ich ihn machen.

Gott klaerte ihre Augen, und sie sah einen Wasserbrunnen.
Sie ging hin, fuellte den Schlauch mit Wasser und letzte den Knaben.
Und Gott war bei dem Knaben.
Er wuchs gross und sass in der Wueste, und er wurde ein Schuetz, ein     Bogenfuehrer.
Er sass in der Wueste Paran, und seine Mutter nahm ihm ein Weib aus    dem Land Aegypten.

Itzik Manger

HAGAR'S LAST NIGHT
IN ABRAHAM'S HOUSE

Hagar, the servant, sits in the kitchen,
A smoking oil lamp spills
The shapes of shadowy cats and dogs
to flicker on the walls.

She weeps because her master
Fired her today.
"Beat it, you bitch," he told her;
"Can't you let me be?"

It was Sarah who egged him on--
That proper deaconess,
Saying, "Either get rid of the girl
Or give me a divorce."

Hagar takes out of her trunk
A summer hat of straw;
She takes her green silk apron
And her blood-red beads of coral.

These were the gifts he gave her
Once upon a day
When they strolled the meadow
By the railroad right-of-way.

"How like the smoke of a chimney,
How like the smoke of a train
Is the love of a man, dear mother,
The love of any man.

God know, where we shall run to,
Myself and his bastard child,
Unless in some alien kitchen
we are allowed to hide."

She takes the kitchen broom,
She sweeps the kitchen floor.
Und her blouse something still says
She loves him - and sweeps some more.

Again, she does the dishes,
And scours the copper pan.
"How like the smoke from a chimney
Is the love of any man."