“Saracen” is a name we find in material on the Crusades referring to the Muslim enemy. And Wikipedia provides the following information: “Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to people who inhabited the deserts near the Roman province of Syria who were distinct from Arabs. The term was later applied to Arab peoples, and by the time of European chroniclers during the time of the Crusades came to be synonymous with Muslim.”

One school of thought says that the term “Saracen” comes from the Greek Σαρακηνός… in Ptolemy’s Geography, the Sarakenoi people refers to those living in the north-western Arabian peninsula, distinct from Arabs. The term spread into Western Europe through the Byzantines and Crusaders. After the rise of Islam, and especially at the time of the Crusades, its usage was extended to refer to all Muslims…”

Now check this out: “In Christian writing, the name was interpreted to mean ‘those empty of Sarah’ or ‘not from Sarah’ (See…John of Damascus. Both Christians and Muslims adopted the extra-biblical Jewish tradition that Arabs descended from Hagar’s son Ishmael. Christians also called them the Hagarenes (Ἀγαρηνοί) or Ishmaelites.”

Indeed. That is one way to describe the Arabs: “not of Sarah.” Of the seed of Avraham, but not of Sarah, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Avraham ben Terach was, for want of a better word, the greatest philosopher in human history and arguably the greatest scientist as well, who preceded Albert Einstein by thousands of years. When Avraham looked up at Creation, he understood – like an Einstein who said “G-d does not play dice with the universe” (no Darwinian he) – that all of Creation was one and therefore was created by One. Avraham against the whole world that believed in thousands of gods said, “No. There is only One.” Avraham saw meaning and order and intelligence in life. He was the perfect man of faith who let the G-d he heard lead him with total faith because G-d is good and wants the best for him.

Avraham ben Terach brought eight sons into this world but only one was the chosen, the one chosen to bear his spiritual legacy.

He had these eight sons with three different women, and what distinguishes the chosen one was his mother, his father’s legitimate wife.

Six sons came from a woman named Ketura after Sarah had passed, and the Midrash teaches she was Hagar who reformed herself, did teshuva. And so too would her son eventually reform himself and do teshuva.

But in the meantime – history – until the miraculous end times, the world has to confront his second son who came from Avraham and Sarah.

Avraham’s first son was Ishmael who came from Hagar daughter of Egypt son of Ham, and so the major difference between Ishmael and Yitzhak son of Sarah was just that: they had different mothers. Same father. Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch zatsal in 19th century Germany described beautifully how different these two women were and consequently their sons.

So there was more rioting today, and yesterday rioting. It has been a few years since a cohort of teenage Saracens has been throwing stones like this at us Jews. Burning tires, cat-and-mouse games with the Border Police and army, keffiyas around their faces.

And course in the general rising of temperature precipitated by the Muslim mujahid in the White House and his Wellesley girl sidekick attacking Al-Yahud, the “natives” have taken this as a signal to riot again…