ISBN 0380977761So he looked for traces of Abraham in the histories preserved by the three faiths. Calculating from the stories told in each generation for each of the three faiths, Feiler comes up with a possible total of 240 Abrahams.
However, Feiler’s quest is really for relationship with a freshly imagined Abraham who can bring his warring children into harmonious faith in the One God they all claim to serve. At one point without irony he reminds us that Genesis 25:9 reports that together Abraham’s “sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah.” Traveling the 25 miles from Jerusalem to Hebron in a taxi driven by a Palestinian, Feiler is told that sharpshooters only aim for Jews, but by that time he has learned to accept his own fate with the calm of the Muslim.
This is a strictly personal journey; one man on a quest, not responsible for the safety of wife or children. Feiler talks with leaders of the three religions and reports the common elements of their understandings of an ancestor who went out not knowing the precise destination of his journey. Reflecting on Feiler’s journey, I recalled experiences with strangers in foreign lands and the faith of the Psalmist who could say, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
