Parshat Chayai Sarah

Rather ironically, what I found most interesting in this week's parsha, Chayai Sarah - the Life of Sarah, was the related commentary about Hagar...Avraham's "other" wife, the mother of Ishmael, and Sarah's former maidservant. 

I know admittedly little about her, and quite frankly, she is not a huge focus of the Jewish tradition.  She is mostly known today as the "mother of the Arabs."  In other words, not exactly someone to be associated with positive things.  But after Sarah's death she returns to Avraham's life. 

Then Avraham again took a wife and her name was Ketura.  (Midrash HaGadol 25:1)

And the sages tell us that Ketura is Hagar.  Sarai and Avram were not the only biblical figures who merited a name change.  Hagar became Ketura after she was expelled from Sarah and Avraham's house because, according to Pirkei d'Rav Eliezer:

1. She had refrained from being with other men after leaving Avraham (the root of her new name, koof-tet-reish, is also the root for lock, as in "she locked herself up")
2. Her deeds became as sweet as incense, ketoret.

What is most interesting, however, is how Ketura and Avraham were reunited. 

"And Isaac came from coming."  And where did he go?  To the well of the living One who sees me he went, to bring Hagar, the one who was sitting near the wel and said the One who lives forever has seen my shame.  (Genesis Rabah, 70)

It appears, according to at least one interpretation of this verse, that the well is the one which Hagar found in the desert after fleeing from Sarah's house.  Isaac went to bring Hagar back to his father to atone for his mother, Sarah's, wrong treatment of Hagar when she threw her out of the house she had lived in for so long.  I think that these teaching from our sages have a very important impact on us today.  They show that even our non-predecessors (non-Jews) have good traits that we should admire and recognize.  They also show that even our most vaunted forefathers and mothers (as in this case) did in fact make mistakes; we should not rationalize away or ignore these mistakes but recognize them as such and learn from them as Isaac and our Sages did.