Bad Influence

After Sara and Avraham were finally blessed with a son, they tried to raise their precious son, in the best possible way.

Sara soon realized that Yitzchak’s older brother, Yishmael, was a very bad influence on him. There was a fourteen year gap between them, and the older brother was far from spiritual.

The Torah hints to this when it said that Sara observed the son of Hagar the Egyptian, playing. Rashi tells us that “playing,” or מצחק, meant that he was involved with idol worship. The same word, מצחק, was used when the Jewish people worshipped the Golden Calf.

The Midrash also tells us how Yishmael boasted regularly to his little brother, that he was superior to him. He went through circumcision at age thirteen, while Yitzchak was circumcised at eight days old.

Sara was much more aware of the potential damage to Yitzchak, by having Hagar’s son around. He was not happy when Sara demanded that Hagar and Yishmael be banished from their home. Hashem had to reassure Avraham that he should trust his wife’s intuition. Some said that her prophecy was even higher than her husband’s.

Raising children today is extremely challenging today. There are so many influences that can take them off the Derech. It is difficult to shelter them completely from the outside world. There are much greater challenges than having one half brother who was a bad influence. As parents, we must be diligent at making the choices easier for our children. It is a huge task, and we must constantly pray that they will make good friends, and make the proper choices.

We can learn a great deal from the story presented in the Torah about Yitzchak and Yishmael. We want our children growing up like Yitzchak, and definitely not like Yishmael.