Planting Trees, Planting Hesed
Just after the expulsion of Hagar and immediately before the binding of Isaac, a curious and somewhat cryptic episode appears in Genesis 21. Once again, Abraham encounters Abimelech, the king of Gerar, along with the chief of his troops, Phicol. In a brief and mildly tense exchange, Abraham rebukes the two for attempting to steal his well. As a means of securing possession of the well, Abraham gives the gift of sheep and oxen to Abimelech, and the two of them make a pact. Abraham tells Abimelech, 鈥淵ou are to accept these seven ewes from me as proof that I dug this well鈥� (Gen. 21:30). The exact place is then named Beersheba, since 鈥渢he two of them swore an oath鈥� (Gen. 21:31). Immediately after the pact, we are told that Abraham鈥檚 Philistine 鈥漟riends鈥� return their homeland, and then 鈥淸Abraham] planted a tamarisk at Beersheba, and invoked there the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God鈥� (Gen. 21:33). How may we understand the act of Abraham鈥檚 planting?
Nahum Sarna writes that Genesis 21:33 鈥渃ontains several unusual features and raises numerous questions鈥� (Sarna, Studies in Biblical Interpretation, 221). While highlighting the 12th-century commentary of the Bekhor Shor, who 鈥渦nderstood the purpose of the tree-planting to be commemorative of the aforementioned pact,鈥� Sarna rejects this explanation. He explains, 鈥渢he difficulty . . . is that no analogous practice within a legal context is again to be found in the Bible, nor does anyone else plant a tree simply to memorialize some experience鈥� (222). Sarna goes on to give us profound insight into the text. He writes that, in the ancient Near East, there existed a connection 鈥渨ith sacred trees and pagan cults, especially with fertility cults鈥� (223). All of this became proscribed by Israelite religion, rejected out of hand. Our mysterious text, Sarna argues, represents Torah鈥檚 preservation of an ancient story whose goal was to provide us with the origin of the significance of Beersheba as a shrine for the Israelites. Sarna adds, 鈥淸t]he careful editing is evidenced by the exceptional absence of altar-building, and the identification of the unique epithet 鈥榚l 鈥榦lam with [the Israelite God], as well as by the exclusion of any mention of a theophany鈥� (225). The implicit message in the placement and editing, on the one hand, underscores the significance of Beersheba; on the other hand, it represents a clean break with pagan practice.
Still, the power of Sarna鈥檚 commentary is in quoting later rabbinic interpretation of our verse. Referring to Genesis 21:33, that 鈥淎braham planted a tamarisk (eshel),鈥� he notes that midrash (Genesis Rabbah 54:5 and Midrash Tehillim on Psalm 37:1) makes the claim that our patriarch established a 鈥済uesthouse鈥�: eshel (alef-shin-lamed) is an acronym for achilah (eating), shtiyah(drinking), and leviyah (accompanying a guest along the way). Professor Sarna concludes, 鈥淎n incident belonging to the realm of personal piety in a ritual context has been transformed [by the rabbis] so that it now exemplifies God鈥檚 demands on man in socio-moral context . . . the provision of wayfarers and of the homeless has itself been elevated by the rabbis to the status of a mode of divine worship鈥� (226). And so may it be with us. May we continue to plant trees in the Land of Israel, and be generous in tending to the needs of strangers and guests.
The publication and distribution of A Taste of Torah are made possible by a generous grant from Sam and Marilee Susi.
