יד יוסף: Lech L’cha / Arab Hostilities

In parshas Lech L’cha Ishmael the son of Abraham, our father, is born. The general view of the Chumash towards Ismael is favorable. Its main objection to him is that he is not fit to be a founder of a holy nation and a kingdom of priests. He has flaws but never the less G-d is with him.

The story of Ishmael begins when Abraham and Sarah descend into Egypt. When Pharaoh seizes Sarah, thinking she is a single woman, G-d strikes him with all sorts of terrible plagues. Hagar, who is an Egyptian princess, sees all of these miracles done on their behalf and draws the conclusion it is better to be a servant in the house of Avraham than to be a princess in the house of Pharaoh. She is accepted and even though they have hundreds of servants, Hagar is chosen to be Sarah’s lady-in-waiting.

After years of being barren, Sarah tells Abraham to take Hagar as a concubine, reasoning that a child born of this relationship would be a welcome addition to her household. Hagar needs to be coaxed into this arrangement, but does accept. When she easily conceives, things take a very bad turn because Hagar tries to replace Sarah as being Abraham’s primary wife.

Sarah in response becomes cruel to Hagar and humiliates her. When Hagar flees into the desert, she has an encounter with the angel of G-d. In spite of all of this she is still viewed by G-d and herself as Sarah’s servant. The holy One blessed be He, tells Hagar to return to Sarah and endure her pain. She is also told that she will bear a child and he is to be named Ishmael (ישמעאל), literally the Almighty will hear, because He has heard her affliction. The child will be the personification of the jungle but just the same will be very sociable, living with his family with having a hand in everybody’s affairs and everybody having a hand in his.

Abraham fully accepts Yishmael and educates him and trains him in mitzvahs. When at age thirteen Ishmael is called upon to be circumcised, he accepts the pain heroically. A year later, Sarah gives birth to Isaac. When she sees Ishmael laughing or playing, she insists that he and his mother be dismissed, explaining that he cannot be permitted to share in the sacred legacy of Abraham with Yitzchak her son.

The Chumash at this point becomes difficult. It says that Abraham sent them away with bread and water and that they wandered aimlessly in the desert. The commentaries remark that this is the son of Abraham and it would be expected that he be sent away with silver and gold. Another question is why they started wandering in the desert, they should have properly traveled to a safe place. Explanations are given such as Ishmael had departed onto a bad path, claimed that he was the senior heir to Abraham, and had shot an arrow at Yitzchak. At the point when Ishmael is about to die of thirst, he is judged by heaven to be a righteous man and his mother’s eyes are opened to an oasis. He survives, becomes skillful with a bow and arrow, and is successful in the wilderness. In all of this G-d is with him.

When Abraham perishes the Chumash states that he was buried by Yitzchak and Yishmael pointedly placing Yitzchak first. Rashi explains that from here we see that Yishmael repented and the Ramban adds that the son of the servant honored the son of the mistress. After Sarah perishes, Yitzchak reunites Abraham with Hagar, who has been faithful to him all of these years. When Ishmael passes away the Chumash uses the term “perish” (ויגוע), which is typically reserved for the righteous.

It comes out that Yishmael can be a difficult character, who strays very far. Never the less he is a legitimate son of Abraham and in the end turns out well. From this we begin to learn how the Jewish people should relate to the children of Ishmael today. To begin with we must recognize that the Arabs are a kindred people and fellow believers, therefore should be respected. In addition we must be in touch with their feelings and beliefs.

Often the Arabs are wild and in need of education. One of the books they greatly revered is Maimonides’ “Guide for the Perplexed”. This is because often the Arabs are perplexed. They do not need an argument that they should believe because belief in G-d and scripture comes to them easily. Rather they need an argument as to why their beliefs are correct. This is where a wise Jew needs to be the son of a mistress who understands his half-brother the construction worker and gives him the proper arguments.

In a world where so many so called educated people claim that Abraham, Isaac, and Ismael are stories with no basis in fact, talmidei chachamim need to say I believe that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are buried in Machpela cave and the account in the Chumash of Abraham buying it is true. Also we believe that Rachel, our matriarch, is buried in the tomb in Bethlehem that bears her name. Likewise Joseph is buried in Shchem and the prophet Samuel is buried in Jerusalem.

We don’t believe tales like the Jews died out long ago and the ones we see today are descendants of the Khazars or that the Israel of King David was somewhere in the Arabian peninsula like some archeologists claim. We don’t believe the Bible is a forgery we believe it is true and what it purports to be. As long as others like to call things they don’t agree with hoaxes and forgeries, perhaps the American Declaration of Independence and the English Magna Carta are hoaxes. After all nobody is around who saw them written. In addition there will be times that a son of Ishmael will talk to a lost soul son of Jacob and say these are the things we are trying to do and you’re a Jew, you believe the same things, too.

In the war for the land of Israel there are all sorts of Arabs. Some are incorrigibly savages and enemies must be annihilated or expelled. For the ones that are nationalists, we must conduct ourselves honorably in war. For the Arabs who are basically friends we should be gracious and merciful.