Parshas Lech Lecha: The Biblical Origins of the Arab Israeli Conflict

Okay, good evening everyone. Parshas Lech Lecha. So, these shabbat celebrations are graciously sponsored again by Dr. Zackheim and Mishpacha Dr. Zackheim's mother Rifka bas Tovia Halevi They should be for their whole family. I'd be a skull tzaddik. Tonight's shear sponsored by my dear friend Ben and Aliza Portal commemorating the second yahrzeit of Yaakov Alexander ben Zvi Yitzchak. Should be with his whole family for I'd be a skull tzaddik. There's no fight like a family fight. When you fight with someone that you're far from, you're distant from everyone could part their ways. Everyone could make amends. But when it's an internal fight it's a battle till the end. Today we're going to speak about the what what they call now the Arab-Israeli conflict. Many people mistakenly think of course this is not a new phenomenon. It started in 2003. You know, this has been going on for a little time. Or yeah, no, even before that started 1973. No, it started 1967. It started 1940. No, it started in the end of the 19th century when we came back to our homeland. Friends this is a a much more historic battle. And in order to understand the battle, you have to understand the opponent. Who is our opponent? What are his qualities? What is his physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual makeup? Cuz if you don't know who your enemy is and you don't know what he's all about, how could you fight him? So we have in this week's parashah Vayomer l'ah malach Hashem. The angel of God said to her, Hinech harah, behold you'll become pregnant, you will conceive. So Rashi asks, what do you mean? She already was She already conceived. Yeah, but Sarah put a bad eye on her, so she miscarried. So she conceived again. Ki yaldet ben, you'll have a a son. Ve-karat shemo Yishmael. You'll call his name Yishmael. Ki shama Hashem el anyech, God heard your affliction. But this kid of yours, v'hu yihyeh pereh adam. He will be a wild man. Yado va-kol. His hand is against everyone. There will be no nation in the world that he doesn't antagonize. Ve-yad kol bo. And all will be enemies with him. Ve-al penei kol echav yishkon. He will dwell upon the face of all of his brethren. He will be in every country in Europe. He will be in every city in New York. He will be in every state in the United States. He will be in every continent. He'll be everywhere. So the first observation is a well-known one. Rebbi Leib Diskin says this pasuk has an anomaly we don't find in the entire Tanakh. Usually in Lashon Hakodesh, first comes a noun and then comes the adjective. Adam tov, good guy. Adam gadol, big guy. Adam katan, small guy. Bayit gadol, big house. So first we say the noun and then we say the adjective. The word pereh means wild. Adam means man. It should have said adam pereh. There is no pasuk in the whole Tanakh that has an adjective before a noun. Did you know that? This is the only possible in the whole Tanakh where you have adjective and then noun. It should say "Who ya Adam pera." A man, what kind of man? A wild man. So, Rabbi Shmuel Diskin, what the possuk perhaps is saying is that in this case the adjective is the noun. What his essence is, what his reality is is pera. He's wild. What kind of wild entity is he? The mankind. Man is not the noun. Man is the adjective. Wild is not the adjective. Wild is the noun. It's the only possuk in the whole Tanakh where adjective precedes noun. Because it's not an exception. The adjective is the noun over here. And the noun is the adjective. So, that gives you an impression off the bat that we're dealing with it an unusual force. We know that that when David HaMelech wrote to Tehillim, he foresaw everything Klal Yisrael would endure. Let's go to perek kuf kuf daled. Shir HaMa'alot. Now, I don't know why they don't say this perek. LeDavid, by David. Lulei Hashem shehayah lanu yomar na Yisrael. "Had God not been with us," says Israel, Lulei Hashem shehayah lanu. "Had God not been with us, bequm aleinu Adam, when the man stood up against us, So, we have a double expression over here. First, we say, "Had God not been with us, when what?" And then we say again, "Had God not been with us, when the man stood up against us, what would have happened?" Azai chayim belo'anu, we would have been swallowed alive. Bacharotz apam banu, his anger their anger would have flared against us. As I am shut up and we would have been swept away by the waters. Not of our own illness passing over our souls. As I over our own my own then upon our souls would have been the one time waters. But I shall blessed is God shall I tell us that he did not deliver us to be ripped apart by their teeth. Not could see far. Our soul is like a bird in the middle of that. That is spared me from the trap. A new the trap is broken and we're saved. As rain in the same as sham our help in the name of God always say sham I bought. Comes to find me tall. I need to tell her to commentary on to hell on to knock it's called a toss toy. It's not a well-known safer. Comes to find me tall and he says we know they're only four goals in. There's Babylon. There's media and Persia. By the way, the media in general is a gala. The media is the gala. Almost everything they say is check out of the house off. Check out of the house off. Yeah, the Israelis bombed the hospital. And everyone's consuming it. No, but but it but it didn't happen. They killed 500 people. No, actually it was only 15 to 50. That's okay. That's that's qualified reporting. It's it's the media. Persia and media the media is also a gala. There's Greece. There's a dime. But says of kind of a tall we know from Ruby laser and the mid rush him and the desire that there's going to be a fifth galus b'acharis hayomim right before Mashiach comes, and that is galus Yishmael. And Yishmael is different than all four galusim. You know, all four galusim in the vision of Daniel were depicted as wild animals. So, Daniel saw Babylon as a lion. He saw Persia-Media as a bear. He saw Greece as a leopard. He saw Edom as a monster. But, Yishmael is not compared to a wild animal because Yishmael is a man. What kind of man? We're going to see. Now, why is Yishmael upgraded to the status of man? Number one, says Rav Chaim Vital, cuz he's the son of Abraham, son of Avraham Avinu. And most notably, he has a bris milah. What makes a person a man? Why are only Yisrael nikra'u Adam? Because we have the atzmus of man, milah. Well, Yishmael has milah. So, why isn't he a full man? Because he's nimol v'lo para, he doesn't do priah. So, he's quasi. He's para Adam. He's Adam because he has milah, but he's para Adam because he doesn't have priah. So, the galusim are compared to animals. But, Yishmael is compared to man. Let's look in the pasuk in Tehillim. Shir hama'alos l'David. Lulei Hashem shehayah lanu, if God had not been with us, yomar na Yisrael. That's referring to the fourth galus, the four galusim, the first four. The first four are child's play compared to Yishmael. Lulei Hashem shehayah lanu b'kum aleinu Adam, says Rav Chaim Vital, oy, second line from the bottom on the right hand column, yesh galus chamishi acharon l'chulam, kasheh mikulam. Kasheh mikulam. And they weren't all a piece of cake. We find it out says kasha me coolum. Why is he para Adam because he's not compared to a haya? Then we find it out continues next column. He's the son of Abraham. And he has a of ice. And he has a of Mila. And therefore he's bolstered. So when an animal comes to put you in golos, you could you could be saved. When you smile comes, watch out. He's Adam. He has Mila. He has Abraham. He has of ice. Now look carefully in the passage. By the first four golos it just says lulay Hashem shahal alanu. But when it comes to Ishmael, it's become alenu. Why is Ishmael become alenu? Says we find it out just like by power it says by Yarkon hadash. Why does it say by Yarkon? Where did he come from? Where did he come from? Surprise. I we didn't see that coming. So to Ishmael, he starts off small. He's no power. He's not a world power. Doesn't have a mouth kiss. Doesn't have a kingdom. He doesn't have an entity. They're a bunch of bandits. But all of a sudden, you look around and in 10 years they're the majority population in Europe. And their birth rate is much higher than the Jews Jewish people in Israel. Much higher. You didn't see it coming. By Ishmael, it's always become alenu. They suddenly rise up. And when they come, they're different than the four other four umas, the four malchias, the four golosims. The four golosims are nothing. You know why? They're just like water passing by. You know why? Cuz they're not here to kill us. They're here to take away our religion. They're here as I have my am that they not love not say no. They're here to convert us. Yeah, and if we don't convert, they're going to kill us. But they're not out to mutilate our bodies. They just want to convert us. Now, if we don't convert, they're going to kill us. So, God has mercy on us. Why? Because they're not trying to kill us. They're trying to convert us. So, who's causing the problem, so to speak? The Torah. So, says the ban sham, I got to save you because they're not trying to kill you. They're trying to abolish your religion. And you're standing up for your religion, so I got to help you out. As I have not say no, they're just passing over your soul. But not Yishmael. Yishmael wants he's not trying to eradicate your religion. He wants to eradicate the entity of the Jewish people. As I have below you know, he wants you swallowed alive that there should not be a remnant that there ever was a Jewish people. He wants to put the bodies in fire, destroy the So, God says, this is your problem now, not my problem, so to speak. You see, the other other exiles were it was because of me, it's because of my Torah. So, I got to stand up for you. But now this time, they just want to swallow you alive. Says Rabbi Vital I am how you write similar like in the past for like no doubt carbona. And that's why says Rabbi Vital the Marranos and the we don't like to use that word. But the conversos in Sefarad in Portugal one day they'll come back. They'll come back to the religion. They'll come back to Judaism. God will have mercy on them. But from Galut Ishmael listen to these words. Bigalut Ishmael asidin lo hatzarot Yisrael tzarot kashot meshunot lo niru kamoh sham. There never in the history of the world were such torment as the Ishmaelites will inflict on Klal Yisrael. So what are we going to do? Says Rav Chaim Vital Anachnu lo neida manaseh. We're not going to have any clue what to do. We're not going to know. All the other galuyot we knew what to do. We had to do teshuvah. This galut im kein anachnu lo neida manaseh. We don't know what to do. So what do we do? We have to read the final pasuk. Az reinu beshem Hashem oseh shamayim va'aretz. Listen to the words of Rav Chaim Vital. Ein lanu tikvah acheret. We have no other hope zulati sheniftach bishmo hagadol. Other than to trust in His great name. Because God created heaven and earth. And why did He create heaven and earth? For us. Bishvil Yisrael shenikra reshit. Bishvil Torah shenikra reshit. So He has to help us. We don't know how. We don't know what. We don't know where. We don't know where it's coming from. But the only uh method to to stand tall against Ishmael is Az reinu beshem Hashem. Because they are more vicious than any any galut we ever encountered before. These are the prophetic words of Rav Chaim Vital. Now you have to know when Rav Chaim Vital says that the Ishmaelites came out of will come out of nowhere. He actually says he's referring to the year 571 when they're when they're uh who the Rambam calls the Mem Shin Gimel Ayin appeared. And you know, when you're in the desert and you inhale enough good stuff, yeah, boy, do you see things. So, that's that's what Chaim Vital is referring to. In the year 571, all of a sudden, nevi'im rose up mishiflus gadol l'rum ma'alos k'neida. But, it's mas'ei avos siman banim. This is what we see in our times. Where did they come from? They were down for the count. 48, 67, 73, and all of a sudden, thousands and thousands and thousands of missiles. And um unlimited funds. B'chol maleinu, they rise suddenly. And we're not going to know what to do. And our our only method to stand tall is as Rebbe Nachman says, "Shem Hashem ein lanu tikvah acheres zulasi sheniftach bishmo hagadol." Let's take a look at the words of the Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer. Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer says, It says No, it's a major subject. It's a major subject. Um in a nutshell, there are four galusim. Now, you want to know, does anybody else says there's galus Ishmael? In a nutshell, the Midrash Rabbah in many, many places says there are four galusim. Most identify it as Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. And Ishmael is not one of them. Why is Ishmael not one of them? The Maharal addresses this in in a number of places why Yishmael is not one of them. We once offer our own interpretation why Yishmael is not one of them. The opinion of Ibn Ezra is that Yavan and Rome are dual third galas and Yishmael is the fourth. The Ramban disagrees with that. The Ramban says Yishmael is not the fourth. That's a major topic. I've spoken about it in the past. I could send you some info on that. But tonight we're going to be just focusing on the nature of Yishmael. Let's see, why is he called Yishmael? Yeah, we're going to see. We're We're going to see. We're going to address this. Why is he called Yishmael? So the possuk says cuz God saw her affliction. But if you look in Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer, he says Lama nikra shmo Yishmael number five, asid Hakadosh Baruch Hu lishmoa d'chol nagas am. God is destined to hear the outcry of the people. Mimasha asidin b'nei Yishmael asah es b'aras b'acharis hayamim. From what the b'nei Yishmael are destined to do in Eretz Yisrael in the end of days. So Yishmael is going on our t'fillah. God is destined to hear our t'fillah, not his t'fillah. Our t'fillah. Okay. Where does Yishmael get its power from? Why is it so powerful? Today I'm going to be asking all the questions and giving all the answers. And then after we're going to have a question answer session and um we're going to answer all the questions also. But for now, I'm only answering what I'm asking. Okay? Where does Yishmael get his uh Where does Yishmael get his power from? So we saw in Rabbi Chaim Vital, he's the son of Abraham. He has bris milah. He has the chos avos. Did you know how How times did Avraham Avinu daven for Yitzchak in the Chumash? Never. And yet, if you look in the Chumash, Vayoimer Avraham El Elohim, "Lu Yishmael Yichyeh Lefanecha." If only Yishmael could live before you. Targum says "Bedachalta", that Yishmael should live in fear of God. So, God says, "What do you mean? Sarah is going to give birth to a son. You're going to call his name Yitzchak, and I'm going to establish my covenant WITH YITZCHAK. BUT, "U'L'YISHMAEL SH'MATICHA." Regarding Yishmael, I have I've listened to you. I blessed him. I will multiply him. I will increase him very, very much. Says Maharal, "Why is Yishmael not one of the four Malchiyos?" Says Maharal, "Because all the Malchiyos usurp their power from Yisrael. So, the Babylonians destroyed the Beis Hamikdash, and they took Malchus Yisrael. Persia conquered um Bavel. They took the Malchus of Bavel. They got it from Yisrael. Greece conquered Persia. Greece now has Malchus Yisrael, who took it from Persia, who took it from Bavel. But, says the Maharal, "Yishmael does not have Malchus Yisrael. Yishmael has its own independent source of power. What is it? The Tefillah of Abraham Avinu. Like it says, "U'l'Yishmael Sh'maticha." Abraham, I listened to you regarding Yishmael. And therefore, the Zohar Hakadosh says, we have a problem with Abraham Avinu. We criticize Abraham Avinu. There's a pasuk in Yeshayahu that says, "Abraham doesn't know us. He doesn't love us." Look in the Zohar. "Ki Avraham Lo Yad'anu Af Al Gav DeBig Chuma D'Alma." Even though the world stands on us, "Lo Yishtadel Alan." You didn't make efforts for us, "K'ma D'Ishtadel Al Yishmael." The way tried for Yishmael. V'amar, "Lu Yishmael yichyeh l'fanecha." So, we say, "Abraham, you don't love us." We're not happy with what Abraham did. There's another Zohar. The Zohar at the end of Parshas Vayeira. The Zohar says, when Abraham prayed, "Lu Yishmael yichyeh l'fanecha." Even though Hashem told him that he's going to have Yitzchak, Abraham clung to Yishmael. Until Hashem said, "Okay, Abraham, I'll listen to you regarding Yishmael." And after Yishmael had a milah, and he went to Eretz Yisrael before Yitzchak was born. Says the Zohar Kadosh, for 400 years, the ministering angel of Yishmael asks Hashem, "Hey, God, someone who has bris milah, are they connected to you?" Ribbono shel Olam says, "Sure thing." So, the malach says, "But Yishmael has bris milah." So, why doesn't he have a share in Eretz Yisrael? So, Hashem says, "Y- I um Yitzchak has a proper bris milah. Yishmael does not have a proper bris milah. Also, Yitzchak clings to me. They do the milah right away after 8 days. Yishmael takes him too long to do the milah." Says the Medrash, "Woe to the moment that Yishmael was born. Woe to the moment that he had a bris milah." What does Hashem do? Hashem throws him out of any spiritual connection to Eretz Yisrael on high, and he gives him Eretz Yisrael down here, because he does bris milah. Says says "Yishmael is destined to rule over Eretz Israel when Eretz Israel is empty from everything." Why? Because he does an empty bris milah. And they're going to stop the Bnei Israel from returning to their land until their chos of milah is depleted. I guess they're running on low. It says the Zohar, "Ishmael is destined to wage many wars in the world." Whereupon Edom will come against them. And they're going to wage Edom will come from afar and wage war against Ishmael. Three wars. Chadal Yama, one at the sea. Chadal Yabasha, one on the dry land. V'Chadal Samach Yerushalayim. And one near Jerusalem. And they will fight it out. But God will not give the Holy Land to Edom, either. And then a nation will come from the end of the world and attack Edom. And they will wage war for 3 months. Again, I'm just a reporter over here. I'm just telling you the facts. Don't say, "Well, but yeah." I'm telling you what it says. I'm telling you what's going to happen. And this nation will gather. And it will fall in their hands until Edom will come from all over the world to attack this nation. And at that moment, the Ribono shel Olam will reveal himself and slaughter Edom. Ditto. And at that point in time, V'haya bayom hahu Yea Hashem Echad U'Shmo Echad. That's the story right here in the desire colors the end of the era. You want to know who? I can't tell you. It said it. I can't give you more information than it says. It says Yitgadal v'yitkaddash shmei rabba. Another nation from the end of the world. So the desire says they're destined to be three wars. One on the sea, one on the dry land, and one near Jerusalem. So we got all the players here. We got Ishmael. Edom's coming. And they're on their way. Taking a long time from that uh battleship that's still docked in Virginia that was promised to be in the Middle East. It's still there in Virginia. But it's headed there. So Edom's on the way. Edom's coming from all over the world. And uh the desire doesn't say exactly who's going to destroy who. We already know from the Gemara in Yoma it's Machlokes Rav and Rabbi Yochanan. And anyway, those are the final two players. There'll be another nation that comes from the end of the world. What about them? They're they're they're done. Ottomans are done. Yeah, but uh this didn't have the the end the end game didn't happen yet. So maybe it's one of the wars. Okay. What's Ishmael's problem? What do they want? What are they so bothered by? They have 22 other countries to go to. We don't have anywhere to go. We have one little strip of land. So we want to be here. They have to be they have any one of 22 other countries. What is their problem? So we know that uh one of the great personalities of the 20th century who saw face to face the Ishmael in its full glory. Rav Hutner Rav Hutner was on uh the plane that was hijacked. And that that incident really sparked his interest in understanding the nature of Yishmael. And his in the safer Zicharon of Rav Hutner he brings that this was how Rav Hutner saw the antagonism and the venom that lay inside Yishmael. This is what it's all about. V'toimer Avraham, Sarah says to Avraham, "Goreish ha'amah hazos. Throw the maidservant out of the house. V'es benah ki lo yirash ben ha'amah hazos." The kid will not inherit im b'ni im Yitzchak. And Avraham didn't like it. And God said, "Don't sweat it. Whatever Sarah says, listen to her." Says Rav Hutner, "If you ever notice, when it talks about the descendants of Esau and the leaders of Esau, does anybody know what are the chieftains of Esau called? Aluf. Alufei Esau. Aluf Edom. Aluf Teman. Aluf Alufim. What is an aluf? It's a chieftain. However, when it comes to Yishmael, you will never see the word aluf. What word does the Torah use? Nesi'im. What are nesi'im? Nesi'im are guys with shmatas around their head. That's what nesi'im are. What's a nasi? It's not power. It's like, you know, borrowed. They They ran into the crowd. They ripped something out and they They They They They wrapped their head. They have no koach. There's no malchus. In other words, like we saw from the Maharal. The Maharal says, you see, Esau usurps genuine malchus. They have royalty. They have dignity. They have actual power. They have malchus b'lo tagah. Royalty without the crown. That's why they're called Aluf. They take our power. Yishmael has no real royalty. They're a lash sh'moisam b'chatzreihim uv'tirosam. Where does Yishmael live? In krakhim, in open cities, in villages, in tents. They're bandits. They have no royalty. You know why? Says Rav Hutner, very simple, because Eisav ki yerusha l'Eisav nasati es har se'ir. Eisav's still part of the family. We threw him a bone. He inherits Ya- Yitzchak. Yerusha l'Eisav, Eisav is an inheritor. He's an heir. Eisav's an heir, so he has a makom. Anyone who's, you know, how do you know if someone's still part of the family? When the dad, when the father passes away, if he collects the yerusha, he's part of the family. But if he's banished, and they don't even throw him, you know, old records, he doesn't inherit anything, so he's not part of the family. Eisav ki yerusha l'Eisav, Eisav still has connection to genuine greatness, our greatness. Yishmael, goresh, he's banished, he's kicked out, he's thrown out, he has no connection to any real greatness, and therefore, he's always coming with all the venom and animosity of what? Of someone thrown out of something he feels he's still connected to. That's where it's coming from. All the venom of Yishmael. All the hatred of Yishmael is goresh, throw him out of here. He was banished from the royal family. You know, when someone's banished from the royal family, you know what kind of memoirs they write, you know what kind of venom they spew. Yishmael was banished. That is why the Ram writes in the Tishuvah that Esau believes in the Torah Shebal Peh right? Esau has the Old Testament. You have many people, they go to college and they take Christian courses. They take part one, not part two. Part one is Old Testament, part two is the New Testament. So, they take the Old Testament cuz Christianity, Esau believes in the written law. They say, "We're the real Israel." They have no problem with the with the written law. The written law works with them. Ki Yerushalaim Esau, they have a Yerushalaim according to the written law. They don't believe in the oral law. They don't believe in the Torah Shebal Peh. But, Ishmael cannot take the written law cuz the written law says, "Go Rashis Ben Amram says, throw him out. He's completely excommunicated from any connection to us." That's where the venom of Ishmael comes from. And I'm going to share with you something remarkable. A very interesting dichotomy between Ishmael and Esau. No questions, right? Yeah, correct. Very good. Yeah. After after. Okay. Remember Rivka? Rivka was having uh an issue. She was pregnant. She passed by the Mary Shiva and the uh somebody was kicking to come out. And she passed by the Orthodox Episcopalian, you know, church. Someone was kick kicking to come out. So, she says to herself as follows. We have two parents here. Yitzchak's uh tzaddik ben tzaddik. I'm a tzaddik as then Russia. We've got a problem. Houston, we've got a problem. Because when Abraham married when Abraham had a child so Hagar produced Ishmael and Sarah produced Isaac. So, I'm afraid, says Rivka, that maybe the same thing. Isaac is going to produce a tzaddik and I'm going to produce a rasha cuz my father was a rasha. So, I'm like Hagar. How am I better than Hagar? So, what do they tell her? Don't worry, you're going to have two kids. You're going to have the god of Hagar and you're going to have a mass murderer like Esau. So, rest assured. Don't worry. Don't have any anxiety. You're just It's going to be Jacob and Esau. Baruch Hashem, Esau. How was this prognostication? How did that assuage any of the worries of Rivka? Says the Kli Yakar. What are these Sheva Shein Me'ever was telling Rivka is that you're much better than Hagar. Cuz Hagar had Ishmael. And nothing good ever came out of Ishmael. But you're going to have Esau. Yeah, Esau is a bad bad dude. Esau is a bad guy. But you know how many big tzaddikim came will come out of Esau? Antoninus, Shemaya, Avtalyon, Onkelos, and of course Rabbi Meir. Did I mention that in a few weeks there's a new book coming out about Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess and the eternal children of Hashem. Countdown. Bezrat Hashem for Chanukah, if anybody wants to be mishtatef, they could still be mishtatef. Rabbi Meir came from Esau. So, yeah, you're having an Esau, but at least good geirim could come out of Esau. But nothing good ever came out of Ishmael. So, you're better than Hagar. By the way, the Maharal in the Gevurah Aryeh explains the difference between Esau and Yishmael. He says that Esau they have a nefesh chashuvah. They're chashuvim. So, in the Western world, they wear nice suits. And they eat nice clothing. And they live in nice homes. Because they have dignity. They have respectability. They have a nefesh chashuvah. They don't eat like a behemah. Masha in kein Yishmael einam makpidim al ma'achalam. V'al malbusham. V'al merchatza'osayhem. I mean, I was in Chevron more than 30 years ago, and we were headed to the Mearas Hamachpelah, and there was such a stench in the street. And say, "Yeah, because it's the sewers." And they were swimming in the sewers. They were swimming in the sewers. That's what the Maharal says. The Western world has a different level nefesh. They're a different entity. It's a different quality of adam. Therefore, they dress elegantly. They live respectively. That's So, Klal Yisrael, in a certain sense, behaves like Esau because we both have nefesh chashuv. Like Yishmael Yishmael, einam makpidim al ma'achalam. It's amazing how many different outfits you can make out of a shmata. So, I just So, I never quoted the Chida before. The Chida also says the same type of approach. And he says what uh they were telling Rivka was You know, Rivka was worried. She has a higher rush shoroy betoch me'aha. And so when she passed by the house of Eliezar, he was jumping to leave. So she said, "Just like Avraham had tzo'eles, so what did Avraham do to get out of his tzo'eles? You know, Avraham had zuhama in him. So how did he get out the grime? He lived with Hagar. He spewed out all the grime into Hagar, and Hagar expectorated it in that guy, Yishmael. And now Avraham's clean, and he had Yitzchak. So Rivka said, "I I made a big mistake. I should have had Yitzchak live with a shifcha, let him get out his grime, and then I would have lived with him and had a tzaddik." So says the Chida, "The answer is don't worry. Something good will still come out of Esau. Antoninus, Shmaya bar Avtalyon, Onkelos, Rebbe Meir. But says the Arizal, "Mi'Yishmael einam ba'im geirim, u'mei'Esau ba'im geirim." So that's one element of Yishmael. But we find a very interesting dichotomy. Because the Vilna Gaon reveals to us that Adam HaRishon had two sons. Who were they? Cain and Abel. Cain brought what kind of um offering? Cain brought Right. Uh pishtan. Flax, right? And Abel brought wool. So the Piskei Rabbeinu Tam says, "That's why you're not allowed to mix wool and linen, cuz you're mixing Cain and Abel." And later on in And Cain was a murderer. And later on in history, Cain and Abel came back in action. Cain is Esau, and Abel is Yishmael. And Cain was a murderer, says the guy, and therefore Esau is a murderer. And Hevel was a decent guy, and that's why Yishmael ultimately does teshuvah. Esau never did teshuvah. So, isn't it interesting on the one hand nothing good ever came out of Yishmael, but on the other hand, Yishmael did teshuvah himself. And he comes from Hevel. By the way, why is it that gerim come from Esau and no gerim come from Yishmael? Very simple, cuz Esau was a yid. Esau is Jewish. His mother is Jewish. His mother was a tzadekes. Yishmael was not a Jew. Yishmael's mother was Hagar. But you have this dichotomy that no gerim come from Yishmael, but Yishmael himself does teshuvah ultimately. And he's Hevel. And Esau Kayin And not only that, even though gerim come from Esau, well, what about gilgulim? Who remembers? Who is the gilgul of Yishmael? It was Monday's share. Monday afternoon. Yishmael is Reish Lakish. Who's Esau? Esau Hoyish is Esau. Esau Hoyish is So, in terms of gerim, Esau got a better better lineage, better line. In terms of gilgulim, Yishmael has it better. It almost seems like spiritually, Yishmael has some kind of uh stronger connection to kedusha. Physically, Esau his progeny are in better shape. Okay. Now, original original thought. The Rambam writes at the end of Iggeres Teiman, the Rambam says, "My dear brothers, it is known that Hashem threw us in the traps of an ummah which is ummas Yishmael. They deal very cleverly to harm us. There is no more vicious enemy. There is no nation that harms us in the epitome of evil. And they Even David Hamelech, when he saw Baruch Hashem the terrible atrocities that Yishmael wants to cast on us, he cries out, Why does David uh specify the family of Kedar? Because cuz the Rambam says, "Lefisha Hamashuga, you know who that is? Cuz their prophet comes from the family of Kedar. And then the Rambam points out something that we're all aware of. There is no nation in the history of the world that spews more overt lies and hypocrisy and sheker v'chazav than Yishmael. That's, you know, yadua um mefursam. The Rambam says, "V'anachnu b'eideinu, what do we have to do? There is no nation that lies as much as them. No, there's no evidence that they beheaded anyone. There's no evidence. It's not evidence. Eyewitness is not evidence. There's no evidence that they mutilated anybody, that they burnt any bodies. There's no evidence of that. And the Israelis attacked a hospital. And and we have to be so evil lies that no other nation have the audacity to offer. In fact, as I doubt she not the fam the names of Ishmael, Mishma, Duma, Massa, that we have to listen, Shema, do him, be silent, the saw and tolerate it. And the hypocrisy. What's the hypocrisy? Hypocrisy is yet, they're the most modest. And chased of all the nations. Yeah, the Gamara says 9/10 of Arios. Um 10 measurements came down to road, they took nine of them. And they probably stole the 10th one while they're at it also. And when the Gamara says the Zaya Kadosh says that when I shall offer the Torah to the nations of the world, Ishmael said not, what it says like say enough, no thank you. So the hypocrisy of how they walk around K'ilu, you know, Tzanua Mufrashim. Uvepnimiyusam, there is no nation as Where does it come from? Check this out. Uh so Sarah's married to Abraham for a very long time. She can't have a kid. Sarah gives Hagar to uh Abraham. Vayovael Hagar Vatar, she conceives right away. What's the first thing Hagar does? She turns to Sarah and says, "Ah, that fake Tzadekes over here. Hers her inside is not like her outside. She shows herself like she's a Tzadekes, but she's not righteous. She could never have children with him, and I had child with him maybe a Rishona. So what was the attack of Hagar? Ah, she's a hypocrite, Sarah. She's a hypocrite. Now, we know Hazal say in Kiddushin, how do you know what somebody's flaw is? Kol ha-po'el b'mumai pasul. Anyone who insults somebody, he always insults somebody in their personal deficiency. Right? When somebody When Reuben insults Shimon, you know exactly what Reuben is all about in term of how Whatever way Reuben chooses to insult Shimon, that's Reuben's deficiency. So, if you want to know what Ishmael is all about, Ishmael says to Klal Yisrael, "Ah, you're you're phonies. You act righteous, but on the inside, you're rotted on the inside." So, now we know exactly what Ishmael is all about. Ein sisa kigluya. They're not on the inside the way they're on the outside. They're mara'atsemam kiyulu, they're sinu'im. They ainam sinu'im. What are they? Kozav and sheker l'malam mi hotam. And this is uh ma'aseh avos siman l'banim. They inherited from uh uh from their origins. So, these are a few of the ideas about uh the roots and uh the shairesh of Ishmael. Ishmael is pereh adam, pereh being the noun. In Tehillim kuf kaf dalet, David ha-Melech very frighteningly predicts for us that it's an era of az ayichayim b'la unam. And ultimately, what is the fate of Ishmael? We know that they're ultimately the 70 nations of the world, viyeyasu kulam agudah achas l'ases retzon Klal Yisrael. They come under our leadership, and they serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu under uh under our auspices. So the nations of the world ultimately have tikun, right? Not Yishmael. And not Esau. What do we know about Esau? We know Esau What do we know about Esau? Ain sarid l'veit Esau. There's no remnant of Esau. And what do we know about Yishmael? That's what the Zohar Hakadosh says. The Zohar Hakadosh says and God will break all of their power on high. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. They will have no power above. Edom and Yishmael lo yihiye sarid. So we should be zocheh to see bimherah v'yameinu. The Ribono shel Olam should protect over all of Klal Yisrael and we should all be zocheh to see b'yamav hu Yihyeh Hashem Echad u'Shmo Echad.