Sjimon den Hollander
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  • JUDAISM
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    • Jewish History and Texts >
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      • Stories of Creation
      • Stories of the Flood
      • J and E compared
      • Priestly Writings
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      • Biblical Poetry
      • Hellenism and the Septuagint
      • Flavius Josephus
      • The Dead Sea Scrolls
      • Midrash
      • Oral Torah and Talmud
      • Origins of Christian Anti-Jewish Attitudes
      • Byzantine Jews Before the Advent of Islam
      • Yannai
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      • Saadia Gaon
      • Saadia Gaon's Poem Telóf Tèlef
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      • Christian-Jewish Polemics
      • The Crusades and Maoz Tzur
      • Rashi
      • The Tosafists
      • Yehuda haLevi, Background and Thought
      • Yehuda haLevi, His Poetry and Journey
      • Ritual Murder and Blood Libel
      • The Ḥasidé Ashkenaz
      • Toledot Yeshu
      • Moses Maimonides, Philosopher
      • Moses Maimonides, Rabbi, Leader, Physician
      • Abraham Maimonides
      • Maimonidean Controversies
      • Host Desecration Libels
      • The Barcelona Disputation
      • Qabbala and the Zohar
      • The Cairo Geniza
      • The New Sephardi Identity
      • David Reubeni and Shelomo Molkho
      • Shabbatai Tzevi
      • Da Costa and Spinoza
      • Yiddish Texts
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      • The Jewish Enlightenment
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      • Could Jews Accept Jesus as a Prophet?
    • Jewish Thought >
      • Blessings and Challenges of Modern Orthodoxy
      • Could Jews Accept the Prophets ​of Christianity and Islam?
      • Could Jews Accept Jesus as a Prophet?
      • Why do Jews not Accept Jesus as the Messiah?
      • Why do Jews not Believe ​in the Prophet Muhammad?
      • Do Jews Follow the Sunna of Moses?
      • Saadia Gaon’s Solution to Anthropomorphisms in His Tafsîr
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  • OTHER RELIGIONS
    • Christianity >
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      • Jesus, the Jewish Messiah
      • Could Jews Accept Jesus as a Prophet?
      • Why do Jews not Accept Jesus as the Messiah?
      • The Barcelona Disputation
    • Islam >
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      • Torah and Qur'an >
        • Tafsîr Al-Tabarî
        • Tafsîr Al-Qurtubî
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      • Why do Jews not Believe ​in the Prophet Muhammad?
      • Do Jews Follow the Sunna of Moses?
    • Interreligious Dialogue
  • (DIS)COURSES
    • Biblical Hebrew
    • Medieval Jewish Literature >
      • Syllabus
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      • Prep Readers
      • Paragraph Assignment >
        • Assignment Explanation
        • Original Text
        • Guidelines for your Paragraph Assignments
      • Essay Assignment
      • Glossary
    • The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom >
      • Introduction
      • Chapter 1. Prior Legacies >
        • 1A. The Muslim Legacy
        • 1B. The Christian Legacy
        • 1C. The Jewish Legacy
      • Chapter 2. The Roman Catholic Church >
        • 2A. Theological Doctrine
        • 2B. Ecclesiastical Policies
        • 2C. Imagery of the Jews
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        • 2E. Looking Ahead
      • Chapter 3. The Older Jewries of the South >
        • 3A. Southern France
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        • 5B. Eastern Europe
    • Judeo-Arabic Philosophers
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        • Hardships That Generate Inspiration (2019)
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        • The Blessings of Monotheism (2013)
        • Rejecting Human Sacrifice (2012)
      • Yom Kippur >
        • Confession: Guilt Trip, or Acknowledgement? (2019)
        • Yom Kippur and Being Connected (2015)
        • Changing Your Brain (2014)
        • Grow Up and Become a Better Person (2012)
    • Other Presentations >
      • 370 Years Portuguese Jewry
      • Holocaust Commemoration
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Abraham’s Struggles and What We Can Learn From It (2014)


(A download option for this sermon in PDF can be found below.)

Today’s Torah portion is about one of the many trials and tests that Abraham had to go through.
After being without progeny well into old age, finally seeing living proof of Gods promise, things seem to get worse...    Abraham’s household does not witness the harmony that he himself stood for.  Something intolerable is going on between Abraham’s two sons, both of whom he loves so dearly.  Domestic violence… perhaps even (as some commentators believe) domestic abuse.
 
In a world of tribal warfare in which each tribe and nation champions their own god, Abraham was proclaiming monotheism, thus potentially showing a path towards unification and peace under one God and one God alone.  Abraham who had dedicated his entire life towards that dream, came to the painful realization that even a unification of individuals within one belief system, one higher, spiritually-inspired ideology…, is no guarantee for a more peaceful world.   While Abraham imagined, yes dreamed, longed, to provide a role model for a better world, his own household was torn apart by strife, bullying, intimidation, violence.

Then, what Sara had already realized, but what our father Abraham couldn’t see until God told him so, was a second dagger in his loving heart.  In modern-day terminology: Yishmael had to be placed out-of-home.  Similar to when a family has a child that falls into addiction beyond help.  The only way to save what’s left of the family, is to send that child into the street, or in this case into the desert.  We can only imagine the shame and the pain that befalls Abraham.  There is a sense of failure; his dream of providing a role model shatters, and in an honor-based society, the whole world sees that Abraham could not control his own son, and that his model for a peaceful world, based on one, unifying God does not even work in the first monotheistic family. 
 
After a long life of dedication and sacrifices, having reached a high age, it seems as if all had been for nothing.  No leaving a model for a better world, no lasting inspiration for a better society.  It reminds us perhaps of Moses’ last days, when after 40 years of toil and hardship, right before he dies, God tells him that soon after… the People of Israel will ignore his great mission and turn their backs on God.
 
No doubt, more than Abraham’s humiliation and crushed hope, he is worried about Ishmael.  The story continues, and we are informed of the boy’s suffering, nearly to the point of death…, and of his rescue through Divine intervention.  And, that there is a future for Ishmael too. But Abraham doesn’t know that.  Why not?  Why is Hagar informed of this promise for Ishmael, but not our father Abraham, who so needs to be consoled?  It must be part of his test.  Abraham is torn and worried, and focuses his last hope on Isaac.  That last piece of hope, we will read tomorrow, will be taken away also, until nothing is left of his expectations.  Bit by bit he is stripped away of his aspirations.
 
So why do we read this portion today?  Is it only a prelude to the reading of tomorrow, that of the central theme of Rosh haShana; the Binding of Isaac?  I think there is more to it.
 
Firstly, it seems relevant that we first look at the struggle and fate of the other son, Ishmael, the forefather of the Arabic people.  Before we focus on our own genesis, and on the hardship of our own forefather, it is good to also realize the struggles of our cousins and read about their destiny.  Especially in these terrible times (think only of what is happening in Syria), for us to internalize the message of today’s Torah reading, implies that we also empathize when sons and daughters of Ishmael are suffering as their forefather once did. 
 
But there is another message.  Right after this episode of devastation, when we can only imagine how depressed Abraham must have felt, he encounters the pagan king Abimelech.  And what does Abimelech say to him?  אֱלֺהִים עִמְּךָ בְּכֺל אֲשֶׁר-אַתָּה עֺשֶה “God is with you in all that you do!”  Right when Abraham felt that he had failed in his mission, this once hostile king now acknowledges the work that God does through Abraham. 
 
Even though today we pray for God’s blessings and we hope to succeed in all our endeavors and ideals, we need to realize that even when things seem to go awfully wrong, it doesn’t mean that we should despair, that our efforts are in vain and that they don’t have an impact.  They do.  Moses did not enter the Promised Land and he knew that his followers would soon enough turn their backs on his message.  But his work was not in vain.  When Abraham passed away, only very little of his ideals were materialized.  But even in our days, his mission is still having its effects. 
Sometimes it is far beyond our scope of perception, to see the impact that our actions and our prayers have.  

abrahams_struggles_and_what_lessons_we_can_learn_from_it__2014_.pdf
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  • Personal
    • Introduction
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • My Journey to Judaism
    • Testimonials
  • JUDAISM
    • Judaism - Introduction
    • Jewish History and Texts >
      • Paleo Hebrew
      • The Pentateuch
      • Stories of Creation
      • Stories of the Flood
      • J and E compared
      • Priestly Writings
      • Prophets of Israel and Judah
      • Biblical Poetry
      • Hellenism and the Septuagint
      • Flavius Josephus
      • The Dead Sea Scrolls
      • Midrash
      • Oral Torah and Talmud
      • Origins of Christian Anti-Jewish Attitudes
      • Byzantine Jews Before the Advent of Islam
      • Yannai
      • Jews Under Islam
      • Byzantine Jews After the Advent of Islam
      • Qara'ites
      • Saadia Gaon
      • Saadia Gaon's Poem Telóf Tèlef
      • Salmón ben Yeruḥám
      • Hasdai ibn Shaprut
      • Yoséf ibn Abiṭúr
      • Andalusian Poetry
      • Samuel haNagîd and Ibn Gabirol
      • Christian-Jewish Polemics
      • The Crusades and Maoz Tzur
      • Rashi
      • The Tosafists
      • Yehuda haLevi, Background and Thought
      • Yehuda haLevi, His Poetry and Journey
      • Ritual Murder and Blood Libel
      • The Ḥasidé Ashkenaz
      • Toledot Yeshu
      • Moses Maimonides, Philosopher
      • Moses Maimonides, Rabbi, Leader, Physician
      • Abraham Maimonides
      • Maimonidean Controversies
      • Host Desecration Libels
      • The Barcelona Disputation
      • Qabbala and the Zohar
      • The Cairo Geniza
      • The New Sephardi Identity
      • David Reubeni and Shelomo Molkho
      • Shabbatai Tzevi
      • Da Costa and Spinoza
      • Yiddish Texts
      • Ḥasidism
      • The Jewish Enlightenment
      • Modern Jewish Thinkers
      • Could Jews Accept Jesus as a Prophet?
    • Jewish Thought >
      • Blessings and Challenges of Modern Orthodoxy
      • Could Jews Accept the Prophets ​of Christianity and Islam?
      • Could Jews Accept Jesus as a Prophet?
      • Why do Jews not Accept Jesus as the Messiah?
      • Why do Jews not Believe ​in the Prophet Muhammad?
      • Do Jews Follow the Sunna of Moses?
      • Saadia Gaon’s Solution to Anthropomorphisms in His Tafsîr
    • Jewish Law >
      • A Mikwèh in Uganda
      • Shabbat Distance
  • Scripture
    • Torah - Pentateuch >
      • Genesis
      • Exodus
      • Leviticus
      • Numbers
      • Deuteronomy
    • Nebi'im - Prophets >
      • Joshua
      • 1 Samuel
      • Isaiah
      • Jeremiah
      • Jonah
      • Zekharyah
    • Ketubim - Further Scriptures >
      • Tehillim - Psalms
      • Ruth
      • Lamentations
      • Esther
  • Liturgy
    • Daily Prayers >
      • Morning Prayers
      • Afternoon Prayers
      • Evening Prayers
    • Shabbat >
      • Shabbat Eve Prayers
      • Shabbat Eve at Home
      • Shabbat Morning
      • Shabbat Afternoon
      • End of Shabbat (Saturday Evening)
    • Rosh Ḥodesh (New Moon)
    • Shabbat Rosh Ḥodesh >
      • Eve of Shabbat Rosh Ḥodesh
    • Shabbat Zakhor
    • Purim
    • Passover/Pesach >
      • Eve of Passover Prayers
      • Passover Night at Home
      • First Day of Passover
      • Second Day of Passover
      • Intermediate Days of Passover
      • Eve of Shabbat Hol haMo'ed Pesach
      • Seventh Day of Passover
      • Eighth Day of Passover
    • Omer Counting
    • Shabu'oth >
      • The Eve of Shabu'oth
      • First Day of Shabu'oth
      • Second Day of Shabu'oth
    • Tish'a beAbh Evening Service
    • The Month of Elul
    • Rosh haShana (New Year) >
      • Rosh haShana Eve in Synagogue
      • Rosh haShana Eve at Home
      • Morning Service First Day
      • Morning Service Second Day
    • Shabbat Teshubá
    • Yom Kippur
    • Sukkot (Festival of Booths) >
      • Prayers for the Eve of Sukkot
      • ​Meals and Festivities in the Sukka
      • First Day of Sukkot
      • Eve of Shabbat Ḥol haMo'ed Sukkot
    • Sheminí ʻAṣèreth
    • Simḥàt Torah
    • Ḥanukka >
      • Ḥanukka - History, Meaning, Customs
      • Eve of Shabbat Ḥanukka
      • Morning Service of Shabbat Ḥanukka
      • Eve of Shabbat Rosh Ḥodesh Ṭébét
  • OTHER RELIGIONS
    • Christianity >
      • Christianity - Introduction
      • Jesus, the Jewish Messiah
      • Could Jews Accept Jesus as a Prophet?
      • Why do Jews not Accept Jesus as the Messiah?
      • The Barcelona Disputation
    • Islam >
      • Islam - Introduction
      • Islamic Dietary Laws
      • Torah and Qur'an >
        • Tafsîr Al-Tabarî
        • Tafsîr Al-Qurtubî
        • Tafsîr Al-Mîzān
      • Why do Jews not Believe ​in the Prophet Muhammad?
      • Do Jews Follow the Sunna of Moses?
    • Interreligious Dialogue
  • (DIS)COURSES
    • Biblical Hebrew
    • Medieval Jewish Literature >
      • Syllabus
      • Course Classes
      • Prep Readers
      • Paragraph Assignment >
        • Assignment Explanation
        • Original Text
        • Guidelines for your Paragraph Assignments
      • Essay Assignment
      • Glossary
    • The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom >
      • Introduction
      • Chapter 1. Prior Legacies >
        • 1A. The Muslim Legacy
        • 1B. The Christian Legacy
        • 1C. The Jewish Legacy
      • Chapter 2. The Roman Catholic Church >
        • 2A. Theological Doctrine
        • 2B. Ecclesiastical Policies
        • 2C. Imagery of the Jews
        • 2D. Cultural Creativity
        • 2E. Looking Ahead
      • Chapter 3. The Older Jewries of the South >
        • 3A. Southern France
        • 3B. Christian Spain
        • 3C. Italy and Sicily
      • Chapter 4. Newer Jewries of the North . I >
        • 4A. Northern France
        • 4B. England
      • Chapter 5. Germany and Eastern Europe >
        • 5A. Germany
        • 5B. Eastern Europe
    • Judeo-Arabic Philosophers
    • Sermons >
      • Rosh haShana >
        • Hardships That Generate Inspiration (2019)
        • Rosh haShana Meditation (2018)
        • Abraham’s Struggles and What We Can Learn From It (2014)
        • The Blessings of Monotheism (2013)
        • Rejecting Human Sacrifice (2012)
      • Yom Kippur >
        • Confession: Guilt Trip, or Acknowledgement? (2019)
        • Yom Kippur and Being Connected (2015)
        • Changing Your Brain (2014)
        • Grow Up and Become a Better Person (2012)
    • Other Presentations >
      • 370 Years Portuguese Jewry
      • Holocaust Commemoration
  • OTHER LANGUAGES
    • עברית ישראלית עכשווית
    • عربي
    • فارسي
    • Bahasa Indonesia >
      • Pembacaan Kitab Suci
      • Liturgi Yahudi
    • Deutsch
    • Español >
      • Sagrada Escritura
      • Liturgia
    • Français >
      • Écriture
      • Liturgie
    • Igbo
    • Italiano
    • Kiswahili
    • Luganda
    • Nederlands >
      • Tanach (Bijbel) >
        • Thora >
          • Genesis
          • Exodus
        • Profeten
        • Geschriften >
          • Psalmen
          • Ruth
          • Klaagliederen
          • Esther
      • Liturgie >
        • Daily Prayers
        • Sjabbat Avonddienst
        • Sjabbatavond Thuis
        • Sjabbat Ochtenddienst
        • Sjabbatochtend
        • Poeriem
        • Pesach
        • Omertelling
        • Sjaboe'ot
        • Tisj'a be-Ab
        • Rosj haSjana Avonddienst
        • Rosj haSjana Ochtenddienst
        • Kipoer
        • Soekot
        • Chanoeka
      • Joodse Geschiedenis
    • Português >
      • Sagrada Escritura
      • Liturgia
      • História e Literatura Judaica >
        • Textos Paleo-Hebraicos
        • O Pentateuco
        • Histórias da Criação
        • Histórias do Dilúvio
        • J e E Comparados
        • Profetas de Israel e Judá
        • Escritos Sacerdotais
        • Poesia Bíblica
        • Helenismo e a Septuaginta
  • UGANDA
    • Pesach in Uganda
  • Contact