Why Sarah insisted on keeping her two sons apart
Sarah's insistence on separating Yishmael from Yitzchak ("Drive out this maidservant and her son") reflected a spiritual discernment that their conflict replayed the struggle between Kayin and Hevel, with Yitzchak's eventual Akeidah (Binding of Yitzchak), as the Arizal teaches, rectifying Hevel's death. Just as shaatnez (the mixture of wool and linen) echoes the differing offerings of Kayin (flax) and Hevel (flock), Sarah understood that Yishmael and Yitzchak, like Kayin and Hevel, could not remain joined together, and so she acted to keep them apart.AI summary · anthropic/claude-sonnet-5
In Tanchuma: Avraham eulogized Sarah with the entire passage of "Eshet Chayil" (a woman of valor), and on the verse he expounded "wool and linen" with regard to Yitzchak and Yishmael, as it is said, "Drive out this maidservant and her son." The explanation of the matter is as follows: In the writings of the Arizal, it is stated that Yitzchak, through the Akeidah (Binding of Isaac), rectified the sin of Hevel, and therefore he was thirty-seven years old, corresponding to the numerical value (gematria) of the name "Hevel," which is thirty-seven.
Now, Rashi writes that Yishmael used to quarrel with Yitzchak over the inheritance, saying, "I am the firstborn and I will take a double portion." They would go out into the field, and he would take his bow and shoot arrows at him, as in the verse, "Like a madman who shoots firebrands," etc.
From this it appears that there was present in Yishmael the aspect of Kayin, who killed Hevel. According to this, Yishmael and Yitzchak correspond to Kayin and Hevel. This is the meaning of "wool and linen": for Kayin brought his offering from the seed of flax, while Hevel brought from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat.
Sarah sensed this and separated between them, in keeping with the prohibition of shaatnez (mixing wool and linen), "wool and linen together" — understand this.
בתנחומא אברהם הספיד את שרה כל מאמר אשת חיל ובפסוק דרשה צמר ופשתים בין יצחק לישמעאל שנאמר גרש את האמה הזאת ואת בנה, ביאור הדברים דהנה בכתבי האר"י שיצחק בהעקידה תיקן את חטא הבל, וע"כ הי' בן ל"ז כמספר שם של הבל שבגי' ל"ז, והנה ברש"י שהי' ישמעאל מריב עם יצחק על הירושה ואומר אני בכור ואטול פי שנים ויוצאין בשדה ונוטל קשתו ויורה בו חצים כד"א כמתלהלה היורה זקים וגו' מזה נראה שהי' בו בישמעאל ענין קין שהרג את הבל, ולפי"ז ישמעאל ויצחק הם קין והבל, וזה צמר ופשתים שקין הקריב קרבנו זרע פשתים והבל מבכורות צאנו ומחלביהן, ושרה הרגישה זה והפרישה ביניהם וכענין איסור השעטנז צמר ופשתים יחדיו והבן:
Translation: translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5)