So, Sarah...

What is Going on with Sarah?

Where did we leave off? Ahh... yes.. with that whole Zera thing. Well, Avraham has just been informed that the Zera would come from his seed, it wasn't Lot or anything. Right. The only thing was.. his wife couldn't have kids, plus they were both really old.. so what was going on there?

At the beginning of Perek tet zayin, Sarah says "You know.. maybe the problem is me," and she gives Avraham an Egyptian maiden named Hagar. See what Sarah did there? She assessed the situation and took action- she was trying to make a change. Throughout this post (and the sefer) we will see that Sarah doesn't just stand by and watch Avraham become father of the Jewish people, she takes action and gets things done and it is why she is the mother of the Jewish people. Speaking of which...

It's funny that I just said that because at the moment, she is suggesting that Hagar would be the one to have the kids. However, she does not mean that Hagar would be the mother, just that she would be the one to carry the child, kind of like a surrogate. So, after Sarah laid out that plan it happened and Hagar became pregnant. 

Here's a shocker: after Hagar becomes pregnant, "her mistress becomes light in her eyes". That's right- she starts thinking that she is better than Sarah. I mean, look at it from her side (not that she's right): After all these years, Sarah can't become pregnant but she can become pregnant very easily and now she carrying Avraham's child. 

After this, Sarah becomes mad at..Avraham. (*By the way, I realize that technically it's Sarai now, but I prefer writing Sarah.) Yeah, she thinks that Avraham was starting to view Hagar in a way that was like a wife. But Avraham responds by saying something like "You know, she is your maiden"

If that weird anger episode towards Avraham wasn't enough, now Sarah "afflicts Hagar" which causes Hagar to flee. Oh goodness, oh my! Oh what jealousy can make a woman do. 

So, I'm wondering what you guys think about this situation. Let me ask some questions:

Questions

1. What do you think about the whole "here, let me give you my maiden" thing? I know it was a nice suggestion on Sarah's part, but isn't it kind of weird? I mean, I know the answer is probably like "in today's age it's not acceptable to treat a woman like something that we can use to have babies, but it used to be" but it just doesn't seem right. The way that Avraham could just impregnate her and still tell Sarah "it's your maiden", it is all kind've gross. Do we even know how old Hagar was?

2. What do you think of Sarah's anger flares? Do you justify them? Why or why not? 

3. Do you think this perek reflects Sarah in a good or bad light? Why?

Look! It's a Jewish Sarah! ;-)