Drash Cards for Vayera (5785)
by Marc Mangel
Today’s topic is the Akedah, the binding of Isaac.
- How it is classically treated
- The commentary of Saba Zussya Zimmerman
- The commentary of Shimon Jacobson
- Some of my own thoughts
How it is classically treated
This is one of Abraham’s great tests, which he passes by absolute obedience to God and apparently willing to sacrifice his son.
But today some people are uncomfortable. From the Conservative Machzor (pg 103)
“For the most part, rabbinic literature praises Abraham for his faithful obedience to God’s command, though some rabbinic texts indicate ambivalence regarding Abraham’s unqualified acquiescence…many post-Holocaust Jewish writers are increasingly reticent even to appear to validate violence in the name of religious faith, and instead suggest that Abraham failed the test, and should have raised a protest against God’s instruction”
Read at second day RH in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues
But also read every day in Orthodox prayers before the first Shma of Shachrit, followed by the Ve-ah-Hafta. (I only checked Chabad, Art Scroll, Breslov, Seattle Sephardic Community Siddurim)
Commentary of Saba Zussya Zimmerman
Saba Zussya Zimmerman wrote about the Akedah
Yeah, God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God said, “No”, Abe said, “What?”
God said, “You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Abe said, “Where do you want this killin’ done?”
God said “Out on Highway 61”
Penned by Bob Dylan (Bob Zimmerman /Bobbie Zimmerman) growing up in an Orthodox congregation in Hibbing, MN where he surely went to the school (it was the 1940s and 50s)
A hint from Shimon Jacobson
Shimon Jacobson –runs the Meaningful Life Center in Brooklyn and wrote a wonderful book called Towards a Meaningful Life — gives a hint to the way Dylan framed the interaction between Abraham and God: that Abraham – the embodiment of Chesed – knows that God is good and kind, so cannot imagine that what appears to be a demand for a human sacrifice is what this is all about.
To follow the hint, we go back to the very first phrase of the akedah story:
ויהי אחר הדברים האלה. –– “It was after these words/things/events”
What these words/things/events that happened previously according to the chronology in the Torah?
- Immediately before this, Abraham took Hagar and Ishmael into the desert, and Hagar presumed that he would die of thirst. When God told Abraham to Sarah to take Hagar and Ishmael into the desert, God also said “Do not be distress about the boy and your bondwoman…I will also make the son of the bondwoman into a nation, for he is also your offspring” (Ch 21:12-13).
- Immediately preceding the birth of Isaac, Abraham and Sarah are in Philistia where he tells her to pretend that they are brother and sister and Avimelech brings her into his harem. Then this happens (read Avimelech story verses 3-6)
And the Torah goes on to recount other kindness – rather than death – that God shows to Avimelech.
-Before that happened, God decides to tell Abraham about the destruction of Sedom and Gommorah, and Abraham asks “Would you in your anger obliterate the righteous along with the wicked” (Ch 18, v 23), followed by the negotiation from 50 [would not destroy], 40 [ditto], 30 [ditto], 20 [ditto], and 10 [ditto] righteous people (Ch 18, v 28-32). We tend to remember the destruction of the cities but not the extents of kindness to which God went to avoid it.
Some of my own thoughts
Abraham has every evidence that this God he has discovered is one of kindness. But Abraham is also surrounded by cultures whose gods demand human sacrifice. What if the Akedah is actual a test of God by Abraham. That is, if this a God who wants human sacrifice, Abraham is ready to say ‘forget it’.
In the Shma we confirm the unity of God. In the V’ahafta we remind ourselves to feel love of God essentially all the time. How can we implement that?
Remember from Beresheit “So God created humankind in Gods own image, in the of God they were created, male and female” – in a profound way we are all equal in dignity and ultimate worth, for we are all in God’s image.
I ask you to imagine a world in which every person professing to be a religious descendant of Abraham – Jews, Christians, and Moslems – woke up each day and said “The way I am going to show my love of God today is by recognizing that every person I encounter is in God’s image and I am going to behave accordingly”. The Messiah would be here already.