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Friday, October 30, 2026

Vayera 6

These notes cover the Akedah, the binding of Yitzchak, from Bereshis 22:1 to the end of Parshas Vayera at 22:24, following the Me'am Loez and the twenty questions it raises on the story. Two ideas keep coming back. First, Avraham and Yitzchak went through the whole test with clear minds and complete joy, choosing Hashem's will over their own feelings and refusing every argument the Satan made. Second, Hashem never wanted Yitzchak slaughtered. The purpose of the test was to show that a human being, by choosing what is right, can rise higher than the angels. The merit of that moment protects the Jewish people to this day, and the shofar on Rosh Hashanah calls it to mind.

The pesukim

Bereshis 22:1

וַיְהִ֗י אַחַר֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה וְהָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים נִסָּ֖ה אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃

After these events, God tested Abraham. "Abraham!" He said. "Yes."

After these events, Hashem tested Avraham. He called "Avraham!" and Avraham answered, "Here I am." Hashem already knew Avraham's heart was pure. Hashem tested him the way a merchant bangs a clay pot to show a buyer how strong it is: he only bangs a pot he knows will not break. So the test was not to find out whether Avraham would pass. It was to reveal his greatness to the world and raise it even higher. The lesson for us is that Hashem never gives a person a test he does not have the spiritual strength to overcome.
Bereshis 22:2

וַיֹּ֡אמֶר קַח־נָ֠א אֶת־בִּנְךָ֨ אֶת־יְחִֽידְךָ֤ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַ֙בְתָּ֙ אֶת־יִצְחָ֔ק וְלֶ֨ךְ־לְךָ֔ אֶל־אֶ֖רֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּ֑ה וְהַעֲלֵ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה עַ֚ל אַחַ֣ד הֶֽהָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֹמַ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ׃

"Take your son, the only one you love-Isaac-and go away to the Moriah area. Bring him as an all-burned offering on one of the mountains that I will designate to you."

Hashem says: take your son, your only one, the one you love, Yitzchak, go to the land of Moriah, and bring him up as an all-burned offering on one of the mountains I will show you. The verse says "kach na", take please, which is a request rather than an order. The Gemara in Sanhedrin 89b explains it with a parable. A king has a general who has won every battle, and before the last battle the king begs him to do well, because one defeat would erase his whole reputation. This was Avraham's tenth and final test. Passing it would show that every earlier test had also been passed purely for Hashem.
Bereshis 22:3

וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם אַבְרָהָ֜ם בַּבֹּ֗קֶר וַֽיַּחֲבֹשׁ֙ אֶת־חֲמֹר֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֞ח אֶת־שְׁנֵ֤י נְעָרָיו֙ אִתּ֔וֹ וְאֵ֖ת יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֑וֹ וַיְבַקַּע֙ עֲצֵ֣י עֹלָ֔ה וַיָּ֣קׇם וַיֵּ֔לֶךְ אֶל־הַמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר־אָֽמַר־ל֥וֹ הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃

Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took his two men with him, along with his son Isaac. He cut wood for the offering, and set out, heading for the place that God had designated.

Avraham got up early, saddled his donkey, took two young men and Yitzchak, split wood for the offering, and set out. He woke Yitzchak quietly so as not to wake Sarah, who might change her mind and stop them. He had many servants, but he saddled the donkey, split the wood and prepared the fire and the knife himself, because he wanted to do Hashem's will with his own hands and with excitement. He brought his own wood because wood for an offering must be free of insects and worms, and he could not count on finding such wood on the mountain. According to the Targum Yonasson, the two young men were Eliezer and Yishmael.
Bereshis 22:4

בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֗י וַיִּשָּׂ֨א אַבְרָהָ֧ם אֶת־עֵינָ֛יו וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הַמָּק֖וֹם מֵרָחֹֽק׃

On the third day, Abraham looked up, and saw the place from afar.

On the third day, which was Rosh Hashanah, Avraham looked up and saw the place from afar. He saw a strange dark cloud hovering over one mountain. He asked Yitzchak whether he saw anything, and Yitzchak said yes. Eliezer and Yishmael saw nothing. If the cloud were natural, everyone would have seen it, so Avraham knew it was a sign from Hashem showing him where to go.
Bereshis 22:5

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶל־נְעָרָ֗יו שְׁבוּ־לָכֶ֥ם פֹּה֙ עִֽם־הַחֲמ֔וֹר וַאֲנִ֣י וְהַנַּ֔עַר נֵלְכָ֖ה עַד־כֹּ֑ה וְנִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֖ה וְנָשׁ֥וּבָה אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃

Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go to that place. We will worship and then return to you."

Avraham told the young men to stay there with the donkey while he and the boy went ahead to worship, and said "we will return to you." "Stay with the donkey" meant that they were no better than the donkey: just as the donkey could not see the sign on the mountain, neither could they. "We will return" was not a lie. The Yefeh To'ar calls it a prophetic slip. A prophet's words are divinely inspired even when he does not know what he is saying, so Avraham foretold that Yitzchak would come back alive without knowing it himself.
Bereshis 22:6

וַיִּקַּ֨ח אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־עֲצֵ֣י הָעֹלָ֗ה וַיָּ֙שֶׂם֙ עַל־יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֣ח בְּיָד֔וֹ אֶת־הָאֵ֖שׁ וְאֶת־הַֽמַּאֲכֶ֑לֶת וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם יַחְדָּֽו׃

Abraham took the offering wood and placed it on [the shoulders of] his son Isaac. He himself took the fire and the slaughter knife, and the two of them went together.

Avraham put the wood on Yitzchak's shoulders, took the fire and the knife himself, and the two of them walked together. At this point Yitzchak still did not know the purpose of the journey. Avraham put the wood on him as a hint of what was coming. "The two of them walked together" teaches that they walked in the same spirit. Yitzchak was happy to be going with his father, and Avraham was just as happy, as if he were bringing Yitzchak to his wedding.
Bereshis 22:7–8

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יִצְחָ֜ק אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֤ם אָבִיו֙ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אָבִ֔י וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֶּ֣נִּֽי בְנִ֑י וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנֵּ֤ה הָאֵשׁ֙ וְהָ֣עֵצִ֔ים וְאַיֵּ֥ה הַשֶּׂ֖ה לְעֹלָֽה׃

Isaac spoke up to Abraham. "Father." "Yes, my son." "Here is the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for the offering?"

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם אֱלֹהִ֞ים יִרְאֶה־לּ֥וֹ הַשֶּׂ֛ה לְעֹלָ֖ה בְּנִ֑י וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם יַחְדָּֽו׃

"God will see to a lamb for an offering, my son," replied Abraham. The two of them continued together.

Yitzchak calls "My father," Avraham answers "Here I am, my son," and Yitzchak asks where the lamb is. Avraham replies, "God will see to the lamb for the offering, my son." Avraham chose his words carefully: Hashem will provide the lamb, and if there is no lamb, it will be my son. Now Yitzchak began to understand. Yet the verse repeats that the two of them walked on together, because neither of them changed his attitude at all once Yitzchak knew.
Bereshis 22:9

וַיָּבֹ֗אוּ אֶֽל־הַמָּקוֹם֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָֽמַר־ל֣וֹ הָאֱלֹהִים֒ וַיִּ֨בֶן שָׁ֤ם אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ וַֽיַּעֲרֹ֖ךְ אֶת־הָעֵצִ֑ים וַֽיַּעֲקֹד֙ אֶת־יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֔וֹ וַיָּ֤שֶׂם אֹתוֹ֙ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ מִמַּ֖עַל לָעֵצִֽים׃

When they finally came to the place designated by God, Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood. He then bound his son Isaac, and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

They reached the place Hashem had shown them. Avraham built the altar, arranged the wood, bound Yitzchak, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. He did not build a new altar. He rebuilt the ancient one on Mount Moriah, where Adam, Kayin and Hevel, and Noach had all brought offerings. Yitzchak was to be offered in the afternoon, and a new altar has to be inaugurated in the morning, so Avraham needed an altar that had already been in use. The Midrash Tanchuma says this altar stands directly opposite Hashem's Throne of Glory.
Bereshis 22:10

וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶת־יָד֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֖ח אֶת־הַֽמַּאֲכֶ֑לֶת לִשְׁחֹ֖ט אֶת־בְּנֽוֹ׃

Abraham reached out and took the slaughter knife to slit his son's throat.

Avraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. Avraham did not hear what was happening in heaven, so he put the knife to Yitzchak's throat. According to the Tanchuma, the Satan knocked the knife out of his hand at that moment. Other opinions say the Satan nicked the blade so that it was no longer fit for kosher slaughter. Avraham concluded that Hashem did not want it done with a knife and began to do it with his bare hands, because he still wanted to do Hashem's will.
Bereshis 22:11–12

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֵלָ֜יו מַלְאַ֤ךְ יְהֹוָה֙ מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֣ם ׀ אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃

God's angel called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Yes."

וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אַל־תִּשְׁלַ֤ח יָֽדְךָ֙ אֶל־הַנַּ֔עַר וְאַל־תַּ֥עַשׂ ל֖וֹ מְא֑וּמָה כִּ֣י ׀ עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֗עְתִּי כִּֽי־יְרֵ֤א אֱלֹהִים֙ אַ֔תָּה וְלֹ֥א חָשַׂ֛כְתָּ אֶת־בִּנְךָ֥ אֶת־יְחִידְךָ֖ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃

"Do not harm the boy. Do not do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God. You have not withheld your only son from Him."

An angel of Hashem called from heaven, "Avraham, Avraham!" and told him not to send forth his hand against the boy and not to do anything to him, "for now I know that you fear God, and you have not withheld your only son from Me." The words are exact. "Do not send forth your hand" says hand, not knife, which shows that Avraham had already lost the knife and was using his hands. "Do not do anything to him" answers Avraham's request to at least draw a few drops of blood for the altar, so that all his preparation would not be wasted. Calling a name twice shows urgency: at the very last moment the angel shouts to stop him.
Bereshis 22:13

וַיִּשָּׂ֨א אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּרְא֙ וְהִנֵּה־אַ֔יִל אַחַ֕ר נֶאֱחַ֥ז בַּסְּבַ֖ךְ בְּקַרְנָ֑יו וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ אַבְרָהָם֙ וַיִּקַּ֣ח אֶת־הָאַ֔יִל וַיַּעֲלֵ֥הוּ לְעֹלָ֖ה תַּ֥חַת בְּנֽוֹ׃

Abraham then looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. He went and got the ram, sacrificing it as an all-burned offering in his son's place.

Avraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket, and he offered it in his son's place. The ram had been created at the twilight of creation for exactly this moment. Otherwise Avraham would never have taken it, since it would have belonged to someone else. He slaughtered, skinned and burned it and sprinkled its blood, with every act meant as if it were done to Yitzchak. Hashem counts it as if Yitzchak himself had been offered.
Bereshis 22:14

וַיִּקְרָ֧א אַבְרָהָ֛ם שֵֽׁם־הַמָּק֥וֹם הַה֖וּא יְהֹוָ֣ה ׀ יִרְאֶ֑ה אֲשֶׁר֙ יֵאָמֵ֣ר הַיּ֔וֹם בְּהַ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה יֵרָאֶֽה׃

Abraham named the place "God will See" (Adonoy Yir'eh). Today, it is therefore said, "On God's Mountain, He will be seen."

Avraham named the place "Hashem Yireh", God will see, and so it is said, "On the mountain of Hashem He will be seen." The place had been called Shalem, "complete", a name tied to Shem, the son of Noach, who was a complete person. Avraham called it Yireh, for fear of Hashem. Hashem said to call it by both, and the two names together became Yerushalayim.
Bereshis 22:15–18

וַיִּקְרָ֛א מַלְאַ֥ךְ יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֑ם שֵׁנִ֖ית מִן־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃

God's angel called to Abraham from heaven a second time,

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר בִּ֥י נִשְׁבַּ֖עְתִּי נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֑ה כִּ֗י יַ֚עַן אֲשֶׁ֤ר עָשִׂ֙יתָ֙ אֶת־הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה וְלֹ֥א חָשַׂ֖כְתָּ אֶת־בִּנְךָ֥ אֶת־יְחִידֶֽךָ׃

and said, "God declares, 'I have sworn by My own Essence, that because you performed this act, and did not hold back your only son,

כִּֽי־בָרֵ֣ךְ אֲבָרֶכְךָ֗ וְהַרְבָּ֨ה אַרְבֶּ֤ה אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֙ כְּכוֹכְבֵ֣י הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְכַח֕וֹל אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־שְׂפַ֣ת הַיָּ֑ם וְיִרַ֣שׁ זַרְעֲךָ֔ אֵ֖ת שַׁ֥עַר אֹיְבָֽיו׃

I will bless you greatly, and increase your offspring like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring shall inherit their enemies' gate.

וְהִתְבָּרְכ֣וּ בְזַרְעֲךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ עֵ֕קֶב אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ בְּקֹלִֽי׃

All the nations of the world shall be blessed through your descendants—all because you obeyed My voice.'"

The angel called a second time, in Hashem's name: because you did this and did not hold back your only son, I will bless you greatly and make your offspring as many as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take the gates of their enemies, and all the nations will be blessed through them, because you listened to My voice. The doubled words "barech avarechecha" mean a blessing for Avraham and a blessing for his descendants. When we say in Selichos "He who answered Avraham on Mount Moriah", we mean the prayer Avraham made here after Yitzchak was saved.
Bereshis 22:19

וַיָּ֤שׇׁב אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶל־נְעָרָ֔יו וַיָּקֻ֛מוּ וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ יַחְדָּ֖ו אֶל־בְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב אַבְרָהָ֖ם בִּבְאֵ֥ר שָֽׁבַע׃

Abraham returned to his young men, and together they set out and went to Beer-sheba. Abraham remained in Beer-sheba.

Avraham returned to his young men, and they went together to Be'er Sheva, where Avraham stayed. Avraham unties Yitzchak, but the verse does not say Yitzchak came back with him. Avraham had brought him to study in the yeshiva of Shem. Avraham's heart was the same as the young men's: after reaching such a height he felt no pride and went back as humble as before.
Bereshis 22:20–24

וַיְהִ֗י אַחֲרֵי֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה וַיֻּגַּ֥ד לְאַבְרָהָ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר הִ֠נֵּ֠ה יָלְדָ֨ה מִלְכָּ֥ה גַם־הִ֛וא בָּנִ֖ים לְנָח֥וֹר אָחִֽיךָ׃

After this, Abraham received a message: "Milcah has also had children from your brother Nachor:

אֶת־ע֥וּץ בְּכֹר֖וֹ וְאֶת־בּ֣וּז אָחִ֑יו וְאֶת־קְמוּאֵ֖ל אֲבִ֥י אֲרָֽם׃

Utz, his first-born; Buz, his brother, Kemuel (father of Aram),

וְאֶת־כֶּ֣שֶׂד וְאֶת־חֲז֔וֹ וְאֶת־פִּלְדָּ֖שׁ וְאֶת־יִדְלָ֑ף וְאֵ֖ת בְּתוּאֵֽל׃

Kesed, Chazo, Pildash, Yidlaf and Bethuel.

וּבְתוּאֵ֖ל יָלַ֣ד אֶת־רִבְקָ֑ה שְׁמֹנָ֥ה אֵ֙לֶּה֙ יָלְדָ֣ה מִלְכָּ֔ה לְנָח֖וֹר אֲחִ֥י אַבְרָהָֽם׃

Bethuel has had a daughter Rebecca." Milcah bore the above eight [sons] to Abraham's brother Nachor.

וּפִֽילַגְשׁ֖וֹ וּשְׁמָ֣הּ רְאוּמָ֑ה וַתֵּ֤לֶד גַּם־הִוא֙ אֶת־טֶ֣בַח וְאֶת־גַּ֔חַם וְאֶת־תַּ֖חַשׁ וְאֶֽת־מַעֲכָֽה׃

[Nachor's] concubine was named Reumah. She also had children: Tevach, Gacham, Tachash and Ma'akhah.

Avraham is told that Milkah has had children with his brother Nachor: eight sons, among them Besuel, the father of Rivka, plus four sons from Nachor's concubine Reumah. After nearly losing Yitzchak, Avraham regretted that he had not yet married him off, and he worried about where he would find a wife for him. Hashem told him that at that very moment the girl was being born in his own family. She was Rivka, and she would become Yitzchak's bride.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

  • Hashem never gives you a test you lack the strength to pass, so meet every challenge believing you can overcome it.
  • Let your intellect lead, not your emotions: emotions breed doubt, while a clear mind sees what is right.
  • When you make a celebration, feed the poor as well as the honored guests.
  • Serve Hashem with joy even when it is hard, because joy is what keeps a person connected to Him.
  • Every shofar blast calls up the merit of the Akedah, and that merit protects us to this day.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

Four reasons Hashem tests a righteous person

  • The test was for Avraham's own benefit. Like the merchant who only bangs a strong pot, Hashem tests only someone He knows can stand it.
  • Hashem had promised Avraham reward, and suffering through a test makes that promised reward much greater.
  • The test was also for everyone who watches. Seeing a person pass a test inspires others to grow, and when they do good because of him, the merit of their good deeds goes to him as well.
  • People might have thought Avraham's wealth and blessings came to him by chance. When they saw him suffer and pass every test, everyone understood that it all came from his righteousness, and that was a kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of Hashem's name.
  • The practical lesson: every test that comes our way, we can overcome. Believe it and know it.

Why the journey took three days

  • Avraham loved Yitzchak intensely, but his love for Hashem was greater still. That is why the command did not make him sad or depressed.
  • If Avraham had acted on the same day he was commanded, people could have said he was in shock, frightened by hearing Hashem's voice, or confused.
  • Hashem gave him three days of walking. That was time for every doubt to enter his mind, and he still went ahead with a clear mind and the same joy. That proves he acted from pure love.
  • The Bereishis Rabbah tells of Mesha, king of Moab. He asked his advisors why the Jews won their battles, and they told him their ancestor offered his beloved son to Hashem with love. Mesha sacrificed his own son as a human sacrifice, and it did not have the effect he wanted.
  • Once people saw Avraham ready to offer his son, they knew that all his generosity and kindness had never been for himself but only out of love for Hashem.

The feast that came before the test

  • "After these events" points to something that caused the test. Avraham made a huge feast for Yitzchak with 31 kings and 31 governors, Og among the guests, and did not bring a single offering to Hashem. This is from the Bereishis Rabbah.
  • The Gemara in Sanhedrin 89b says the Satan used this to accuse Avraham: You gave him a son at a hundred, he made a great feast, and he did not offer You even one pigeon.
  • The Zohar says the Satan came to the feast dressed as a beggar. Avraham was busy with his royal guests and Sarah was busy with the children, so the beggar was ignored and the Satan accused them.
  • The lesson is that honoring important guests is not enough; the poor must be fed too. A bris milah feast especially should be open to poor people.
  • The Me'am Loez brings another reason from the Bereishis Rabbah. Afterward Avraham felt terrible that he had spent everything on the feast and nothing on Hashem. When a person feels that low, Hashem builds him back up by giving him a greater test and letting him pass it.

Other events behind the test

  • "Devarim" in "after these devarim" can also mean words. Yishmael boasted to Yitzchak that he was circumcised at thirteen without complaining, while Yitzchak had no say at eight days old. Yitzchak answered that Yishmael was boasting about a little skin, and that he himself was ready to give his whole life to Hashem. So Hashem tested Yitzchak too.
  • Some say there was a rumor that Yitzchak was really Avimelech's son. Hashem would never ask for a child known to be illegitimate as an offering, so the command itself proved the rumor false.
  • Why did Hashem wait 37 years after the feast to test Avraham? To show the greatness of Yitzchak too: at 37 he could have stopped his 137-year-old father with one finger, and he did not.

A banner on a mast, and why joy was needed for prophecy

  • "Nisah", tested, is related to "nes": a ship's mast, a flag, a miracle. The test raised Avraham's reputation high like a sail on a mast, so the whole world would see it.
  • Hashem did not tell Avraham which mountain to go to in advance. He promised to show him on the way, which meant Avraham had to keep receiving prophecy throughout the journey.
  • A person who is depressed cannot receive prophecy (Gemara, Shabbos 30b, also brought by the Zohar). Since Avraham kept receiving prophecy the whole way, he must have been in complete joy.
  • Joy does not mean it was easy. It was hard, and yet it was not hard: he loved Yitzchak infinitely, and he loved Hashem infinitely more.

How could Hashem ask for this?

  • Today a man who said God told him to sacrifice his child would be seen as dangerous. In Avraham's time idolatry was everywhere and human sacrifice was a familiar pagan practice.
  • Human sacrifice is a disgusting thing, and Hashem never intended Yitzchak to die. The whole test was meant to bring a human being to the highest level possible, higher than the angels.

Who was greater at the Akedah, Avraham or Yitzchak?

  • Avraham: it is much harder to kill than to be killed, all the more so his own only son, and by slaughter.
  • Yitzchak: he never heard the command from Hashem. He heard it secondhand from his father and could have asked for confirmation.
  • Each one is greater in his own way.

The step-by-step command, and Avraham becoming a Kohen

  • The command comes one step at a time, as a conversation. "Your son": I have two sons. "Your only one": each is the only son of his mother. "Whom you love": I love them both. "Yitzchak."
  • Avraham objected that he was not a Kohen, a priest, and could not bring an offering. Hashem answered that he was. When Shem, the High Priest, blessed Avraham after the war of the four kings, he blessed Avraham before he blessed Hashem, and because of that the priesthood passed to Avraham.
  • This happened on the 27th of Elul, when Avraham was 137 and Yitzchak was 37. Three days later, the day of the Akedah, was Rosh Hashanah.

How Avraham told Sarah: the yeshiva plan

  • Sarah was 127 and had fasted and prayed all her life for a son. If Avraham told her, she would try to stop him. If he left without telling her, she would die of grief when she found out.
  • He made a feast, and over dessert he told her that Yitzchak, at 37, had not yet learned Hashem's commandments in depth. A good yeshiva nearby would let him sharpen his mind with young men his age.
  • Sarah agreed, but she cried all night. She begged Avraham to watch over him, make sure he ate on time and dressed warmly, never be harsh with him, and not leave him away too long.
  • She dressed Yitzchak like a prince in the finest clothes Avimelech had given her, and through her tears she baked his favorite foods for the trip.
  • Seeing her pain, Avraham and his 318 men sat and cried with her until she fell asleep from exhaustion and grief. She cried this much even though she only thought he was going to yeshiva.

Eliezer and Yishmael wait below

  • The Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer says the two young men guessed what Avraham was about to do.
  • Yishmael thought that if Yitzchak were killed, he would inherit everything. Eliezer told him he was no longer Avraham's son, since Avraham had sent him away, and that he, the faithful servant, would get it all. So they sat and argued over the inheritance.
  • Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan notes that the Romans made a condemned man carry his own cross. L'havdil, Yitzchak carrying the wood was a hint of what was about to happen to him.
  • Another reason for the wood: the more effort Yitzchak put into the mitzvah, the more merit he earned. Some also say that Yitzchak, being younger, walked much faster, and the wood slowed him down so they could walk together.

Yitzchak's worry about the rumor

  • "My father" / "Here I am, my son": people were still saying Avimelech was Yitzchak's real father. Yitzchak worried that seeing him offered up would confirm it, since no real father would bring his own son to be slaughtered.
  • Avraham answered that it was the opposite. No one would offer an illegitimate child, so everyone would know the rumors were false.

The Satan and Avraham: intellect over emotion

  • The Satan came to Avraham as an old man and asked where he was going with wood and a knife. Avraham said they might stay a day or two and needed supplies. The Satan exploded: You old fool, you got a son at a hundred and you will kill him?
  • His arguments: Hashem does not command the unthinkable. Maybe it was a dream, and tomorrow you will dream you should jump in a lake. Even if you were awake, tell Hashem that a gift cannot be taken back. And if you misunderstood, you are nothing but a murderer.
  • Avraham looked him in the eye: Unclean creature, get away from here. I know who you are. My heart is bound to Hashem and your arguments are wind. Even if He commanded me far more than this, I would obey.
  • The lesson: Judaism is led by intellect, not emotion. When emotions are in charge, a person lives in doubt and cannot tell what he is feeling. When the intellect is in charge, he sees with complete clarity what is right and wrong.

The Satan and Yitzchak, the river, and Sarah

  • The Satan came to Yitzchak as a young man and told him his father was going to sacrifice him. Yitzchak said that if it was Hashem's will, he was ready.
  • Then the Satan went for Yitzchak's emotions: his mother, who fasted until ninety for a son, would die of grief, and she had sent away Hagar and Yishmael just to protect him. If he died, Yishmael, her worst enemy, would inherit everything.
  • It was outrageous slander, but it touched Yitzchak and he was somewhat discouraged. He told his father the man's words were logical and asked him to ask Hashem one more time. Avraham told him the man was the Satan trying to make him sin. If he had the least doubt about the prophecy, he would never put Yitzchak through this, so they must go ahead with great joy.
  • Next the Satan became a raging river. Avraham walked in, pulling Yitzchak along, until the water reached their necks. He realized no river is that deep even in the rainy season, told Yitzchak it was solid ground, and kept going until the water reached their mouths. Then the Satan fled and the river disappeared.
  • The Satan went to Sarah and told her she would never see her son again. She answered, "If that is what Hashem wants, so be it" (Yalkut Shimoni). The Satan had no power over Avraham, Yitzchak or Sarah.

Preparing the altar on Mount Moriah

  • Avraham was afraid the Satan would throw a rock at Yitzchak and give him a blemish, which would disqualify him as an offering. So he hid Yitzchak in a cave while he prepared everything, following the principle that one should hide in a time of danger.
  • The ancient altar had stood unused from the Flood in the year 1657 until this year, 2085, a span of 428 years, so it had to be repaired.
  • Avraham laid Yitzchak on the wood before lighting the fire, which is the order of the afternoon offering: slaughter first, then fire.

Yitzchak's last requests

  • Yitzchak helped finish the altar, making it beautiful like a wedding. He asked his father to burn him completely and bring some of the ashes back to his mother, so that in her pain she could look at them and remember how gladly he did Hashem's will.
  • He felt for his father: his own suffering would be over in a moment, but Avraham would live with it for the rest of his life. Avraham answered that his years were few and Hashem would shelter him.
  • He asked that his mother be told gently, and not when she was on a roof or near a well, in case the shock led her to take her own life. He said he could not forget her tears the night before they left.
  • He asked to be tied tightly. Instinct would make him flinch or try to protect his throat. Being younger and stronger, he might even knock his father unconscious. A struggle would make the slaughter invalid and would violate the honor due to a father. Yitzchak is the model of honoring a father: even in that moment he made sure not to dishonor him.
  • Avraham tied his arms and legs behind him face down, then turned him face up. He put his knee on him the way a shochet (ritual slaughterer) steadies an animal, and held his throat with his left hand. As Avraham bound Yitzchak, Hashem bound the guardian angels of all the nations, leaving them no power against the Jewish people.

The tears, the angels' plea, and Hashem's answer

  • As Avraham held the knife to Yitzchak's throat, tears fell from his eyes into Yitzchak's eyes (Bereishis Rabbah). The full weight of it hit Yitzchak, and he began to pray to be spared. In Selichos we say "He who answered Yitzchak on the altar, answer us": we are as helpless as Yitzchak lying bound.
  • The angels wept before Hashem: You are called merciful, so have mercy on him. You promised Avraham descendants through Yitzchak and showed him the Temple. Who will receive the Torah? Have mercy on this old father, and let all he has done so far be enough.
  • Yitzchak was looking up to heaven and saw the angels. Avraham, looking at Yitzchak, did not see them.
  • Hashem reminded the angels that 2,085 years earlier, when He was about to create Adam, they had asked, "What is man that You should remember him?" Humans would sin and had no advantage. Had they known Avraham, they would not have said that.
  • Hashem put Avraham through all this to show that a human being, using free will to choose what is right, can be greater than the angels. Now that the angels admitted it, His point was made. He never wanted Yitzchak killed.

Why does the angel say "now I know"?

  • Don't angels know everything? The Zohar teaches that an angel cannot read a person's thoughts unless Hashem reveals them. That is why the angels had to ask Avraham, "Where is Sarah your wife?" Only now did the angel know Avraham's innermost motives.
  • "Yada'ti", I know, is the word used for Adam's intimate bond with Chava. Avraham had reached a relationship of intimacy with Hashem.
  • "You did not withhold your son mimeni, from me": the angel may mean "from myself". Every mitzvah creates an angel, with each detail of the mitzvah forming part of it. This angel was created by the mitzvah of the Akedah, and it saw in its own completeness that Avraham had done the mitzvah perfectly. Others say the angel was Michael.
  • The call came from heaven rather than from Hashem Himself, so as not to terrify Avraham. A human being would be frozen with fear.

"Bring him up", not "slaughter him", and the gift of the shofar

  • Avraham told the angel he had a command from Hashem Himself and could not obey a lower one. So Hashem opened the seven heavens and Avraham saw that Hashem no longer wanted it done.
  • Avraham asked: You promised me descendants through Yitzchak, then told me to offer him, and now You say don't. How can You say two different things?
  • Hashem answered that He never changed His mind. He said "ha'alehu le'olah", bring him up as an offering. He never said slaughter him. Avraham was meant to understand it as slaughter, because that was the test, but the command itself was to bring him all the way to that point, and Hashem would count it as if the offering had been made.
  • The parable: a king tells his friend to put the prince on the table, and the friend puts him on the platter and hands the king a knife. "We are not cannibals! I meant seat him at the table beside me, as a prince."
  • The Tanchuma says Avraham refused to budge until Hashem granted his request. He had not held Hashem to His promise, so when Yitzchak's descendants sin, Hashem should remember the Akedah, count it as if Yitzchak's ashes lay on this altar, and let that merit save them. He also asked never to be tested again, because next time he might not be able to control his emotions.
  • Hashem answered that today is Rosh Hashanah, when everyone is judged and their deeds are written in a book. If they blow a ram's horn as a shofar, He will remember the Akedah for them. Hashem also told Avraham that the Akedah outweighed all his other tests and that he would never suffer again.

The tangled ram and what became of it

  • The ram ran toward Avraham, but the Satan kept confusing it, and again and again it got its horns caught in the thorns before freeing itself.
  • Hashem showed Avraham the meaning: a time will come when your descendants are tangled in sin like this ram. If they repent, I will forgive them in the merit of Yitzchak. Repentance is the condition.
  • With tears streaming down his face, Avraham prayed: just as I held back my pity for my own son to do Your will, hold back Your anger and have pity on Your children, and let the Akedah protect them.
  • Nothing of the ram was wasted. Its ashes became the foundation of the great altar in Shlomo's Temple. Its ten sinews became the strings of King David's harp. Its skin became Eliyahu's belt. Its left horn was the shofar blown at Mount Sinai.
  • Its right horn will be blown when Moshiach comes. When we say in Shemoneh Esrei "Sound the great shofar for our freedom", we mean the right horn of this ram.

A valley that became a mountain

  • The Tanchuma says the place had been a valley and became a mountain for this event.
  • No one else was there to witness the Akedah. When people saw a great valley turned into a huge mountain, they understood that a miracle had happened and that the story really took place.

Stars and sand

  • If Avraham's descendants do Hashem's will, they will be like the stars, high above. If not, they will be like sand that everyone walks on.
  • Sand also stands for humility. A Jew can be as great as the stars while staying humble like the sand, because humility is the foundation of Judaism.

Where did Yitzchak go?

  • Avraham stayed in Be'er Sheva for a few days so that people would not congratulate him and it would not go to his head, and then he went home to Chevron.
  • He brought Yitzchak to Shem's yeshiva. It is better to learn Torah from someone other than a parent, who is too familiar. Learning with peers is good, and Shem was a better teacher. Until then Sarah had not wanted Yitzchak to leave home, but now that he was already away, she would accept it.
  • Avraham brought him there at night, in secret, so that no one, not even Yishmael, would see him and cast an evil eye on him after such miracles. Chananya, Mishael and Azarya were never mentioned again after they were saved from the furnace, and some say they died from the evil eye.
  • Another opinion holds that Avraham had actually begun to cut and pierced Yitzchak's windpipe. When Avraham turned to look for the ram, angels took Yitzchak to Gan Eden, where he healed over three years, and he came back just before Rivka arrived.

Rivka is born into Avraham's family

  • Avraham thought of finding a wife for Yitzchak among the daughters of his friends Aner, Eshkol and Mamre, who were Canaanites but very righteous. Hashem told him no.
  • Avraham's brother Haran died in the fire. Haran's children were Lot, Sarah and Milkah, and Avraham's other brother Nachor married Milkah.
  • Nachor and Milkah were old and childless for a long time. For Avraham's sake Hashem made a miracle, and Nachor had twelve children, matching the twelve tribes that would come from Yaakov. His granddaughter Rivka, the daughter of Besuel, would marry Yitzchak.

Everything good we have comes from the Akedah

  • All the good in our lives today comes from the merit of Avraham bringing Yitzchak to the altar.
  • The point was never human sacrifice. The point was to show that a human being can rise higher than the angels, and that merit stands for us still.
Review questions
  1. Give two reasons Hashem tested Avraham even though He already knew Avraham's heart.
  2. Why did Hashem make the journey to Mount Moriah take three days, and what does the story of Mesha king of Moab show?
  3. Why did Yitzchak ask his father to tie him up tightly?
  4. The angel says "Do not send forth your hand" and "Do not do anything to him." What does each phrase teach?
  5. How did Hashem answer Avraham's question that He seemed to say two different things, and what parable explains it?
  6. What became of the different parts of the ram, and which part do we mention in Shemoneh Esrei?
Sources
  • Me'am Loez — the main text of the class, with its twenty questions on the Akedah
  • Bereishis Rabbah — Mesha king of Moab; Avraham's feast without an offering; Avraham's remorse; the cloud on the mountain; Avraham's tears falling into Yitzchak's eyes
  • Gemara Sanhedrin 89b — the Satan's accusation that Avraham offered nothing at the feast; "kach na" and the parable of the general's final battle
  • Gemara Shabbos 30b — a depressed person cannot receive prophecy, so Avraham must have been in joy
  • Zohar — the Satan as a beggar at the feast; angels cannot read human thoughts
  • Yalkut Shimoni — Avraham leaving quietly so Sarah would not stop them; Sarah's answer to the Satan
  • Targum Yonasson — the two young men were Eliezer and Yishmael
  • Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer — Avraham saw the Shechinah on the mountain; Eliezer and Yishmael arguing over the inheritance
  • Yefeh To'ar — "we will return" as a prophetic slip; the wood on Yitzchak as a hint
  • Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan — the Roman custom of making the condemned man carry his own cross
  • Midrash Tanchuma — the altar opposite the Throne of Glory; the Satan knocking away the knife; Avraham's petition; the valley that became a mountain
  • Selichos — "He who answered Yitzchak on the altar" and "He who answered Avraham on Mount Moriah"
  • Shemoneh Esrei — "Sound the great shofar" refers to the right horn of Avraham's ram