Program Particulars
*Times denoted refer to web version of audio

(01:15) Conflict Is a Family Feud
Krista has spoken with Palestinians and Israelis who experience the conflict in the Holy Land in their daily lives. For greater understanding from a firsthand perspective, we recommend listening to two Speaking of Faith programs: "No More Taking Sides" with the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed by a Palestinian sniper and a Palestinian whose brother was shot by Israeli soldiers, and the two-part series, "Two Narratives: Reflections on the Israeli-Palestinian Present.

(01:49–03:05) Music Element
"The Multiples of One"
from Awakening,
performed by Joseph Curiale

(02:24) Reading from the Book of Genesis
Between 2100 and 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 what is now Turkey. It was there that the Old Testament reports that God spoke to him.

Following is an extended version from the book of Genesis, chapter 12, verses 1-5 excerpted from 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.

(03:03–03:48) Music Element
"Shabbes"
from Klezmer Soul,
performed by Kol Simcha

(03:47–05:28) Music Element
"Tales from the Ney"
from Sufi Music of Turkey,
performed by Kudsi and Suleyman Erguner

(04:52) 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. This settlement split the Arab-inhabited East Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Palestinians feared that Israelis would form a ring around the Holy City.

(05:30) 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 mitzvah is not a confirmation of faith, it signifies that the young man now has religious and ethical obligations.

(07:34) Reference to September 11, 2001 Bombings
Over the past five years, Krista has interviewed Muslims from a range of backgrounds and ideas. Following are links to Speaking of Faith programs with Muslim guests:

» The Face of the Prophet: Cartoons and Chasm — Vincent Cornell
» The Meaning of Faith — Omid Safi
» Muslim Women and Other Misunderstandings — Leila Ahmed
» The Other Religious America in Election 2004 — Muqtedar Khan
» A Perspective on Islam in Iraq — Ahmed H al-Rahim
» The Power of Fundamentalism — Khaled Abou El Fadl
» The Problem of Evil — Rami Nashashibi
» Progressive Islam in America — Kecia Ali, Omid Safi, Michael Wolfe, and Rasheeda Muhammad
» Religion and Our World in Crisis — Khaled Abou El Fadl
» Religious Passion, Pluralism, and the Young — Eboo Patel
» Serving Country, Serving Allah — Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
» The Spiritual Fallout of 9/11 — Ingrid Mattson
» The Spirit of Islam — Omid Safi, Seemi Ghazi
» Two Narratives: Reflections on the Israeli-Palestinian Present — Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Sami Adwan
» Violence and Crisis in Islam — Vincent Cornell
» Women, Marriage, and Religion — Kecia Ali

(08:13) Reference to "Kumbaya"
The origins of the popularized song "Kumbaya" often sung around a campfire are in dispute. Some claim a New York preacher made up the song in the 1930s, but many ethnomusicologists believe the song was composed as an African-American spiritual during slavery in the United States. The Gullah, who spoke a Creole dialect limited to areas off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, probably meant "Come by Here" in their dialect.

(08:30) Archaeological Evidence Verifying the Story of Genesis
Over the years, many people have attempted to verify the historical accuracy of scriptural texts, particularly the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, using archaeological evidence. The debate over claiming archaeological support for the texts or dismissing them as historically accurate is lively and controversial. Some Christians and Jews allow for complex and seemingly contradictory stories that take on a more figurative sense. But, others such as Evangelical Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses believe in the inerrancy of the Bible and read scripture more literally. In his book, Walking the Bible, Feiler visits the archaeological sites mentioned in the Bible in order to gain a greater understanding of the figures and the geography they inhabited.

(09:15) Reference to Jewish Commentaries
Rabbinical commentary, called midrash, can be difficult to pin down to a specific definition. Midrash is a central part of Jewish life and rabbinic practice, an intellectually lively and creative approach to searching for new and deeper meanings in biblical texts. Most formally, midrash refers to a category of literature of classical rabbinical commentary on each of the five volumes of the Torah.

In The Particulars of Rapture, Avivah Zornberg, a scholar of Torah and rabbinic literature, offers a working definition of midrash with the caveat that the term remains "essentially undefined":

Midrash, derived from the root darash, "to seek out" or "to inquire," is a term used in rabbinic literature for the interpretive study of the Bible. The word is used in two related senses: first, to refer to the results of that interpretive exegesis; and, second, to describe the literary compilations in which the original interpretations, many of them first delivered and transmitted orally, were eventually collected.

(09:53–10:26) Music Element
"Dance Mediterranea"
from Blue Flame,
performed by Simon Shaheen

(10:27) The Exodus Story
During the eight days of Passover, Jews remember and reenact the Exodus story. The Exodus is a key biblical story of suffering and deliverance in which the prophet Moses leads the Hebrews out of captivity in Egypt and returns them to the Holy Land. During the tumultuous journey, Moses makes a covenant with God in which his people will keep God's laws and commandments and, in return, God makes the Hebrews his chosen people.

For a more in-depth exploration of the exodus story, listen to the Speaking of Faith program, "Exodus, Cargo of Hidden Stories" with Avivah Zornberg, a scholar of Torah and rabbinic literature.

(11:45) Story of Abraham in Islam
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. In The Making of the Last Prophet: A Reconstruction of the Earliest Biography of Muhammad, Gordon Darnell 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.

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 — rather than Isaac as it's written in the Hebrew Bible — 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.

(12:46–16:05) Music Element
"Lullaby for Clarinet + Piano"
from Klezmer Soul,
performed by Kol Simcha

(13:25) Reading from Genesis 22 of the Tanakh
One of the most violent, puzzling, and memorable chapters of Abraham's story is found in the 22nd chapter of Genesis. Christians commonly refer to it as the sacrifice of Isaac; Jews know it as the binding of Isaac. The following passage is excerpted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, a contemporary Jewish translation of the Hebrew text:

Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test. He said to him, "Abraham," and he answered, "Here I am." And He said, "Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you." So early next morning, Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his servants, "You stay here with the ass. The boy and I will go up there; we will worship and we will return to you."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. He himself took the firestone and the knife; and the two walked off together. Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he answered, "Yes, my son." And he said, "Here are the firestone and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?" And Abraham said, "God will see to the sheep for His burnt offering, my son." And the two of them walked on together.

They arrived at the place of which God had told him. Abraham built an altar there; he laid out the wood; he bound his son Isaac; he laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son. Then an angel of the Lord called to him from heaven: "Abraham! Abraham!" And he answered, "Here I am." And he said, "Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me."

(16:49) 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. In the Speaking of Faith program, "Hanukkah, and a Rediscovery of Jewish Customs," author Scott-Martin Kosofsky tells the story of the Maccabees:

At the end of the Greek rule, and the year is about 165 BC, or BCE, as Jews prefer to say, Before the Common Era, there was a split of the Greek dynasty, and the Syrian government of the Seleucid dynasty had taken over. And they were very, very strong on assimilation. So Antiochus, the king, had insisted that the Jews give up all of their ways, including the Covenant, the circumcision. And many had gone along with this. But the rule became harsher and harsher nonetheless. So one of the priests, Mattathias, from a group called the Hasmoneans, revolted against this. And his son, Judah, who was called Maccabee, which is from the Hebrew word macaba, is "hammer," became a brilliant soldier and defeated the Antiochus. And for the next years until, in fact, Israel fell to the Romans in 63 BC, this dynasty of the Hasmoneans, the Jewish dynasty of Hasmoneans, had ruled. And it was a rather great and prosperous period. So it's a time that people point back to as a moment of great pride.

(18:40–19:11) Music Element
"Blue Flame"
from Blue Flame,
performed by Simon Shaheen

(19:09–21:30) Music Element
"Highway 61 Revisited"
from Highway 61 Revisited,
performed by Bob Dylan

(22:06–22:37) Music Element
"Silk Tears"
from Blue Flame,
performed by Simon Shaheen

(23:00–25:29) Music Element
"Sarah Was Ninety Years Old"
from Pärt: Miserere,
performed by The Hilliard Ensemble

(23:37) 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 following passage from the book of Genesis, chapter 21, verses 9-21 — an extended version of the reading in the program — is excerpted from 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.

(26:35) Story of Hagar Naming God
Feiler notes that two important things happened 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.

(27:45) Burial Place of Abraham and Sarah
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.

(28:37) Qur'an Is Not a Chronological Narrative
Rather than beginning at the chronological start of the story (i.e., "in the beginning"), the chapters (surahs) of the Qur'an explore various themes — from the most allusive descriptions of the divine to the most mundane legalistic proscriptions for community life.

The Qur'an is perhaps best understood as a conversation between Allah and a community of believers rather than as a story with distinct plot points. In this conversation, God often refers to the prophetic traditions that the people of the northwest part of the Arabian peninsula (the former kingdom of Hejaz that is home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina) were familiar with: stories of Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus, and many others.

The original surahs of the Qur'an were memorized by companions of the Prophet Muhammad as they were revealed, and later written on whatever materials were on hand, including parchment, leather, and bone. Surahs were not revealed whole. Rather, successive revelations could deal with entirely different themes in different surahs. The correct ordering of each surah's verses was overseen by Muhammad. Following the death of Muhammad, the surahs were compiled in order of length — from longest surah to shortest surah — as per Arab custom at the time of its compilation.

While it can be appreciated solely as a text, many Muslims say the power of Qura'nic verse unfolds when it is recited aloud in its original Arabic. For those listening intently, they believe, the aural and poetic qualities of the verses supersede the necessity for a single linear narrative. Qur'anic verse can be quite complex and allusive, and, therefore, a tradition of exegesis known as tafsir has arisen over the centuries in which different commentators have sought to illumine the possible interpretations of these difficult verses.

(29:31–30:38) Music Element
"Sarah Was Ninety Years Old"
from Pärt: Miserere,
performed by The Hilliard Ensemble

(32:25) Connections Between Evangelical Christians and Zionist Jews
The alliance between Evangelical Christians and Zionist Jews, stemming from a belief that Jews are the "chosen people" — or philo-Semitism, is an uneasy one. One of the primary reasons some Evangelical Christians want to restore the ancient lands of the Hebrews back to the Jewish people hinges on prophetic tradition of the New Testament, which says that the apocalyptic Second Coming of the Lord can only happen once the Holy Land has been returned to God's chosen people: the Jews. Some Jews — the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the Union for Reform Judaism — find this form of Semitism disingenuous because they believe the Evangelicals' true aim is to make the United States a purely Christian nation. They also find it unseemly because many of these Christians believe that people who don't believe in Jesus Christ will be damned. Other Jews, particularly Israelis, see it as a sincere attempt to help them in their efforts to secure their homeland.

(33:36–36:12) Music Element
"Tales from the Ney"
from Sufi Music of Turkey,
performed by Kudsi and Suleyman Erguner

(34:50) Recounting of the Hajj
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 the 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.

(34:53) Reading of Muslim Devotional Prayers
In much of the devotional tradition of Islam, the prophet Abraham is linked to the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad. The two of them — along with Noah, Moses and Jesus — are held up as the greatest example of guidance that the divine has sent to humanity.

The Muslim devotional text Dala'il al-Khayrat, translated as "that which brings blessings," is a Moroccan devotional text from the 14th century. It is a collection of invocations and blessings upon all the prophets, from Adam to Muhammad. Muslims consider Abraham to be the first Muslim and offer many traditional prayers to him (read by Omid Safi in the program, in Arabic and English):

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.

(36:06) Feiler in Time Magazine
The cover story for the September 30, 2002 edition of Time magazine 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.

(37:25) Reference to Fundamentalism and Halevi
In Speaking of Faith's "The Power of Fundamentalism," Krista spoke with Yossi Klein Halevi and two other former fundamentalists, Evangelical leader Richard Mouw and Islamic scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl. 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.

(42:17–43:40) Music Element
"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.

(43:36) Reference to Brad Hirschfield
Brad Hirschfield is a modern orthodox rabbi and vice president of The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership — a think tank, leadership training institute, and resource center located in New York City.

(44:22) 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.

(47:58–51:28) Music Element
"Old and Lost Rivers"
from Classical Dreams: Music to Inspire,
performed by Christoph Eschenbach

(48:46) Reading from Genesis 25
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.

(51:38–51:28) Music Element
"The Cave, Act 1 (Part VIII)"
from Works: 1965-1995,
performed by Steve Reich

(51:48–52:02) Music Element
"The Cave, Act 1 (Part VIII)"
from Works: 1965-1995,
performed by Steve Reich

(51:59–52:42) Music Element
"Blue Flame"
from Blue Flame,
performed by Simon Shaheen