Sarah vs Hamas (Parsha Lech Lecha) - Tehila Gimpel: The Land of Israel Fellowship

hi everyone so thank you once again for all the kind messages and the encouragement I've been receiving to continue making these videos so here I am we're getting ready to read the Torah portion of now in the last two videos we've been discussing the meaning of the word Hamas in last week's portion in the life of Noah and in David's life in Psalm 140 when the word Hamas actually appears three times as well so now we're beginning to read par the Torah portion of and we want to try to hear what messages could Hashem be sending us through the Torah for whatever we're going to be facing at this particular time so now what's interesting is that this week we have the appearance for the first time in the Torah of Ismael as many of you may know Ishmael through the entire Jewish tradition is identified with the Arabian world it would become the Muslim tradition that's why the Peace Accords forged in the Middle East with Arab countries in Israel were called the Abraham Accords because they are between the children of Abraham being Israel the descendants of yak and the Muslim Worlds world as the descendants of or the spiritual descendants of Ismael so when you meet the Inception of an idea or a concept or a representation in the Torah for a first time there's a lot to learn about how that ideal will idea will unfold in history so as these very particular days we're grappling in our conflict with Islamic terrorism uh both in Israel and support for that around the world what is the Torah guiding us to do and surprise surprise in the very first moment of ish's existence in the world the first verse that appears after his conception we again see the Hebrew word Hamas that we saw in last week's portion and in por and in uh Psalm 140 and this is not a common word in the Torah don't get me wrong it only appears in four contexts in the entire Torah in the context of Noah and the evil of that generation here in our portion in the story of sh kidnapping Dena and in the idea of and in the laws of false witness so meaning there are very few mentions of this word in the five books of the Torah and one of them is is right here in the very context of Ishmael so let's look closely in brai Genesis 16:4 we've just learned that Sarah gave her H handmaiden to Abraham Hagar to try to help him have children and in verse four it says that Hagar conceived and she saw she was pregnant and her mistress became unimportant in her eyes so she becomes like really sassy the mic tradition envisions Hagar's mindset she looks at Sarah who for years has been trying to get pregnant with no luck and she Hagar is immediately married to Aram for like one day and she's already pregnant she thinks Hashem must love me I must be way more worthy than her I'm the real deal she's obviously not in good graces with Hashem the way I am and this H I am and this happens literally in the minute that she conceives Ishmael and what is the very next verse Sarai says to Abraham may my Injustice be upon you or in the English uh you know in the English Jewish translation it's usually called Injustice uh in the King James it's translated as may my wrong be upon thee but the Hebrew word says may Myas be upon you what does that mean Rashi says say that there's an evil that is happening she's saying this evil is happening to me it's actually your responsibility aaham now at first glance when I'm looking at this story it really looks to me just like a domestic conflict between like aams 2 wives for those of you who know me uh like in my real life you know when I'm not busy trying to help my family figure out how to you know handle a war I'm a divorce lawyer and when I'm looking at this the first thing I see is okay it's just you know standard couple squabbling but when you look at it a little bit deeper you see there's a really fundamental disagreement going on here between aam and SAR it's not just you know some sort of jealousy or bickering they are not a bickery couple we never in the Torah hear them fighting about anything else like if my husband Jeremy took me to Egypt pretended I was his sister got me kidnapped by a gross Tyrant and only by the grace of God I barely escaped you could be sure that Jeremy would be sleeping on the couch the next day but we don't hear any kind of fight for those things at all about those things at all and there's this singular consistent fight between abam and Sarah on one subject which is the place of Ismael in the scheme of their family so in the very first moment they begin discussing ish we have this big flag flashing neon sign of the word Hamas look at this because someday you're going to need to understand when you're trying to figure out the place of ish in history there's going to be Hamas there's going to be this kind of evil that comes into the world so let's follow this conflict and she says AR this is not working out somehow this is your fault you don't hear a lot of words here but you kind of get the sense that Aram wants everyone in the family to just get along he doesn't want to get involved in the lady squabbling and Sarah is saying no is on you this is your problem too and then they don't come to a resolution what a say to him she says that's like whoa Hashem will judge between me and you right that's a really big deal like you can imagine there's this back and forth that's going on between aam and Sarah two different ways of looking at things and she says Hashem will show us which one of us is right they can't come to a resolution on their own and then we see the continuation of this fight just on the next page in chapter 21 verse 9 we see Sarah quietly observing the relationship is developing between yma and Y and what is the the dynamic that she saw she sees him it says in English making merry sometimes in in in you know other translations say making a mockery the Hebrew says like some kind of joking around and we have really a lot of mic Traditions trying to figure out what this word means and the midash says that what happened was was that Ismael would argue with yak about who should inherit the land of Israel from Abraham and yishmael would shoot arrows at him and then say oh I was just kidding when I was shooting you and that's based on Proverbs vers verse 26 where it says in uh chapter 26 sorry in verse 18 where it says someone who shoots fire Brands and arrows and death will then is like the man who says I was just joking so you have this idea within the Bible that this idea of joking can be related to shooting arrows so these shooting these constant arrows on yit and Sarah is seeing this and then he's like oh I didn't really mean that haha just kidding and you can't help but get like a little bit of a chill thinking about this because for years we are facing a isite enemy that is arguing with us just like in this story about who should inherit the land and constantly shooting on this this barrage of arrows and many of the time you know most of the times thank God we don't get killed because we have Iron Dome and with the help of Hashem we're able to you know knock down many of these uh rockets that are constantly coming at us for years but it's never really taken seriously just like he's like you know I'm just kidding in in uh after the war uh you know the the attacks uh from Gaza in 2014 there was a u report and the report actually cites that Hamas stated that they were going to Target civilians and then when civilians were targeted by Hamas Rockets they took responsibility for it and 4,500 missiles did indeed factually get shot at civilian targets and you think okay this this this report of the UN is going well and then in summarizes on page 27 they say I'm quoting now the commission cannot know what the intended target of each rocket attack was H real head squat scratcher the Kamas says that they're going to shoot civilians in Israel and they actually do that but you know we're not mind readers we don't know what they really want so Sarah sees this too and arama says uh you know maybe they'll learn how to get along and she goes no he's trying to kill Yak you do not get to inherit the land the next verse she says he will not inherit with my son Yak what is Abraham's position the next verse after that says Abraham was displeased so now we're getting to the Crux of this the Hamas that Sarah mentions in our portion is a actual real fundamental argument between two lines of thinking between our mother and father between Abraham and Sarah and we don't hear about who argues about taking out the garbage or doing the dishes we hear about the arguments between our foremothers and forefathers that are going to be fundamental for all of the generations to come for the future for us and here you see these two lines of thinking Aram says yes he has his flaws but I'm a father of many nations Hashem said I'm supposed to be a light of human humanity and morality to the world I have to provide for him I should give him water and electricity right I need to take care of him because what it means to be a Jew in the world is to have the utmost moral Purity you know the sorno says the people thought that ishma was jealous because abrah and Sarah made Yak a party when they weaned him and they didn't make yel a party so they feel like AB looks at him and says well you know yesh is feeling bad he's feeling jealous he's feeling discriminated against that's why he's shooting these arrows but then against that voice is the voice of Sarah saying no you might have a job to be imoral into the world but you also have another job that's to bring the Covenant through Yak who's going to be the nation of Israel and that actually has to come first you know in chapter 7:1 17 when we have the promise of yak being born it's such a fascinating conversation because Hashem tells Abraham that he's going to have this son through Sarah and then he says the verse says he rejoices will a child be born to one who is 100 years old and with Sarah who was 90 years old and he's just rejoiced but then there's no other verse right in the very next verse it says and Abraham said to God if only Ishmael will live before you meaning from the very very beginning Abraham has this impulse that ishma and yit need to be treated the same and then in verse 19 God answers him and hasem said indeed your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you shall name him yak and I will establish my Covenant with him as an Everlasting Covenant for his seed after him and regarding Ishmael I have heard you behold I have blessed him I will make him fruitful I will multiply him exceedingly he will beget 12 12 princes and I will make him into a great nation so Hashem has been having this back and forth with Aram as well for a while and it says you know AB is saying I'd really like things to work out for isma and Yak together and Hashem says don't worry about isma isma will be blessed he will have 12 princes but then there's this other Covenant on the land of Israel that's just yit and it's so insane because it's all right here in our portion aam says wait can't they just together have this Everlasting Covenant and all you have to do do and hasem says no there's going to be these 12 kingdoms for ishma all you have to do is actually take out a map of the Middle East and when I did this I almost fell off of my chair there are precisely 12 Arab Muslim countries in the Middle East Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar the UAE Saudi Arabia Yemen Iraq Jordan Lebanon Syria and the Sinai Peninsula which is Arab now belongs to Egypt I mean you can't make that up they have precisely 12 Kingdoms in the Middle East and the Torah is showing us in this ongoing disagreement between the Sarah way of thinking and the Abraham way of thinking that Abraham is constantly pushing in the direction of let's also share the land of Israel let's have a two-state solution he doesn't really mean it when he shoots rockets on Y isal is just he's just jealous he's just having a hard time and Sarah is saying no you don't split the land as long as ishma is trying to take the inheritance for himself and trying to shoot Yu and a constant barrage of arrows this cannot go on he can have 12 countries of his own but Yu's safety and well-being comes first and if sh takes that attitude that he's taking he is out and it cannot be resolved and they are fighting about this for years ab and Sarah are fighting about this for years and Sarah cannot convince him and she says Hashem will judge between us meaning Hashem as reality as the you know as the decider of all reality and and the the god of history is going to indeed show us who is right because there's a deep conflict here there are two purposes for the Jewish people we do have the job of being a moral light we are supposed to teach the world how to be kind and soft and gentle but we are also have a second job which is to create a nation living together in peace in the land of Israel now usually those things can work out together there can be a nation of Israel living in the land and being a light unto the Nations but what happens if there's a conflict what happens if the survival of Israel versus the pure morality and gentleness and kindness that we want to have what if those two things contradict this conflict was foreseen already in the Torah and the the Torah is showing us that there are these two positions and sometimes they're not going to work out together and in the end Sarah and Abraham are having these two voices and Hashem tells Abraham in the end listen to Sarah's voice you know in P dezar which is a mystical text they they ask why was isma named isma it's a bit of a weird name because yesma is in future tense but if the meaning of his name as in the Torah is Hashem as heard me that should be shamael why is he named yishmael which is in future tense and P R alzar says that one day in the end of days Hashem will hear the cries of grief of the Jewish people from that which Ishmael will do to the Jews once they've already come back to the land I mean that's really unbelievable it's precisely what we're seeing and you know in the Zar which is the one of the most is perhaps the most important mystical text in Judaism it says that the angel of Ishmael came to Hashem and said why doesn't Ishmael get some of the land he was circumcised sized when he was 13 he should get some kind of credit for that and then Hashem said fine he will get the land for 1300 years but then it will go to Y and I was looking at just the history of this turns out that in the year 640 was the year that the Arab Muslim conquest of is of the land of Israel uh happened from was conquered from the byzantines it's almost 1300 years give or take like eight years to the dot to the establishment of the sake of Israel for excuse me the establishment of the state of Israel so this is like telling us they will have a portion of the land but when there's the establishment of the state of Israel that will be over and we're told from this mystical tradition and from this story of Abraham and is like there's going to be this line of Kamas in the land this evil in the land this pain caused to us in the land and it's going to be based on this desire of Ishmael to inherit the land but within this argument between Aram and Sarah Sarah's voice is supposed to win out that is what we see being told to us in the Torah but you know what's interesting is that in the end in the Torah itself we do see that Hashem sides with Sarah and says yes if he's going to be if if isma is going to be endangering isak you have to send him away but that's not the end of the story because at the very end of the story of Abraham's life Abraham dies and who goes to bury him the Torah says that Ismael and Yak buried him together there was eventual peace between yak and is and how did that happen the mid says that isma was willing to accept that his Blessing was his Blessing and yak's inheritance is y in's inheritance and to recognize that they were able to come together in peace and honor Abraham's memory and you know it's worth mentioning that you know a few Inspirations from our time amser Abu sabil is a 25-year-old Muslim who tried to save a six-year-old and three-year-old girl because he heard her mom crying for help during this last Massacre he's a father of two children he ran out and and saved this family he and the mother got shot and the two little girls were saved he left his own two children orphans to save two Jewish girls ysep Zana a bedan Muslim minibus driver drove in Under Fire To The Music party and saved 30 Jews there is this option open to Ismail to do the right thing to join Israel to honor Abraham's Legacy together even if it's a small minority that can happen but Hashem is so clear that for those among Ishmael who will not join and accept hashem's Destiny for each for each Nation if they don't do that if they continue to endanger Yak then Hashem is very very clear here the message is so loud here in the Torah where Hashem says to Abraham what Sarah says You must listen to her voice you have to separate isma from y if no matter how uncomfortable it feels and no matter how difficult it is to you for you to you know see ish's suffering you have to do it in order to save Yak your first priority is to save yet and that comes before any other calculation that you might make about you know proportionality or uh you know giving humanitarian Aid your first priority the Torah is telling us is to make sure that yak is safe in his land after that we can work on coming together to find peace to honor Abraham's Legacy and so you know for me I find great comfort in learning these uh in learning these chapters that we're studying together because it feels to me like Hashem is telling us I've laid this out before you it's in the Torah it's in our midash it's in our you know it's in all of our mystical cabalistic Traditions it's there and so that for me I find really encouraging and strengthening and with that I wish you all a shabbat shalom and may we hear good news in this coming week