Sarah: Ishmael

 

Sarah: Ishmael

This week's parsha starts with the death of Sarah and ends with the descendants of Ishmael and the death of Ishmael. The son of Abraham and Hagar,  that Sarah insisted on banishing, spawns 12 princes. This is the son that Sarah was supposed to raise after his birth to the surrogate Hagar. That did not work out. It appears that Hagar remained attached to her son, excluding Sarah.  

After the birth of her miraculous biological son, Sarah insisted that Ishmael be exiled. He becomes the symbol of the outcast, but resurgent child. The story of Moby Dick famously begins with the words: “ Call me Ishmael”. Ishamel is the son who goes to the wilderness that is the sea. Ishmael was not granted land. He must find his way in no man’s land. 

Sarah's treatment of Hagar led to her running away. That episode  led to the encounter with the angel of Lechi Roie who blessed Hagar and her son Ishmael.  The blessings that come through tolerating injustice, seem to have a better chance of coming true. 

The end of Chaya  Sarah lists the biological legacy of Abraham , including the descendants from Ketura ( who may have been Hagar).  Rahi says that Isaac had gone to Lechi Roie to fetch Hagar and return her to Abraham. While Abraham’s servant was getting a bride for Isaac, Isaac was getting a bride for his father

Ishmael is given special recognition since his death is described. 

וְאֵ֗לֶּה שְׁנֵי֙ חַיֵּ֣י יִשְׁמָעֵ֔אל מְאַ֥ת שָׁנָ֛ה וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים וַיִּגְוַ֣ע וַיָּ֔מׇת וַיֵּאָ֖סֶף אֶל־עַמָּֽיו׃

These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his kin.—

Rashi comments  ויגוע. לֹא נֶאֶמְרָה גְוִיעָה אֶלָּא בְּצַדִּיקִים

This expression — expiring — associated with a word denoting dying is only mentioned in the case of righteous people (Bava Batra 16b).

Rashi quotes a piece of the discussion in Bava Bathra to imply that Ishmael was  a tazadik, righteous. 

 

The previous Rashi 

ואלה שני חיי ישמעאל וגו'. אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּא בַּר אַבָּא לָמָּה נִמְנוּ שְׁנוֹתָיו שֶׁל יִשְׁמָעֵאל, כְּדֵי לְיַחֵס בָהֶם שְׁנוֹתָיו שֶׁל יַעֲקֹב

ואלה שני חיי ישמעאל וגו AND THESE ARE THE YEARS OF THE LIFE OF ISHMAEL etc. —R. Chija the son of Abba asked: Why are the years of Ishmael enumerated? In order to trace through them the years of Jacob

This makes Ishmael an incidental character. 

There is no contradiction here. Righteousness is a quality of the individual. The listing of the years implies an impact on the world. Rashi does not deny Ishamael either righteousness nor impact, but he implies that Ishamels’s impact comes through the trajectory of his brother Isaac.  This is an understandable position for  Rabbi Shlomo, the son of Isaac. 

The last verse in Chaye Sarah describes the location of the descendants of Ishemael: 

וַיִּשְׁכְּנ֨וּ מֵֽחֲוִילָ֜ה עַד־שׁ֗וּר אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י מִצְרַ֔יִם בֹּאֲכָ֖ה אַשּׁ֑וּרָה עַל־פְּנֵ֥י כׇל־אֶחָ֖יו נָפָֽל׃ {פ}

They dwelt from Havilah, by Shur, which is close to Egypt, all the way to Asshur; they camped alongside all their kin.

Rabbi Yisochor Frand quotes the Baal Haturim

Literally, the word “nafal” in the concluding expression “al penai kol echav nafal” means “he fell over all his brothers”. Rashi interprets the word “nafal” to mean “shachan” – he dwelt.

The Baal HaTurim is bothered by this strange usage. The Baal HaTurim comments that there is a message in the juxtaposition of the last words of Chayei Sarah (al penai kol echav nafal) and the first words of Parshas Toldos: “These are the generations of Yitzchak; Avraham bore Yitzchak…” The Baal HaTurim explains that the proximity of the two expressions teach us that when Yishmael will fall and be finally defeated in the end of days, then the Moshiach [Messiah] – the descendant of Yishai who is himself a descendant of Yitzchak (Toldos Yitzchak ben Avraham) – will come.

This is a message from the 14th century. 

In Eretz Yisroel, Jews have always lived alongside Arabs. A connection between Ishmael and Arabs is made in the story of the enslavement of Joseph. After Joseph's brothers had thrown him into the pit, they see a caravan: 

וַיִּשְׂא֤וּ עֵֽינֵיהֶם֙ וַיִּרְא֔וּ וְהִנֵּה֙ אֹרְחַ֣ת יִשְׁמְעֵאלִ֔ים בָּאָ֖ה מִגִּלְעָ֑ד

they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,

Onkelos renders this 

וּזְקָפוּ עֵינֵיהוֹן וַחֲזוֹ וְהָא שְׁיָרַת עֲרָבָאֵי אָתְיָא מִגִּלְעָד

I do not know what to make of this irony. The descendants of Ishamel, the son of Abraham banished by Sarah, Ishmael who came near death from thirst in the desert. Ishamel’s descendants are the instrument that rescues Joseph and brings him across the desert. It is through the intervention of the Ishmaelites that the Israelites are enslaved and become a great nation. 

When Abraham dies, Isaac and Ishmael know where to bury him - in the cave, next to Sarah. Sarah was partly Ishmael's mother, too.