Genesis - A different and powerful view

Guest Torah Study leader: Yehezkel Landau, Faculty Associate in Interfaith Relations, Hartford Seminary.

webpage about Yehezkel Landau


This was a WOW session after 11 pages of notes I have so much to include and so much more I want to research, it was a session of details that make a difference in how you can look at these familiar parts of our story in different ways. And in ways that might have the influence to change attitudes toward others as well.

I will start at the end of this study session.

There is different way to read Genesis. Or actually an interpretation of the details that give a lot to think about. Much of Genesis is about sibling differences and the problems they create. Cane and Able, Isaac and Ishmael and Jacob and Esau all present a common thread through the book. Rabbi Marder did a sermon on this topic that was quite memorable and hit close to home for me because my two sons do not get along:

Sermon: Dwelling Together

And Yehezkel Landau’s teaching, especially about Isaac, brought that back to mind. Isaac was a peacemaker in his family but you have to read carefully and draw conclusions different from what we may have seen before to understand. It is all about the place. Beer Lahai Roi," the well of living sight," the place Hagar named because it was there she heard God’s word, Genesis 16 when she learns she will have Ishmael and he will have a ‘nation’.

This place is mentioned several times, Genesis 24:62 when it mentions that Isaac had been there just prior to meeting Rebecca. Could it be that he had been there to see Hagar? Could it be that Isaac encouraged Hagar to return to Abraham now that Sarah had died? In Genesis 25:1 Abraham takes Keturah as his wife. There is midrash that this is so in both Jewish and Islam interpretation - a few examples follow:

Midrash on Hagar Keturah connection - Jewish
Another Midrash on Hagar Keturah connection - Jewish
Midrash on Hagar Keturah connection - Islam

And once again this place, Beer Lahai Roi is mentioned in Genesis 25:11. Isaac lived near there. Could it be that Ishmael was also living there? Could it be that the brothers were reconciled? The midrash that interprets this offers Isaac as a real peacemaker and as an example of brothers live together in peace despite family difficulties.

Does this interpretation change your vantage of the story? Does it make a difference? It is a story that was handed down orally for generations before it was written as Torah. Details could have been lost. Did we miss a major point along the way when this detail was not a major focus in liturgy? These unread details could confirm the reconciliation of brothers as a key message. Rather than the focus on the discord between brothers throughout Genesis, we should focus on the reconciliations.

There is so much more there... WOW!