(RNS) The shared story of the binding of Isaac can be a story of hope for peace between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East and across the globe.

On the first day of Rosh Hashana, Jews read a Torah portion centered around the birth of Isaac and the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael from Abraham's camp. On the second day, we read about the ...

Why Isaac, not Ishmael? Why Jacob, not Esau? These are among the most searing questions in the whole of Judaism.

Isaac and Ishmael are reunited at their father’s funeral, a sign that Ishmael has changed his ways and matured (according to the Babylonian Talmud).

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Ishmael and Isaac, according to the account of their lives in Genesis, were together when they buried their father Abraham.

With each flare up of hostilities in the Middle East, we grow more pessimistic and weary about any long-term resolution of the conflict.

The Torah records Ishmael’s age at the time of his death solely so that we can calibrate the chronology of Abraham’s spiritual heirs – Isaac and his descendants.

Ishmael had repented of his past deeds. Even though God knew that his descendants, the Arabs, would torment Isaac’s children, the Jews, He chose to save Ishmael.

Instead, Isaac and Ishmael were able to escape their mothers’ conflict and establish a new generation — two peoples — untouched by the strife of the previous one.