In this week’s parshah the war between the Arabs and the return of the Jews to Zion begins a war that is still being fought today. And the seeds of this war are actually found in last week’s reading.

There we notice a seeming contradiction between Hashem’s two separate promises. At the Covenant Between the Parts Avraham receives a promise that his offspring will inherit quite a large strip of land:

“On that day Hashem made a covenant with Avram saying ‘To your seed I have given this land from the River of Egypt to the great river the Euphrates. The Kenites the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites” (Bereishis 15: 18-21).

Yet two chapters later the promise is limited to the narrow borders of the western side of the aforementioned land the part we know as Eretz Yisrael:

“I shall give to you and to your seed after you the land of your sojournings the entire land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be to them for a G-d” (Bereishis 17:8).

What happened in the meantime? Why the difference? How did the borders shrink so drastically in such a short time?

The answer is that an important event occurred between the two promises an event that changed the course of history. Avraham’s son Yishmael was born.

The story of Yishmael’s birth is recorded in the intervening chapter.

Putting all the facts together what emerges is that G-d’s promise was fulfilled completely although it was split into two. True only Avraham’s offspring will inherit the land between the promised borders; yet this offspring includes Yishmael who received the greater portion in terms of area known today as the Semitic lands.

The western portion of the land however is to fall into the hands of Yitzchak and his offspring alone. Accordingly when the commandment of bris milah is given — and it is this mitzvah that enables the birth of Yitzchak and his right to the land — G-d voices His promise with additional wording: “I shall give to you and to your seed after you [this expression is repeated several times in the parshah] the land of your sojournings the entire land of Canaan.” The parshah clearly emphasizes the difference between “your seed” (i.e. Yishmael) and “your seed after you” (i.e. Yitzchak your spiritual heir who continues on the path you forged) whose portion will be Eretz Yisrael to bequeath it to his children.

In other words Hashem kept His promise. It was Avraham himself who brought about the change. By becoming the father of Yishmael he caused the promised land to be divided between his two children. If Yishmael had not been born the promised land in its entirety would have belonged to Yitzchak. This historical episode therefore began to take shape in parshas Lech Lecha.

Our present parshah reveals that Yishmael took a further step forward. He was not satisfied with what was promised to  him; the division wasn’t to his liking. He deliberately set his eyes upon G-d’s small strip of land Eretz Yisrael which he coveted and decided to wrest it away from Yitzchak by any means just as his descendants are trying their hardest to do in our times.

Yishmael began his protest demonstrations when Yitzchak was just a small child. He was well aware of the ascent of this new power and the likelihood that he would be displaced losing his status as Avraham’s firstborn son. And therefore “Sarah saw the son of Hagar… whom she had born to Avraham making merry.”

“Making merry (metzachek)” has been interpreted in various ways in the Midrash which are all compatible. Let us focus on the words on Rabi Shimon bar Yochai:

“…This use of the term tzchok merriment refers specifically to inheritance meaning that when our father Yitzchak was born everyone was rejoicing. Yishmael said to them ‘You are fools. I am the firstborn and I take twice as much.’ Our mother Sarah’s retort to Avraham… teaches us… ‘that this maidservant’s son will not inherit with my son…’” (Bereishis Rabbah 23:11).

Yishmael believed with all his heart that he was the legitimate heir and the land with all its spiritual blessings was rightfully his. Based on this belief he even tried to kill Yitzchak the rival that threatened his future:

“Yishmael said to Yitzchak let us go out to the fields and see our land. And Yishmael took a bow and arrows and shot them at Yitzchak pretending it was in jest” (ibid).

Thus we see that from the start of this clash between Yishmael and Yitzchak Yishmael considered trickery and murder to be legitimate means of prevailing in the struggle. On that day Eretz Yisrael became a contested land and so it is to this day.

For our Sages this parshah set off warning signals; they studied it and foresaw future events. In accordance with the rules of scriptural scholarship they knew that the book of Bereishis is the kernel of history the paradigm destined to unfold for all future generations. Our people’s entire history is reflected in the events recorded in Bereishis and continual review gives us constant new insights.

Accordingly they knew foresaw and foretold that when the return to Zion would begin at the end of the long exile the Arabs would rise up against our people and they would do anything to prevent the return of the Jews to Eretz Yisrael.

Many sources discuss this idea; let us cite some of the most prominent examples:

“And his children [Yishmael’s] are destined to take over the holy land when it will be devoid of Jews for a long period of time and they will hinder the Jewish people from returning to its land until that merit comes to an end [the merit of milah for the Ishmaelites are also circumcised] and Hashem remembers His people” (Zohar Va’erah).

“And the children of Yishmael are destined at that time to rouse all the peoples of the world to come with them to Jerusalem… And all the peoples will gather and make an alliance between them and turn upon Yisrael to destroy it because they established a sovereign state and it will be a time of trouble for Yaakov. They will not come to destruction however but will be saved from it” (Zohar Va’erah according to the reading of Rav Moshe Cordovero).

When these historical forecasts were written there were no facts on the ground to indicate such a turn of events. Indeed they were written with regard to what would happen after a lengthy exile.

One marvels therefore at the description outlining the future course of history. Reading words that were written hundreds and thousands of years ago we feel as if we were looking at a summary of last year’s news.

In the midst of the maze of history our Sages’ clarity of vision is astonishing. Let’s acknowledge that despite all the explanations this “hundred years’ war” that the Arabs have forced upon us is inexplicable in modern political terms. Whichever way you look at it it is an anomaly unlike any of the other clashes between nations that leave their ugly scars on our poor suffering globe. It is simply incomprehensible — why does this particular conflict attract all the attention? Likewise the way nearly the entire world has joined the effort to support the Ishmaelites in their war against us either directly or indirectly with or without the help of international organizations is beyond all reason.

Indeed no mere political or historical approach can provide an explanation or a solution to our painful dilemma. Our Sages of blessed memory who could see the spiritual elements at work deep beneath the guise of historical processes knew from the beginning that the return of the Jewish people to the land they dreamed of would be accompanied by violent clashes that Yishmael would take the lead among all our opponents and that they would succeed in enlisting the aid of large portions of the human race. And this advance knowledge should make us pay attention to their analysis of the causes of this situation and its outcome as well.