Ishmael & Isaac: Rabbi reveals the shocking truth about what REALLY happened

hello everyone Sim and Jacob snare meaningful live in our new biblical series of taking biblical events and demonstrating their personal psychological and emotional relevance to our lives including at times as well of giving us a deeper understanding in world history and the conflicts of our present times ultimately all leading us to be able to understand ourselves and our world in better ways to be able to come up with real solutions to create a better life and a better world that's a summation of this new series so in that spirit I want to talk speak to you today and talk about a major con you can say conflict and confrontation some call it a clash of civilizations that affects us at times more obvious than others but on an ongoing basis that can be traced back to close to 3 800 years ago to the home intent of Abraham yes Abraham the patriarch the biblical patriarch so we'll title this this program we shall title a meaningful life Ishmael and Isaac a Timeless Family Feud this program is dedicated by John and Jenny Eisenberg in honor of their new grandson Max arav rachemim abeler born on September 27 2021. so I remember most of us do when 9 11 took place so we're talking about now 20 uh years ago 9 11. September 11 2001 just as this Century the 21st century was beginning to become a a new a new reality it was also a new millennium the beginning the second Millennium you could say the beginning of the third millennium actually so the year 2001 where each of us was when the Twin Towers in New York City as well as the Pentagon as well as yet another plane that crashed in the fields in Pennsylvania were attacking the United States in an unprecedented way and for the first time events of the Middle East suddenly became a reality here on Mainland USA which was a rarity because the wars that forefoot here were the Civil War the Revolutionary War but after that World War One World War II were for all in Europe and Middle Eastern tensions and violence and terrorism even though there were attacks the United States but not quite as it was 9 11. I can tell you from my own personal experience that after that all my talks and lectures wherever I want people were for the first time extremely receptive and interested in biblical events till that point if I would quote a story from the Bible from Abraham from Isaac from Ishmael yeah some people would be interested some more some less but after 9 11 that changed because though Middle East is close to many of our hearts and Israel of course has been at the brunt of attacks and terrorism and of course the wars the Middle Eastern conflict between Israel and its neighbors the Palestinians and the different Arab Muslim countries around it but it was not brought home quite the same way so those these ideas that I shared after 9 11 . once you hear them you see how relevant they are but it was not really appreciated and frankly we all would preferred that things should have stayed calm but the fact of the matter is the Middle East Still Remains a force right now thank God it's quiet but not really completely quiet we all know it's a powder keg it's a uh it's like the the gas the the toxic energies there can explode at any given moment we all applaud and celebrate the Abraham Accords that brought some peace between Israel and some of its neighbors but there's still work to be done and we're still dealing with a very heavily strong religious environment Muslim environment that has strong beliefs to the point of many people fighting God Jihad I mean Bin Laden is gone but there are many others that believe religiously that the only way to bring God to this world is by destroying the infidels so when we look at it it looks strange to most of us in the western world because we think we thought religious wars were a thing of the past and we don't want to hear about another religious War I would rather it be something much more practical many in the west also believe that if you just give the Middle East the McDonald's and the Apple products and technology and Amazon that they'll just become like the Western world but that's not necessarily the case so it still remains of a somewhat of a mystery to many what exactly are the conflicts about are they fighting over land are they fighting over oil are they fighting over money it clearly is much more ideological than meets the eye once you begin looking into it and then you can understand why it's so complicated to create peace true peace and Harmony not just practical for the short term what's even more fascinating as we shall talk about that all this is a microcosmic within ourselves there's a microcosm of these conflicts and battles within us anyone familiar with a mystical and spiritual way of understanding things knows then nothing just happens out there that is just a historical or political or economic everything is reflecting deeper spiritual Cosmic Energies and when you understand that on that Dimension it's not just escaping into some esoteric abstract fantasy it actually helps us understand the very nature of what drives human beings because the end of the day the biggest question that any child asks adult don't ask this question any longer because we've gotten used to Wars and battles and divisiveness and hostilities and Corruption and duplicity and so on but children ask the question why should people fight why should people fight you want to have a a meaningful life a loving life build a healthy family make sure your children are protected and so do I why should we conflict yes okay we may conflict over resources money who will control certain areas so we can negotiate we both want the same thing and yet you see war is a war is a product of History it's not an anomaly so what exactly really lies at the heart of the diversity is beautiful but how does diversity become divisive to the point of real hostility to the point of mistrust and distrust to the point of battle and War so very often like it is with everything you have to go back to the root and one of the beautiful things of biblical thinking and biblical ideas is and personalities and events that it gives us the root of events before they became Amplified and became an a national and Global level so here we have the story of Abraham Abraham has a child called Ishmael with Hagar because Abraham was unable to have children with his wife Sarah suggested have a child with Agra and they give birth to a child called Ishmael then miraculously Abram and Sarah are able to have a child and they do have a child later called Isaac Isaac new small an interesting study because they would both be progenitors of Nations to come Ishmael is the father and ancestor of the Arab and later Muslim world Isaac the ancestor and father and patriarch of the Jewish world and the plot thickens which we'll talk about in coming weeks because Isaac would have two children twins Jacob and asaph and asaph is the ancestor and father of Rome of the Western Roman Christian world so we're focusing on what is this week's chapter that talks about Isaac and Ishmael but you see how the plot thickens how it broadens and when you can understand that they were in Conflict it can help us understand how their children and descendants that ultimately became nations of their own have conflicts because they did begin with ideological spiritual conflicts so that's what we're going to talk about right now this feud between Ishmael and Isaac have brothers both shared a father called Abraham two different mothers and you find that Sarah the mother of Isaac tells Abraham is a bad influence on Isaac I want you to send them away and he does he doesn't want to but he sends Ishmael and his mother hugger away God protects them but they were sent away what was the conflict there and it doesn't really State us it just says there was something going on but when you look into the soul the spiritual and mystical and esoteric teachings you discover Abraham had done something revolutionary pioneering Abraham introduced the idea that life is not egocentric but god-centric in simple English we're not here just to serve ourselves we're here to serve others to serve a higher cause to experience a higher state of consciousness and to connect to a higher reality this was a pioneering and trailblazing approach to life because it countered everything that was going on in his world the Pagan World focused far more on control and power materialism and success on that level you can say it's not surprising we still have that conflict don't we but Abraham did introduce the father of monotheism the father of all Nations became the patriarch became the prophet that all major religions follow of course Judaism first Christianity and Islam and even they say Buddhism you have words like Brahman and other words many words that seem to associate with abraman as in Abraham which isn't surprising because the Bible does talk about Abraham sending his children with a certain set of beliefs and philosophies to the east however you turn it Abraham is a key figure in understanding the future of the world because had Abraham introduced the concept as we're told of Justice a virtue of kindness of compassion that yes we forgo our own personal comforts and our own self-interest for being virtuous being kind that's what Abraham dedicated himself and his family to so he has two so here he has two children you smile and Isaac seemingly all is good they're both following Abraham's path it shall lead to only Harmony and beautiful peace and yet it wasn't so simple because Abraham did live in a time of tensions what that means is the material world was not ready to just surrender to spirituality and to higher consciousness maybe they would if it was on their terms back to control how do you deal with a world a material world that's hostile to spiritual ethereal and refined values so there are three there are three ways you can ignore it which obviously is just avoiding the issue you can go to war with it or you learn to transform that world I should say there's another path a path of asceticism which is not just avoidance but finding a life on a mountain where you avoid the challenge but it's still a form of avoidance as in but it is a path it's a path of asceticism Isaac as I should go with you're small and Isaac both chose different paths Ishmael was the warrior he was a path of much more stronger path and because of his religious passion actually you see Ishmael actually comes from the word Ishmael god listen should listen it could be small was a man of prayer as his mother was they prayed and and the passion fervor of passion and religion saw the world around them as a conflict and therefore went with a far more give a very aggressive approach that's why it says you're small it says his hand is everywhere and everything within him a type of No Boundaries now I should say war is not really the right word because that really reserved for his son-in-law later we learn about ASA was the warrior but you're small also inherited from Abraham a type of love a deep love but love needs to be disciplined and for your small the boundaries were not there and therefore there was a confusion between the spiritual values and how do you actually integrate them into the world around around you Isaac was a man of discipline was a man of in the in the kabbalistic terminology gavora foreign but I love also that when you're dealing with a conflict what can you do you need to you need to fall you need to pose it the Hitchcock was initially a disciplined person with boundaries so his approach was far more based on boundaries you have to create boundaries between the material and the spiritual ultimately that too has its challenges because it's still not full integration but you're small and and have brother um Isaac each had different approaches and therefore in their personal lives there was also a conflict the conflict between Abraham's has said was a hasid that was a very humble has it is love was a very aggressive facet and whereas whereas Isaac was far more disciplined in our own lives what do you do when you have this challenge let's say your child comes home from school and did something wrong you can go with an approach that basically ignores it or just just pour some you pour on love but without boundaries and therefore you can create a spoiled child love is beautiful but it has to have boundaries you can take the other approach discipline Isaac's approach discipline also needs to be boundaries because too much discipline without love won't work as well and these two conflict with each other when you don't have the proper balance and hence they could not get along with each other fast forward turn the clock forward this would evolve into two Nations that have a very different approach to life Isaac the disciplinarian and Ishmael the giver without boundaries and that would lead to ultimately two different approaches that do not get along with each other the boundaries are critical because without boundaries you don't have structure and without structure you really cannot integrate anything when it comes to this battle between living a spiritual life a life of values in the material world if you just go without any boundaries becomes a totally confusion if you go with an approach that has boundaries you are at least laying the ground for some type of balance when you see what happens in the last century especially in the last few decades religious wars which were once the domain not of the the Muslims actually it was the domain of the Christians actually and others that fought religious wars what do you see it's about the name of God the only way to bring God to this world is to eliminate the opposition so you say how does that consistent with love well that's like a flood it's a love that doesn't have disciplines so the only way is either you love completely or you destroy that which you cannot control Isaac's approach is one of discipline discipline means yes we need to look at those that are different than us but understand that things take a process until you finally create the type of peace and Harmony the ultimate peace and Harmony would happen in the next Generation with Jacob but at this stage of the game you have these two forces now the truth is each of them has a verse with other does not have this is not about one winning another losing it's about finding the proper balance so when you look at events through history you look at the conflicts of being either too permissive or too restrictive that's where all the battles take place you need the balance between the two in our personal lives we all have a Ishmael and an Isaac within us we have the the giving love that sometimes needs to have controls and season be seasoned and be tempered and we have the disciplinarian with us within us you really need both to be a healthy human being so when you're faced with the situation that is hostile to your belief system you go with aggression you go with total permissiveness everything goes or do you have some discipline and of course that is not an easy thing it's easier said than done because the fact of the matter is that when you get down to it it's hard how do you really balance the two how do you teach your child what you did was inappropriate but you also don't demoralize your child discipline needs to be measured as well but there you have two so-called archetypes and essentially two personality types that allow us to look at ourselves and look at history and you'll see this conflict play itself out many many times what we ultimately need is a synthesis of the two and that will come in the Next Generation when a sub and Jacob will confront each other where there you'll have the confrontation of total aggression and War without the hasid and Jacob the balance the Harmony and the beauty that brings together the love and the discipline but in this stage where we are right now it's about looking at two features two qualities two archetypal resources or you could say emotional faculties that each of us has and one is the giving but you need to know when to stop giving and you need and discipline and knowing when discipline also needs to be controlled and both of them when they faced head-on without that balance will be a conflict and that conflict plays itself out throughout history and in our personal lives this isn't a nutshell a bit of this family feud and how it and its implications as it developed throughout history as we continue this story you'll see how this all comes to life in so many different ways in our own times as I said both on a microcosm and a microcosm on a personal level and on a cosmic level and the key is obviously to get to the root once you know the root what can we do to to to temper the the unbridled love of Ishmael and to as well use a healthy form of discipline and bring the two together that these two brothers can live side by side which ultimately does happen later on your small does reconcile with Isaac in the latter part of their lives so my friends let us all look at these two forces within us and try to find place to balance it within ourselves and when we do that on a microcosmic level it has a ripple effect that can allow it also to spread and express itself in the larger World The Butterfly Effect thanks so much this is Simon Jacobson meaningful live every Sunday at 3 P.M eastern time but it's recorded and you can look up into the archives on all the different platforms and channels please share your thoughts your feedback your comments as well as any questions you may have share with friends share with others it's always an honor and pleasure to speak to you Simon Jacobson here everyone be well be healthy balance that love and discipline within yourself thank you

Channel: Rabbi Simon Jacobson at Meaningful Life Center

Views: 545,734

Keywords: spirituality, soul, meaning, purpose, god, kabbalah, torah, chassidus, mysticism, psychology, bible, practical bible

Id: paW03FJYPiA

Length: 20min 56sec (1256 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 26 2022