Here's the second question from Kiwi the Geek:
I've heard that prophecies say the Arabs and Jews will always be in conflict. Where does the Torah say this? The only place I know is concerning the conflict between Jacob & Esau, but I'm under the impression that the Arabs are Ishmael's descendents, not Esau's.
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5 comments:
Kiwi:
While the the Torah does not explicitly say this, it does mention that Ishmael will be known for his violent actions.
Genesis 16:12 states this about Ishmael:
"And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone's hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell."
See the whole thing here
Kiwi:
While the the Torah does not explicitly say this, it does mention that Ishmael will be known for his violent actions.
Genesis 16:12 states this about Ishmael:
"And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone's hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell."
See the whole thing here
Kiwi, Tom Robbins' Skinny Legs and All talks about the Isaac/Ishmael conflict (as well as many other things) at length. Be forewarned, it's a novel, not a scholarly work, but the way in which it approaches the subject shed some light on it, anyhow.
I found out something I didn't know recently: during the hajj, Muslims reenact Hagar/Hajar's journey through the desert with the child Ishmael/Ismael. It was fascinating.
There's nowhere in the Torah that it says that Jews are under any obligation to make sure that curses are upheld.
A good example is the curse in Genesis 3:16 -- that women will experience pain during childbirth because of the sin in the Garden of Eden. I don't know of any rabbis (nor would I follow any) who prohibit the use of anaesthetics or other modern medicine during childbirth, because God said it will be painful.
It's pretty clear that the Arabs & Jews got along far better than Jews & Christians did for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Will there be conflicts? Yes. Always? Don't know. Some say that the world will battle Ishmael leading into the coming of the Messiah.
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