Yishmael

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1. The Status of Yishmael - Hagar's Escape and Hagar's Banishment

   Prof. Jonathan Grossman

   While Yitzchak is chosen to continue the legacy and covenant of Avraham; Yishmael maintains a unique status. What is the nature of Yishmael’s status; and why was he awarded this status? This article explores the question of Yishmael’s status through the comparison drawn between Hagar’s banishment and her escape.

2. The First Dream

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   According to the conventional interpretation by the Sages, the Four Kingdoms refer to Babylon, Persia/Medes, Greece, and Rome. Later interpretations extend Rome into Christianity, while others combine Rome with Greece, allowing the fourth kingdom to be Yishma’el - Islam. These interpretations assume that the prophecy ends with a Jewish kingdom in the end of the days and therefore must span throughout human history. An alternative interpretation suggests that the four kingdoms are Babylon, Persia/Medes, Alexander the Great, and the Diadochi kingdom which comprises the Ptolemy and the Selucids, and the dream extends itself to the kingdom of the Hashmona’im. Many prophecies deviate from their initial intentions due to man’s deviation from God’s path, and are destined to be fulfilled in the future.

3. The Vision of the Four Beasts

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   The Sages and many commentators are in agreement that the four beasts in Daniel’s dream parallel the four kingdoms described in Nevukhadnetzar’s dream. An alternative interpretation suggest that that the first three beasts are parables for Nevukhadnetzar - the lion, his son Evil Merodakh - the bear, and his son Belshatzar – the final king of Babylon - represented by the leopard. The fourth beast represents the kingdom of Persia and the ten horns of the beast represent the ten successive rulers of Persia. The new horn that sprouts and uproots the existing one represents Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire.

4. Sons and Genealogies - Selection and Rejection

   Rabbi Jonathan Snowbell

   תאריך פרסום: 2006 | | 30 minutes

   Why do the generations of Yishmael appear in the Torah in addition to the genealogies of Yitzhak, the son selected to be Avraham’s successor? The lists are there partly as a contrast. Stories recur throughout Bereisheet with motifs of dynasties and transmission: There are two sons who can follow in their father’s footsteps—one is chosen and described in greater length, and one is sent away. In this shiur, we look at the pattern of selection and rejection throughout the various occurences of the lists of descendants.