From Brother To Foe

LECH LECHA From Brother To Foe Looking at the current state of affairs in world, the war, the casualties, the hate and all the rest, it’s tempting to wonder…what if? What if Isaac and Ishmael were never pitted against one another, unleashing animosity that would outlive many empires until our present day? Or –deeper yet- what if Yishmael had never come along altogether?! In many ways, the seeds of the problem were sown in this week’s Parsha, when Avram, upon Sarai’s instruction marries Hagar and fathers Ishmael, and the rest is history. We will discover an almost prophetic teaching by Rabbi Chaim Vital, that appears to be talking about our current predicament. We will connect the dots of history, and unearth an entirely different understanding to this war, and our place in it.