After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac settled near Beer-lahai-roi. This is the line of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.
Genesis 25:11-12 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
After Abraham dies, Isaac moves to the place that is sacred due to Hagar, Ishmael’s mother.
It’s fascinating that Torah immediately goes into Ishmael’s genealogy here, as though it wants to remind us that Ishmael is blessed by God. God sees him, so we should see him.
When Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be kicked out of Abraham’s house, Isaac was only a child, barely weened. He couldn’t be rightly accused of harboring ill-will against his half-brother, or for being directly responsible for his exile.
Isaac isn’t to blame, but Hagar and Ishmael were kicked out because of Isaac.
When Isaac makes his home near the Sacred Well, I wonder if this teaches us how we are meant to make amends, even for harms we did not cause, but were caused because of us.
“Am I my brother’s keeper?”
It’s an odd question; Isaac isn’t the oldest. But Isaac is living out the special blessing, so it’s like he is the older brother, imbued with carrying the Messiah forward.
When you carry the torch, you are meant to light the way for others.
The rabbis say that Ishmael’s presence at Abraham’s funeral points to Ishmael’s repentance, as though he had done something wrong.
I think Isaac is the one who bridges the gap in this story. I think it tells us to bridge that gap as well, even for harms we didn’t cause.