Program Particulars
*Times denoted refer to web version of audio

(01:31–04:11) Music: "The Multiples of One" from Awakening, performed by Joseph Curiale

(01:41) Burial Place of Abraham
Located near Hebron (called Al-Khalil in modern Arabic), a city southwest of Jerusalem, the Cave of Machpelah, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, is believed to be the burial ground of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah. The site is regarded as holy by Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Above the cave stands the shrine Haram el-Khalil, a stone structure measuring 200 feet long by 120 feet wide and 50 to 60 feet high. Since the "Six Day War" in 1967, it has served as a mosque and a synagogue.

(02:19) Reading from the Book of Genesis
Between 2100 to 1500 BCE, it is written that Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans, southeast of present-day Baghdad. With his father Terah and extended family, Abram migrated to Haran, a desert outpost in Turkey. It was there that the Old Testament reports that God spoke to him.

The extended version of the passage read during the show was taken from the book of Genesis, chapter 12, verses 1-5, of Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures:

The Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your native land and from your father's house to the land that I will show you.

I will make of you a great nation,
And I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you
And curse him that curses you;
And all the families of the earth
Shall bless themselves by you."

Abram went forth as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan.

(04:12–04:25) Music: "The Cave: Act 1 (Part VIII)" from Works: 1965-1995, performed by Steve Reich

(04:21–04:36) Music: "Rocka My Soul," performed by Joe Carter

(04:35–04:59) Music: "The Cave: Act 2 (Part I)" from Works: 1965-1995, performed by Steve Reich

(05:35) Reference to Har Homah
In the late 1990s, the Israeli government approved a housing development on a hill outside Jerusalem called Har Homah, in Hebrew, and Jabel Abou Ghneim, in Arabic, for Jewish citizens. With this settlement, the Arab-inhabited East Jerusalem and Bethlehem was broken up, which added to Palestinian fear that Israelis would form a ring around the Holy City.

(06:25) Reference to Bar Mitzvah
A bar mitzvah, translated as "son of the commandment" in Hebrew, is a ceremony held in a synagogue in which a 13-year-old Jewish boy reaches the status of a man. Although a bar mitzva is not a confirmation of faith, it signifies that the young man now has religious and ethical obligations.

(07:43) Book Covered by Time Magazine
The cover story for the September 30, 2002 edition of Time featured the history of Abraham. In "Writing a New Book of Abraham," Feiler explains why he believes Abraham's legacy can unite the three monotheistic religions.

(11:12–11:42) Music: "Blue Flame" from Blue Flame, performed by Simon Shaheen And Qantara

(14:21–15:11) Music: "Highway 61 Revisited" from Highway 61 Revisited, written and performed by Bob Dylan
Read and listen to the lyrics of Dylan's original version of "Highway 61 Revisited" on the next page.

(15:10–15:40) Music: "Aunt Hagar's Blues" from Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy, performed by Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars
Read and listen to the lyrics of Armstrong's rendition of "Aunt Hagar's Blues" on the next page.

(15:38–17:43) Music: "Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, Op. 51" from Benjamin Britten: The Five Canticles & 3 Purcell Realisations, performed by Anthony Rolfe Johnson et al.
Written in 1952, Britten adapted text from medieval language of the Chester Miracle Plays rather than the authorized version of Bible. During this canticle, Britten portrays the most dramatic moment in the life of Abraham as recounted in Genesis 22, the binding and near sacrifice of his beloved son Isaac in obedience to God.

During this two-person opera, one singer assumes the role of Abraham while the other takes that of Isaac. Through the union (see homophony) of the two singers, God's voice emerges as if it were a third solo singer. They act out the ancient story: the father taking his son to Mount Moriah, building an altar where Abraham binds Isaac and after heartbreaking farewells, raises his knife to slay him before God intervenes at the moment of sacrifice.

Read and listen to the lyrics of Britten's composition of "Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, Op. 51" on the next page.

(19:18) Reference to Historical Eras
The Hasmonean era occurred during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE during which the Maccabees, a prominent Jewish family, aided in the restoration of Jewish political and religious life.

(21:12–22:09) Music: "Dance Mediterranea" from Blue Flame, performed by Simon Shaheen And Qantara

(22:10–23:08) Music: "Silk Tears" from Blue Flame, performed by Simon Shaheen And Qantara

(24:10) Reading from Muslim Text
The passage below, read by Omid Safi during the show, was excerpted from The Making of the Last Prophet: A Reconstruction of the Earliest Biography of Muhammad by Gordon Darnell Newby. In his book, Newby documents that the first biography of Prophet Muhammad was written as a two-volume work. The no longer extant first volume covered the life of all the prophets—from Adam to Jesus—and the second volume covered the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

Islamic scholars point out that in order for Muslims to understand the life of the Prophet Muhammad they must first familiarize themselves with the life stories of the previous prophets. Newby reconstructs the first volume using a number of sources. The quote originally appears in the first volume in which the text supposes it was Ishmael about to be sacrificed and imagines what was going through his mind:

Oh, my father, if you desire my sacrifice, nothing is imposed on you from me. Tie me in a firm bond because I don't think that I'll be able to endure it when I feel death's touch. When you lay me down to sacrifice me, lay me down on my face. Don't put me down on my side because I'm afraid that if you look at my face you will turn soft and abandon the command of God.

(24:49) Reading from the Hebrew Bible
When Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. It was then, at the request of Sarah, that Ishmael's early life and the fate of his mother, Hagar, would become tumultuous. The extended version of the passage read during the show was taken from the book of Genesis, chapter 21, verses 9-21, of Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures:

Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing. She said to Abraham, "Cast out that slave-woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." The matter distressed Abraham greatly, for it concerned a son of his. But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed over the boy or your slave; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued for you. As for the son of the slave-woman, I will make a nation of him, too, for he is your seed."

Early next morning, Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away. And she wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water was gone from the skin, she left the child under one of the bushes, and went and sat down at a distance, a bowshot away; for she thought, "Let me not look on as the child dies." And sitting thus afar, she burst into tears.

God heard the cry of the boy, and an angel of god called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and let the boy drink. God was with the boy and he grew up; he dwelt in the wilderness and became a bowman. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

(25:29–26:24) Music: "Sarah Was Ninety Years Old" from Pärt: Miserere, composed by Arvo Pärt

(27:50) Story of Hagar Naming God
Feiler notes that two important events occur during these events. God promises Hagar a great lineage of descendants in much the same way as he does for Abraham. And he also says that Hagar is "the only person in the Hebrew Bible to ever speak and name God directly."

The following passage was excerpted from the book of Genesis, chapter 16, verses 7-16, of Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures:

An angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, and said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" And she said, "I am running away from my mistress Sarai."

And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Go back to your mistress, and submit to her harsh treatment." And the angel of the Lord said to her,

"I will greatly increase your offspring,
And they shall be too many to count."

The angel of the Lord said to her further,

"Behold, you are with child
And shall bear a son;
You shall call him Ishmael,
For the Lord has paid heed to your suffering.
He shall be a wild ass of a man;
His hand against everyone,
And everyone's hand against him;
He shall dwell alongside of all his kinsmen."

And she called the Lord who spoke to her, "You Are El-roi," by which she meant, "Have I not gone on seeing after He saw me!" Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it is between Kadesh and Bered.—Hagar bore a son to Abram, and Abram gave the son that Hagar bore him the name Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

(30:53–32:00) Music: "Sarah Was Ninety Years Old" from Pärt: Miserere, composed by Arvo Pärt

(35:11–36:39) Music: "Tales from the Ney" from Sufi Music of Turkey, performed by Kudsi and Suleyman Erguner

(35:19) Reading of Muslim Prayer
This passage appears in the Muslim devotional text Dala'il al-Khayrat, translated as "that which brings blessings." It is a Moroccan devotional text from the 14th century that is a collection of invocations and blessings upon all the prophets, from Adam to Muhammad. The following traditional prayer was read by Omid Safi:

Oh, our Lord, bless Mohammed and his family as you blessed Abraham. Send your spiritual power upon Mohammed and upon the family of Mohammed as you sent your spiritual power upon the family of Abraham. In this universe and in all universes, indeed you are praiseworthy and noble.

(37:12) Reading of Abraham's Prayer
One of two major Islamic celebrations, the Hajj is an annual pilgrimage to Mecca that lasts a week and takes place during the Islamic month of DhulHijjah. The Hajj consists of several ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of prophet Abraham and his family, which included Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his elder son, Ishmael, in response to God's command.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam; it is considered essential to make the pilgrimage once in each Muslim's lifetime. Ishmael is considered to be the ancestor of all Muslims. And according to the Qur'an's account of Abraham's life, he once made a trip to visit Ishmael'il in what is now Saudi Arabia, and there he laid the foundation of the holy mosque of Mecca.

The following text, read by Omid Safi, is the prayer Abraham is said to have offered at the mosque in Mecca:

Oh, my Lord, make this a city of peace and feed its people, give sustenance to its people.

(39:15) Reference to Fundamentalism and Halevi
In Speaking of Faith's "The Power of Fundamentalism," host Krista Tippett speaks with Yossi Klein Halevi and two other former fundamentalists. The show explores the appeal of fundamentalism in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, as experienced from the inside. Three accomplished men, who were religious extremists at one time in their lives, provide revealing insight into the spiritual and cultural dimensions of fundamentalism. They also discuss religious impulses which counter the fundamentalist world view and helped them break free.

(44:07–45:28) Music: "The Cave: Act 2 (Part II)" from Works: 1965-1995, performed by Steve Reich
Composer Steve Reich collaborated with his wife, video artist Beryl Korot, to create the The Cave, a minimal theatrical piece exploring the Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and Isaac. Originally, the multimedia production consisted of five screens and eighteen musicians with edited documentary video footage timed with live and sampled music.

The excerpted portion synchronizes music with Muslim, Christian, and Jewish voices reciting texts and reflections on the Abrahamic story.

(45:26) Reference to Brad Hirschfield
Brad Hirschfield is a modern orthodox rabbi and Vice President of The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, which is a think tank, leadership training institute, and resource center located in New York City.

(46:09) Reference to Kabbalah Movement
The term Kabbalah includes the teachings of Jewish mystics that have evolved since the building of the second Temple in 538 BCE. In particular, kabbalistic teachings draw on the forms that evolved during the Middle Ages, such as the awareness of the transcendence of God and his immanent presence within each person.

The Zohar — a Hebrew word that means "splendor" — is widely considered the most important work of Jewish mysticism. It is a mystical commentary on the Torah, written in Aramaic and Hebrew. It contains a Kabbalistic discussion of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, sin, redemption, good and evil, and related topics.

(49:51–52:54) Music: "Old and Lost Rivers'" from Classical Dreams: Music to Inspire, performed by the Houston Symphony Orchestra

(50:36) Reading from Genesis
The following passage read during the show was taken from the book of Genesis, chapter 25, verses 7-10, of Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures:

This was the total span of Abraham's' life: one hundred and seventy-five years. And Abraham breathed his last, dying at a good ripe age, old and contented; and he was gathered to his kin. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites; there Abraham was buried and Sarah his wife.