Omer 2016 Day 5: Sarah

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Day 5: Hod in Chesed, Glory in Kindness

Sarah, our first matriarch, embodies hod in chesed. According to midrash (oral Torah; stories that have been passed down orally, rather than written in the Torah), Sarah's tent was open on all four sides, allowing her and Abraham to receive guests arriving from all directions. She greeted guests graciously, her open tent symbolizing an openness, hospitality, and kindness that we should all strive to emulate. The midrash goes on to say that: 

"By merit of her good deeds, the people of Israel would merit certain boons; thus, for example, Israel received the manna in the wilderness by merit of the cakes that Sarah prepared for the angels." -Tamar Kadari, JWA 

Not only did Sarah gain a reputation for kindness in her own time, but her openness brought splendor and glory to Israel for all generations.

Omer 2016 Day 4: Hagar

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Day 4: Netzach in Chesed, Endurance in Love

"Early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child [Ishmael], and sent her away. And she wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water was gone from the skin, she left the child under one of the bushes, and went and sat down at a distance, a bowshot away; for she thought, 'Let me not look on as the child dies.' And sitting thus afar, she burst into tears." (Genesis 21:14-16)

Hagar fulfilled many roles in Genesis. She was Sarah's slave, Abraham's concubine, the mother of his first-born son, Ishmael, and finally - cast out into the desert with Ishmael and only a few provisions - a single mother in an unforgiving world. Faced with these challenges, Hagar considered giving up. A promise from God convinced her to keep going and she managed to build a life for herself and her son, enduring and even thriving out of love for him.

Omer 2016 Day 3: Rachel

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Day 3: Tiferet in Chesed, Beauty in Love

We are introduced to Rachel, as with so many women in Genesis, at a well. However, unlike other women, she is described first by her occupation as a shepherdess, not by her beauty. We only learn that she was "shapely and beautiful" (Genesis 29:17) eight verses after Jacob first meets her, kisses her, and follows her home (Genesis 29:9). Her beauty is only an enhancement to a love that is based on something more.