The Curse of Ishmael

If the Jewish people ever did have an Achille's heel, at least in the Modern State of Israel, it was Ishmael, Muslim Arabs, who have fought for this land, tooth and nail, unrelentingly, no holds barred. We've seen methods that, to the best of my knowledge, were never seen before, far more gruesome than Kamikaze fighters who nosedived in WWII into American warships. The very sanctification of death, unhindered in purpose and application, has put shivers down the spines of a whole generation of Israelis who grew up here on suicide bombs, and attacks, that had no purpose other than spilling Jewish blood. The sheer venom spewed by imams in mosques, the lone wolf attacks on civilians, the indiscriminate killing of Jews and non-Jews alike may be no longer a surprise to Israelis, but reflected a new conceptualization of the notion that Jewish blood was free for the taking at any cost. 

My grandfather, of blessed memory, Moshe Barth Z"L told me that the Commandant of Auschwitz II Birkenau, Kwakenak, had been a school principal in civilian life. We have known horrors like no other people, yet, we would like to believe that the Holocaust, for German society, was a historical aberration; re-education and socialization efforts, a key part of the elementary school curriculum, in many ways reshaped the upbringing of children who had once become Hitler Youth; in Japan, similarly, schools taught that the Emperor's aggression led to the tragic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Yet, if anything, it seems like the angel's blessing - and curse - to Hagar, the pained, yet doting mother of Ishmael, has been so implanted in the fabric of the history of mankind - "He shall be a wild ass of a person; his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he shall dwell alongside all of his kin” - that it is just too much to bear. 

The pain of Ishmael's mission is all the more confounded by the fact that Abraham himself begged God to carve out a role for him. When Hashem covenantally told him that he would have a son from Sarah, he protested - "If only," he said, "Ishmael would also live before you." Hashem promised Ishmael greatness, and nationhood, and twelve princes to boot, all of whom have foiled Israel at every turn. 

This dialectic, this implantation of oppositional forces in nature to right the course of the Jewish people were they to deviate from God's will has caused immense grief, and is a struggle - "Chosen? Chosen for what?!" some have quipped, or reflected, acrimoniously. 

And yet, Hashem tells Abraham very clearly - something, which should be a consolation of sorts - Ishmael will not be considered your offspring for perpetuity. I will not place my blessing upon him, Hashem adds. The one who will be called in your name, the "Children of Abraham," will be those who are the sons of Isaac, and Hashem similarly tells Isaac, in divine inspiration, causing him great fear and trepidation, "Yaakov will be the one to receive your blessing."

We, each and every one of us - as Jews - is part of that irrevocable blessing, one that is immutable, and can not be changed. It is a covenant that promises us that this land will be ours, and that the one who blesses us will be blessed, and God-forbid curses us, will be cursed. It is something, that at times, we shunned, anti-Semitism ever-so rampant, and yet now, more than any time before, we need to be galvanized because we have returned to our land and have to show the world that promise of brotherhood within extends to each and every Jew, regardless of religious level, political views, and way of life. Ishmael can not live before God, he is a follower who responds to the actions of the Jewish people, a foil, maybe even a mirror - and so, let us show the Jewish people that more than Ishmael's greedy hand, drenched with blood and oil, the power of belief in a greater God, one of live and kindness, and not bloodshed and doom can bring the world to a better place, one kind gesture at a time.