Abraham's Otherness

In Israel, surrounded by history, surrounded by archeology, everyone asks whether there is historical evidence for biblical events. Last night, as we sat around the Shabbat dinner table, someone raised the question if there were historical evidence of the life of King David. The excavations deep below Ir David, the City of David, have found found Hezekiah's tunnel mentioned in Kings II, but is there any specific reference to David himself?

What about Abraham? What evidence is there for the existence of the patriarch Abraham? On the plane ride over here, I read Bruce Feiler's Abraham, an enormously unsatisfying book. And I've posted previously how it's now beside the point whether there is evidence of a man named Abraham outside of what we're told in Genesis. The patriarch Abraham who appears in Genesis is the only person we care about. In searching for this ancient man, Feiler talks with, and quotes from a variety of people, scholars, clergy, people he meets traveling through Israel, so that his book contains nuggets of wisdom, often randomly. From quoting enough voices and sources, Feiler stumbles occasionally over the enormous impact Abraham had on Western thought. The problem, though, with Feiler is that instead of really searching for Abraham, he uses Abraham as a mere tool in his personal search for universal peace. As a result, the significance of Abraham's unique contributions becomes watered down to a collection of platitudes. But really, let's never mind Feiler; at least he made me think some more about Abraham.

Right at this moment, surrounded by family and friends in Modi'in, I know that I, as well as my family and friends, are surrounded by hostility in this region of the world. Israel is different from the rest of the middle east, and not just because of religion. It's a democratic state in a region dominated by autocratic regimes. It makes a sincere effort to respect and uphold minority rights. On a recent visit, we went to Ben Gurion University in the Negev, and I was struck by the number of female students in head scarves. Is there some university in the middle east, outside of Israel, where Jewish kids in kippot are a visible minority? Even France can't cope with girls in head scarves. And on a prior visit, I went to the Israeli Supreme Court, and observed an argument before a panel of three judges, one of whom was Arab, and one of whom was a woman. The case involved a Palestinian family seeking compensation from the government for damage to their property. Is there a comparable court anywhere else in the Mideast? I know Israel isn't perfect, and that there are racist beliefs that infect and degrade society. But at least the racism isn't institutionalized, or authorized by the force of law. At least the country's institutions attempt to rectify, and provide redress for inequality and bias. And although Israel was founded as a Jewish state, and remains a Jewish state, it's not a theocracy. As powerful politically as the religious right has become, the Rabbis still don't run the country.

Many Jews are troubled by the concept of the "chosen people". The idea that God selected the Jews, whether to be his messenger, or for some special treatment in his eyes, offends some. But from my perspective, the key here, harking back to Abraham, is not chosenness, but otherness. Abraham, when he's still Abram, is called an Ivri. (Genesis 14:13) That word is the root of the word for Hebrew, and it's apparently derived from the term aver , "the other side". In Abraham's time, his otherness was clearly a virtue - regardless of whether we consider Abraham's theological perspective , rejecting paganism; or his ethical perspective, rejecting human sacrifice; or his sense of justice, rejecting collective guilt.

And it remains the same in today's world, where Israel's otherness is equally a virtue. Everyone wants to be loved, and it would be nice, once in a while, for a few more U.N. states to side with Israel. But really, when you consider the nature and character and conduct of these other states, how important is it to be loved by tyrants? The fact that an open secular society, with gender equality, is anathema to the theocratic regimes in this region should hardly surprise anyone. Abraham's chosenness, and Abraham's otherness served to separate him and his followers from the savage world in which he dwelt. It's no different today.