Parsha and Humanity: Vayera

The story of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his son is a foundational narrative in both Judaism and Islam. In the Torah, this son is named as Isaac; in Islamic tradition, he is often understood to be Ishmael. A friend of mine, a Muslim sheikh from Nazareth, was once asked who he identifies as the son in the story. He replied, “If it is Ishmael, then he is my father. If it is Isaac, then he is my uncle. Either way, it is family. Family we must love, and family we must learn from.”

My father-in-law, a professor of bible, Uriel Simon, points out that in a close reading of the Torah, there is truth in both traditions. Parallel to the story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice Isaac, the Torah tells of God testing Abraham by commanding him to send Ishmael into the desert.  In that story too, there is a danger of death, Hagar believing that Ishmael will die of thirst. There too at the last moment, an angel from God comes to say that the son is spared, and there too the son receives great blessing.  Thus back-to-back narratives emphasize that both Ishmael and Isaac are saved from imminent death and granted divine favor.

Similarly, the 37th Surah of the Quran discusses the story of the offering as a sacrifice of Abraham’s son and explicitly mentions Isaac: “And we gave him good news of Isaac, a prophet, one of the righteous. And we bless him and Isaac.” Furthermore,  each of the five daily prayers in Islam refers to the blessing given to Abraham and his descendants (the Salat al-Ibrahimiya). The message of both books is that both sons of Abraham are blessed: both are loved by Abraham, and both are loved by God.

Both the Torah and the Koran affirm that Isaac and Ishmael are each blessed by God and loved by their father Abraham. The 2020 peace agreement between Israel and some of the surrounding Arab nations is named after Abraham, the “Abraham Accords”. What better symbol is there for the aspiration of a deep fraternity between all the children of Abraham in which each fully realizes our divine blessings!