Sometimes a story can be so familiar that we don’t realize that we don’t truly know it at all.
After many years of childless marriage, Avraham fathers a child, Yishmael. Yishmael was the answer to Avraham’s prayers. Literally. His name means “God will hear.” But then, some years later, Avraham and Sarah have a child of their own, named, according to God’s plan Yitzhak, in honor of Sarah’s laughter upon receiving the prophetic news of her pregnancy, or perhaps in honor of the incredulous laughter that Yitzhak will elicit.
But things soon go wrong:
וַתֵּ֨רֶא שָׂרָ֜ה אֶֽת־בֶּן־הָגָ֧ר הַמִּצְרִ֛ית אֲשֶׁר־יָלְדָ֥ה לְאַבְרָהָ֖ם מְצַחֵֽק׃
Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing מְצַחֵֽק .The midrash look to other instances of מְצַחֵֽק in the Torah and conclude that Yishmael could have been guilty of murderous violence directed at Yitzhak, or perhaps idolatry, or perhaps some incestuous sexual crime. But maybe Yishmael alarmed Sarah so much because he was מְצַחֵֽק – he was making himself out to be Yitzhak. He was creating confusion about who was and who was not the spiritual heir of Avraham.
Sarah demands that Avraham expel Yishmael and Hagar, God confirms that demand, and Avraham duitifully carries out God’s command. Once Yishmael is no longer a part of the household, Yitzhak’s status as Avraham’s heir is confirmed in the most awesome and terrible fashion. In the following chapter, God instructs Avraham to take his beloved son and offer him as a burnt offering on the top of an unnamed and unknown mountain. At the last moment, Yitzhak was spared as a heavenly voice calls to Avraham to desist. In the merit of binding Yitzhak, Avraham and Yitzhak both are blessed by God, with the promise of future multitudes as many as the stars of heaven and the sands of the sea.
But on closer inspection, this story, like so many others is all in the telling. I can read the story with the very same facts and come to a very different conclusion. . Avraham prepares to send Yishmael to his probable death in the wilderness and he prepares to set forth with Yitzhak on a journey that will result in his death in the same way and using the same language. .
וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֣ם אַבְרָהָ֣ם ׀ בַּבֹּ֡קֶר וַיִּֽקַּֽח־לֶחֶם֩ וְחֵ֨מַת מַ֜יִם וַיִּתֵּ֣ן אֶל־הָ֠גָר שָׂ֧ם עַל־שִׁכְמָ֛הּ וְאֶת־הַיֶּ֖לֶד וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֶ֑הָ וַתֵּ֣לֶךְ וכו׳
Early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away.
וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם אַבְרָהָ֜ם בַּבֹּ֗קֶר וַֽיַּחֲבֹשׁ֙ אֶת־חֲמֹר֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֞ח אֶת־שְׁנֵ֤י נְעָרָיו֙ אִתּ֔וֹ וְאֵ֖ת יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֑וֹ וַיְבַקַּע֙ עֲצֵ֣י עֹלָ֔ה וַיָּ֣קָם וַיֵּ֔לֶךְ וכו׳
וַיִּקַּ֨ח אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־עֲצֵ֣י הָעֹלָ֗ה וַיָּ֙שֶׂם֙ וכו׳
So early next morning, Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. He himself took the firestone and the knife; and the two walked off together.
Notice the repetition of the words וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם in both stories, וַיִּקַּ֞ח, in both stories, וַיָּ֙שֶׂם֙ in both stories and וַיֵּ֔לֶךְ in both stories.
Yishmael and Yitzhak are both spared by angelic interventions at the last possible moment:
וַיִּקְרָא֩ מַלְאַ֨ךְ אֱ-לֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶל־הָגָר֙ מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר לָ֖הּ מַה־לָּ֣ךְ הָגָ֑ר אַל־תִּ֣ירְאִ֔י כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֧ע וכו׳
And an angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the boy where he is.
וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֵלָ֜יו מַלְאַ֤ךְ ה מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֣ם ׀ אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אַל־תִּשְׁלַ֤ח יָֽדְךָ֙ אֶל־הַנַּ֔עַר וְאַל־תַּ֥עַשׂ ל֖וֹ מְא֑וּמָּה כִּ֣י ׀ עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֗עְתִּי וכו׳.
Notice the repetition of the phrase וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֵלָ֜יו מַלְאַ֤ךְ …מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם and the format of וַיֹּ֗אמֶר and then אַל and then כִּ֣י.
And after this angelic intervention, a parent’s eyes are opened and the child is saved:
וַיִּפְקַ֤ח אֱ-לֹהִים֙ אֶת־עֵינֶ֔יהָ וַתֵּ֖רֶא בְּאֵ֣ר מָ֑יִם וַתֵּ֜לֶךְ וַתְּמַלֵּ֤א אֶת־הַחֵ֙מֶת֙ מַ֔יִם וַתַּ֖שְׁקְ אֶת־הַנָּֽעַר׃
Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and let the boy drink
וַיִּשָּׂ֨א אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּרְא֙ וְהִנֵּה־אַ֔יִל אַחַ֕ר נֶאֱחַ֥ז בַּסְּבַ֖ךְ בְּקַרְנָ֑יו וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ אַבְרָהָם֙ וַיִּקַּ֣ח אֶת־הָאַ֔יִל וַיַּעֲלֵ֥הוּ לְעֹלָ֖ה תַּ֥חַת בְּנֽוֹ׃
When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.4
Notice, once more, the repeated actions, וַיִּשָּׂ֨א אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּרְא֙ and וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ and וַתֵּ֜לֶךְ.
Finally, notice how Yishmael and Yitzhak display none of the jealousy or enmity of their parents. Instead, they come together to bury their father Avraham.
וַיִּקְבְּר֨וּ אֹת֜וֹ יִצְחָ֤ק וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל֙ בָּנָ֔יו וכו׳.
“His sons, Yitzhak and Yishmael buried him…”
In these chapters of Sefer Bereishit, blessings come in the aftermath of being tested. Yishmael and Yitzhak both grow to be the fathers of great nations, as God promised would be their reward. Rather than seeing one blessing coming at the expense of the other, the Torah emphasizes how Avrham was doubly tested as each son of Avraham underwent a nearly identical trial. The result of that process was partnership between Yitzhak and Yishmael. And so it can always be. God’s love is not a finite resource. Divine bounty in one place does not come at the expense of paucity elsewhere. Read one way, this is a story about one son replacing another and assuming his own rightful place on top. But read another way, this is a story of two sons who have similar experiences with the same parent and then come together in partnership.
Sometimes the outcome of unity and partnership depends on nothing more than the stories that we tell and the ways that we tell them.
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 