Ishmael on the Border: Rabbinic Portrayals of the First Arab

Explores rabbinic views of Ishmael, the biblical figure seen as the first Arab.

Ishmael on the Border is an in-depth study of the rabbinic treatment of Abraham's firstborn son, Ishmael. This book examines Ishmael's conflicted portrayal over a thousand-year period and traces the shifts and nuances in his representation within the Jewish tradition before and after the emergence of Islam.

In classical rabbinic texts, Ishmael is depicted in a variety of ways. By examining the biblical account of ...