A Mother’s Intuition
Although the Akeidat Yitzchak ranks as the most challenging and emotional test of Avraham’s life, banning his other son, Yishmael, by sending him away from home caused Avraham great emotional distress. Because of the level of difficulty in following through with Sarah’s demand, HaShem had to intervene and instruct him to comply.
At a glance, Sarah’s concern for Yitzchak’s well being, being raised in the same home with a half-brother a few years older seemed justified. The Torah tells us that Yishmael was a young man who participated in the worst behaviors. She understood the dictum “separate from an evil neighbor” because of the potentially negative influence. She saw the great potential of Yitzchak and did not want to take the chance of his growing up in close proximity to Yishmael.
However, upon a closer look at the situation, questions arise as to Sarah’s seemingly harsh demand upon her husband. Perhaps Avraham should have been brought into the decision, instead of receiving a fete accompli. Avraham most likely had a keen understanding of Yishmael and could have shed light on his current behaviors and future direction in life. In fact, Chazal tell us that Yishmael did teshuva and he remained a beloved son to Avraham. Also, it appears that Sarah acted out of character. The Torah tells us that she and her husband were highly successful in kiruv by drawing large throngs of all types of people to the ways of HaShem. Why wasn’t there an attempt to work with the teenager for a few years? After all, Yitzchak was just a baby not to be immediately subjected to Yishmael’s lifestyle.
We can better understand Sarah’s perspective and subsequent demand upon Avraham through the following two points. First, we can learn from the Ben Sorer Umoreh, the rebellious youth that the Torah considers to be someone who deserves the death penalty even though he was just thirteen years old. Although he never committed a capital offense, he received the death penalty because of his nature, it was clear that he was likely to commit murder. As well, It was clear that he was not able to change soon enough to avoid committing a heinous crime. The same can be said about Yishmael, who the Torah calls a Pereh Adam-a savage wild man. Mefarshim tell us that we are to understand him not as a man with savage tendencies but as a Pereh-savage who happens to be a man. In other words, because of the unusual grammatical structure that the adjective-Pereh precedes the noun-Adam, it needs to be understood that Pereh is not an adjective but also a noun. Therefore, Yishmael was not savage like; he was a savage to his core. Even if he would eventually repent from his horrible crimes, he was never going to shake off whom he truly was.
The other important consideration is the development of the ruchniut in a child. We know that children’s development is multi-faceted, physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, etc. The spiritual seems to be the most fragile aspect of the human because it refers to the development of the neshama, his eternal component. As such, nurturing its development and protecting it from negative influences from the earliest moments of life are critical.
Sarah understood that her son would be considered in the eyes of HaShem as a korban olah, the most Holy of all korbanot. As such, she made sure that Yitzchak was well protected from birth. This calculation was only something that Mother Sarah could consider, a mother’s perspective.
The mothers of Israel need to emulate Sarah Imeinu in order to ensure that their children are insulated from the Yishmael/Edom influences that run rampant in our world. It's only with a Sarah like outlook can the purity of the neshamot of our children be guaranteed.
Shabbat Shalom