Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/184

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The Book of Genesis

166

children wait expectantly to greet their loved one.

he enters the

home and

And

as

feels its holy spirit of love enfolding

him, reverently he lays his hand in blessing, first upon the head of his wife, and then upon each child, and silently he thanks God once more for all this love and blessing. But, the wise rabbis told, the man never returns home alone two angels always accompany him, his angels of good and of evil. If he finds the table beautifully spread, as it should be,

Sabbath candles kindled, and wife and children in and festive spirit, joyfully awaiting his bless-

the

festive array ing,

then the good angel says,

thy Sabbaths be for blessing.

and joy

to every soul therein".

respond, ''Amen".

But

if

"May

Peace be on

And

Sabbath and

this

peace

this house,

the angel of evil

the house be not ready,

all

must

if

the

and if wife and children be not waiting with the smile of love upon their lips, then the angel of evil speaks, "May this Sabbath and all thy Sabbaths be for sorrow, and may no blessing abide within this home". And to this the angel of good must sadly whisper, "Amen". Truly it is the wife and mother who makes our Jewish home all that it is, and brings the manifold blessing of love and happiness to it. And when God, in His wisdom, takes her unto Himself, then it seems th?t all that was good and precious in life has departed. So Abraham must have thought when the moment of separation from his beloved Sarah, the wife of his bosom, the companion of his trials and perils, the partner of his love and grief, she who was his own other self, and dearer to him than self, came. The whole story is told in one little sentence, "And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her". Yet the little sentence overflows with meaning. We feel all Abraham's grief and sense of loss and table be not spread,

nor the Sabbath

lights

kindled,

The rabbis told that with Sarah's death the cloud symbolized God's presence, which had hovered over

loneliness.

whicii

the tent of

Abraham and

filled

it

with the blessings of con-