ישמעאל בן אברהם

Ishmael son of Abraham is the son who was banished from the home yet not forgotten by providence, and his figure carries a complexity the Torah does not smooth over. The son of Abraham and Hagar, born before Isaac, Abraham loved him, 'would that Ishmael might live before You' (Genesis 17:18). But Sarah saw in him a danger to Isaac, and God commanded Abraham to heed her voice.

When Hagar and Ishmael were sent into the wilderness and the water ran out, and Ishmael was dying of thirst, God heard his voice, 'for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is' (Genesis 21:17). The Sages note precisely 'where he is,' judged by his state at that hour, not by what his offspring would do in the future. Providence did not abandon him.

Tradition tells that Ishmael repented at the end of his days, and honored his brother Isaac: at Abraham's burial, 'and Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him' (Genesis 25:9), Ishmael placed Isaac before himself, a sign that he recognized his superiority. Even a banished son returned to honor his brother and his father.

What do we learn from him? That providence hears every person 'where he is,' according to his present state, and that a person is judged by his present and not sealed in it. Ishmael teaches that even one excluded from the home is not beyond mercy, and that repentance and honoring a brother can in the end repair even a painful parting.