Lessons From The Akeida

I don't know what I'm talking about. You probably concluded that already, but you view it as something negative and I consider it as positive, an advantage. I'm ignorant. I have very little background in past explications of the Torah. If I don't stand on the shoulders of giants it's simply because I don't know where those shoulders are. I'm free to say what I want. If I agree with what the sages of the past said it is by coincidence, not intent; if I disagree, it is not a matter of disrespect, but a different perspective.

I'm particularly interested with the Akeida at the moment. Some of its lessons resonate with me and I thought I'd explore them.

G-d told Abraham to sacrifice his son. The first verse of chapter 22 of B'reishit (Genesis) tells us that this was a test. Our sages view it as the tenth test of Abraham that Hashem imposed upon our father in order to determine the extent of his faith. The story of the Akeida (the binding for the sacrifice) is a familiar one and I won't repeat it. I will, however, note a number of tests and lessons that I find in the story.

The first lesson is that the story doesn't end where the story ends. His mother's reaction, and the events that followed, although not spelled out or connected must be connected, but I'll discuss that later.

Starting at the beginning, however, Hashem tells Abraham to take Isaac somewhere and to sacrifice him there. He doesn't specify the place. It's all a mystery. Earlier Abraham had been instructed to leave his parents' home – his birthplace and his own home – and travel to a new land. In the Akeida he is given the same message, using the same words, lech l'cha. It's likely that on both occasions Abraham wondered where he was being sent, but in neither case did he question the command. He would go wherever Hashem wanted him to go – no questions asked.

When he went, Abraham made the necessary preparations. He didn't know where he was going but he knew what he would be doing there, so he took along a knife, fire, and wood. Perhaps he would not find what he needed in the mysterious place so he made sure he would have them and could fulfill Hashem's wishes immediately. He prepared to do the mitzvah as soon as it was possible.

Abraham was prepared for the task. And, specifically, he was prepared to sacrifice Isaac. He bound his son, prepared a place to do so, and raised the knife. But he was stopped before he could perform the act. This was, after all, only a test. Hashem knew what would be the outcome of the episode. He knew that Abraham, however saddened at the death of his and Sarah's son, would do what was asked of him, but Abraham didn't know how firm were his beliefs. He might have softened at the last minute and set his son free. The test taught what no meditation could. It was important that he recognize that he was prepared to all that G-d asked of him, no matter how much it “cost.”

In the end, however, Hashem provided a ram as the offering. A door was closed. Isaac would not be sacrificed, but another was opened and a ram would be substituted. Hashem, by the availability of the ram, provided for completion of the mitzvah even under trying circumstances. But Abraham had to want to perform the mitzvah for the “miracle” to occur.

And Isaac had to be willing to make the sacrifice. The only contact he had had with G-d was what was told him by his father. There had been no personal contact. Still he was ready to accept Hashem's commandments and His judgment. Isaac's sacrifice – his life – would be more significant than Abraham's, but it would be made on the basis of the teachings of his father, “tradition,” the first transmission of our faith from generation to generation, but, though younger and stronger than his father, he submitted to the verdict of death without question or complaint – at least none recorded in B'reishit. Judaism was born.

While Abraham was away, Eliezer and Ishmael (according to Midrash) and a donkey awaited him and it is likely that on his return he related the events. The donkey, who I suspect, was an ancestor of Bilaam's, heard and learned that following Hashem's commands and preserving Judaism were praiseworthy, and he passed on the message to his descendants.

But I mentioned Sarah. How does she fit in? She heard an incomplete retelling of the Akeida from a messenger. Believing that the sacrifice had been carried out she grieved and died. Adam and Eve had not grieved the loss of Abel and this is the first occasion on which grief occurred. And it has been a human emotion ever since.

The story ends with the purchase of a burial site for Sarah. Wanting there to be no dispute over the ownership of that site, Abraham purchased the Cave of Machpela on the edge of the field of Ephron. Current events teach us that we cannot trust all of the people with whom we deal. Perhaps we are being punished because Abraham, himself didn't accept the fact that all the land was Hashem's and that all he had seen was granted to him. Instead he acknowledged the idea that there was a human owner and he paid a mortal for land that was G-d's.

Those are the tests and lessons of which I wrote. They were of Abraham and his family and they occurred millennia ago. Or are they tests and lessons for us? Do they guide us in how we should act and Whom we should believe. The Torah was written a long time ago but its lessons are eternal.

September 12, 2017

One, Two, Three … Ten

It's time for a little musar.ⁱ

I try not to be preachy. Even though I know that I'm always right, I try not to sermonize. I try not to guilt the reader into following “the true path.”

Today,ⁱⁱ however, the format changes. Today I'm a sentimental do-gooder. A few days ago I didn't do something that I knew was wrong.ⁱⁱⁱ Instead I did something I should.^iv It wouldn't have made a difference to anyone else but, while avoiding it made things a little more difficult for me, doing “the right thing” made me feel better. My “good angel” won out over the bad.^v

It will help to back up a little. Actually, more than a little. Nearly four millennia. Back to the time of Abraham who, according to the Bible, was the first to formulate the concept of a single G-d. That idea led to the establishment of Judaism, and from that sprang Christianity and Islam. In the first book of the Bible is a description of the “sacrifice”^vi of Isaac by Abraham. G-d “tested”^vii him, but when it became clear that he would carry out the command, an angel was dispatched to stop him. It was the last of ten tests, and Abraham passed them all.

But a better word to depict the situation would be “challenge.” A “test” usually has unknown results and is employed to demonstrate ability, or something else, to a third party – an outside judge. In this instance it seems clear that the point was to demonstrate to Abraham that he would obey G-d's commands. It was a challenge to him. The omniscient G-d knew what the result would be. He didn't need a test to determine that, but Abraham needed to gain the insight. He had to face up to the challenges put to him, and to be aware that he had done so.

And so do we. Whether in school or on the job, in a house of worship with a clergyman or at home with a spouse, or just among friends, we're challenged every day. Often the challenges represent goals set for us by others, sometimes they're just tests. I don't mean to minimize the significance of the expectations of others – often goals that they'd like to see us fail – but sometimes they're valid challenges. More important, though, are those we put to ourselves.

Perhaps we make resolutions each year that we're quick to violate – usually without much thought. All that's likely to cross our minds is that the resolution itself was dumb, ill-conceived. We should never have made it. It's impossible to keep and not really worth the effort. We lack discipline. We cannot achieve the important, but daunting, goals we set for ourselves. We aim high, but that may be the problem. It's easier to lower our expectations.

None of us is Abraham. Not even close. We'd never be able to confront the challenges imposed on him, but we don't have to. The ones that we can set for ourselves, our personal challenges, however, are difficult enough. They don't seem very exciting. And they sound like Sunday School lessons, but there's no minimizing either their difficulty or their importance. And even if they seem self-evident – things that everyone does – the chances are good that they don't do them, and neither do you.

Sometimes they're difficult, but often they're easy. Do you see a piece of paper on the floor? Pick it up. You don't have to tell anyone that you did it.^viii You know, and that should be enough. Or perhaps a closet door is open or a light has been left on in a room that's now unoccupied. Dealing with both those situations, and many more like them, is easy enough and helpful to someone. You may not know who, and that's not really important. You know that it is. When my children were growing up I made a list for them. It was a list of jobs that had to be done before Shabbat.^ix There were many specific jobs enumerated, but at the end of the list was one that was a little more free-form: “Whatever isn't on the list but you know deep down has to be done.” They had to identify the problem and solve it.

Some of the things that ought^x to be done provide a little more of a challenge. The temptation to cross the street against the light when there is no traffic is great. And you may feel like a fool for not doing so, especially since the purpose of any such law is to guarantee your safety and you know that it's safe. However the law is the law.^xi It's more difficult to make a full stop when you see the sign, to stay within the speed limit, and to remember to signal every time you change lanes or turn, but that's the law too. No matter how careful you are, breaking the law is, in its way, an act of anarchy.

Perhaps the biggest challenges, however, are when it comes to money. Not just in business, but even when you're filing your income tax.^xii And they're also there when you get too much change when making a purchase. You may discover it after you've left the store, but returning and repaying the cashier who made the mistake will help that person to keep the books straight and to keep his job. You may feel dumb, but you'll have accomplished a lot.

And a smile. I know that sounds stupid too, but it doesn't take all that much effort to cheer up those around you, and that will cheer you up too. The way you relate to those people is probably the best benchmark for proper behavior. That means no gossip – a very difficult challenge. It also means that you don't trade insults with others, or even answer back to their comments when they say something dumb – especially when it relates to politics or religion. Remember that you won't convince them and they won't convince you.^xiii All they can do is cause ulcers and enmity.

Sanctimonious? Holier-than-thou? Yeah, I know. Preachy?^xiv Sorry I subjected you to it, but I feel better now. I got it out of my system.^xv It won't happen again. I'm cleansed. I know some of the challenges I have to meet. Perhaps I'll even be successful some of the time.

How about you?

Next episode: “What To Do When The Envelope Pushes Back” – Not that anyone cares.

I        Ethical teaching. The word appears in Proverbs, 1:2, and is translated as “discipline” in “The Stone Edition Tanach” published by Artscroll/Mesorah, Brooklyn, 1996. Google^® it for more information.

ii        December 9, 2014

iii      What it was is really irrelevant.

iv       “Should,” itself, is a preachy word, but it conveys the sense I intend.

v        In the Jewish tradition, the terms are “good inclination” and “evil inclination” – yetzer hatov and yetzer harah. Freud would know them as superego and id (sort of). Nowadays we talk about “executive functions” in the frontal lobes.

vi       “Tested” is probably not the best word that could be used, but it is the translation generally encountered.

vii      Genesis, 22:1. According to Jewish tradition the Akeidah was the last of ten tests of faith

viii     As a matter of fact, acts like that have a greater significance when you keep them to yourself.

ix       The Jewish sabbath.

x        Another judgmental word.

xi      There's a basic precept (which is often ignored, but that's for another time) in Judaism that “the law of the land is the [religious] law.” While the situation may become somewhat more complicated when there is a conflict between secular and religious law, in most cases no such conflict exists, and we are obliged to follow the local and national regulations.

xii      Or when you're paying cash in order to avoid tax.

xiii    And whatever you do, never back anyone into a corner. All that “gotchas” produce is enemies.

xiv      Actually, preachy is in the ear of the beholder.

xv       Now I can be a curmudgeon again.