Yet 2,000 years later, religious Jews are still waiting. The ancient streets of Bethlehem shudder with fire bombs and tear-gas grenades. The ancestors of Ishmael and Isaac clash again and again as a reminder not just of Mideast trouble but of a world stunned by the bad blood of ethnic rivalries and land wars. In our generation, the conflict is also in our homes. The hellish adversarial process of divorce court bears the burden of best friends turned enemies.
Adult children talk about dark years of family hatred and abuse.
A distraught mother kills her baby. A live-in boyfriend is indicted for murder. It is against such a backdrop that we remember a nation who for centuries longed for the day when even nature would be at peace with itself. The wolf would no longer prey on the lamb. A coming Messiah would recycle weapons of war into farming equipment.