Speaking of Faith: Children of Abraham

I was listening to the February 8 installment of Speaking of Faith "Children of Abraham" on the drive into work this morning. SoF is a weekly public radio show that I listen to via podcast. Here's the blurb:

The sacred story of Abraham traverses the geography of the most bitter political conflict in the modern world — beginning in what is now southern Iraq and ending in the West Bank city of Hebron. Yet Abraham is the common patriarch of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. We explore the story of Abraham in several traditions and why he might be important for people in our time. The hour also includes readings from the Bible and the Qur'an as well as music from the likes of Bob Dylan and Benjamin Britten on the figure of Abraham.

I really enjoy the SoF though I get annoyed by the "I'm more clever than religion" attitude of some of the guests. This week's guest Bruce Feller, author of "Abraham: A Journery to the Heart of Three Faiths" wasn't too bad in that regard.

Anyway, I was struck by the sound track. The SoF music producer had pulled together a number of interesting pieces that referred to Abraham and Issac. While the pieces came from the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions, the tracks that interested me (surprise) were from the Jewish composers Steve Reich and Bob Dylan. While neither of them normally produce what I would consider "Jewish" music, they're both obviously heavy hitters in their own musical areas and the tracks are wonderful. You can see their contribution and those of the other musicians on the SoF Books and Music page.

You can listen online to the Children of Abraham soundtrack on the "SoF Playlist"