actual Torah
Nov. 17th, 2005 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theyellowhobbitTell me what you think. Penn people, if you want to be surprised, don't read this now.
As many of you may know, I’m both a Jewish studies and an anthropology major. Which of course leads many people to ask questions, such as “are you going to be a rabbi?” “why aren’t you at Stern?” “how are you going to get a job,” and my favorite “do you still keep halacha?” The answer to that last one, despite learning “kefira” in both of my majors, is yes. And I’ve actually learned some Torah in my classes, and since I took a class called “the Binding of Isaac” I figured today I’d talk about the binding of Isaac. As a disclaimer, I only got a B+ in the class, so this may be a B+ level d’var.
The text of the akeidah is very problematic, no matter how you interpret it. The very obvious question that every rabbi tries to answer is why did G-d ask Abraham to sacrifice his son?
The easiest answer comes in the Midrash Tanhuma:
Another interpretation: Now it came to pass after these things. This text is related to (Ps. 89:35) I will not defile my covenant, nor will I alter the utterance of my lips. Rabbi Aha said I will not defile my covenant, the one which I made with Abraham when I said to him (Gen 21:12) For in Isaac shall seed be summoned for you. (Ps. 89:35) Nor will I alter the utterance of my lips, because I said to him (Gen 22:2) Please take . A parable: To what is this comparable? To a king who said to his friend “I yearn to see a small child on my table.” Immediately his friend went, brought his son, and set him on the table before the king. Then he went and brought his sword to slaughter him. Immediately, however, the king cried out and said to him “What are you doing?” He said to him “But did you not say to me ‘I yearn to see a small child on my table’?” He said to him “I told you a living child. Would I have possibly meant a dead one?”…
And now the rabbis draw a comparison to 2 other well-known child-sacrifice stories in Tanach, the stories of Jephtath and Moab. [Insert selections from Judges 11 here. Go To:http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0711.htm] Some say that Jephtath didn’t actually kill his daughter, but she lived a life of chastity, and was never able to get married and have kids.
The king of Moab was fighting a battle against Israel. In the end, he was losing, so as a last-ditch effort to try and turn the tide of the war, he sacrificed his son:
(2 Kings, Ch 3) 26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through unto the king of Edom; but they could not. 27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there came great wrath upon Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
So in the Midrash, comparing these stories to the akeidah, it says:
Thus our masters have taught (Jer. 19:5) and they have built the high places to Baal, for burning their sons in the fire, burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind. I did not command Jephthath to sacrifice his daughter, and I did not tell the King of Moab to sacrifice his son. Moreover, it never entered My mind to tell Abraham to slaughter his son.
The p’shat of this text, however, would read otherwise. Although it’s true that G-d didn’t command Jephtath to sacrifice his daughter, or Moab to sacrifice his son, in this perek G-d pretty explicitly tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. The pasook says: ב וַיֹּאמֶר קַח-נָא אֶת-בִּנְךָ אֶת-יְחִידְךָ
אֲשֶׁר-אָהַבְתָּ, אֶת-יִצְחָק, וְלֶךְ-לְךָ, אֶל-אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם, לְעֹלָה, עַל אַחַד הֶהָרִים, אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ. 2 And G-d said: 'Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.'
Some Rabbis say that the akeidah was actually a test for Isaac. One Midrash says:
Isaac and Ishmael were engaged in a controversy. Ishmael said to him, "I am more beloved than you, since I was circumcised at the age of thirteen, but you were circumcised as a baby and could not refuse." Isaac retorted, "All that you gave to the Holy One, blessed be He, was three drops of blood. But behold, I am now 37 years old, yet if God desired of me that I be slaughtered, I would not refuse." The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "This is the moment!"
Isaac went willingly to be slaughtered, and even asked his dad to bind him, to make sure that he didn’t move and make the sacrifice unkosher. By doing this, Isaac gained merit, which we, as his descendants, can all use when we approach G-d and ask for blessing or forgiveness.
Another way the Rabbis have interpreted the text is that this ordeal was a test for Abraham. One Midrash superimposes the story of Job on the akeidah. G-d states how great His servant Abraham is, and Ha Satan questions how far his faith will go. G-d says that Abraham would sacrifice his own son for Him. And thus, we have the akeidah.
But this, too is problematic. Why would G-d be bragging about Abraham if he knew this would happen? Why must he prove anything to Ha Satan?
Maybe the test isn’t so any Heavenly force will know Abraham’s righteousness, but so Abraham will know of his rightousness. Let’s take a look at that with…another Midrash! [Are you sick of Midrashim yet?]
The Lord trieth the righteous… (Ps. 11:5). R Jonathan said: A potter does not examine defective vessels, because he cannot give them a single blow without breaking them. What does he examine? Only the sound vessels, for he will not break them with many blows. Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, tests not the wicked but the righteous, as it says, The Lord trieth the righteous. R Yose bar R. Chanina said: When a flax worker knows that his flax is of good quality, the more he beats it the more it improves and the more it glistens; but if it is of inferior quality, he cannot give it one knock without it splitting. Similarly, The Lord does not test the wicked, but only the righteous. R. Eleazar said: When a man possesses two cows, one strong and the other feeble, upon which does he put the yoke? Surely upon the strong one. Similarly, G-d tests none but the righteous. (Midrash Rabbah)
So G-d only tests those that he knows are righteous, and by testing these people, they become stronger.
I don’t know about all of you, but I certainly can’t call myself righteous. I’m sure we’ve all messed up at some point in our lives. However, we’re all trying in our own way to serve Hashem, and He knows that. And I think He tests us.
But why do we need to be stronger? Wouldn’t it be better to be weak and happy? Is this really what is best for us? Maybe these are the questions of the unfaithful, those of us who stop trusting G-d after enough bad things happen to them.
Several people have told me that “everything happens for a reason, no matter how bad it is, and even if you can’t see the purpose behind it, know that there is one.” Sometimes it’s hard to believe that’s true, that G-d loves us, and everything He is doing for us is for our own good. Our yeitzer hara comes in, and we become skeptical, and wonder why we’re going through everything hard in life, and is G-d really just, and does G-d really love everyone like it says in Tanach?
But the key is to have faith, even when it’s really hard to do so, and to keep the mitzvot, even when you see no point in keeping them anymore. Abraham was said to be a paragon of faith. Thus, this story is included in the Torah in order to teach us that if we don’t lose faith in G-d, He will help us through even our hardest ordeals, because they are all tests that He has given us. To give up would be the easy way, but to overcome challenges is what G-d wants of us, and this is how we grow. Indeed, this is how we live.
As many of you may know, I’m both a Jewish studies and an anthropology major. Which of course leads many people to ask questions, such as “are you going to be a rabbi?” “why aren’t you at Stern?” “how are you going to get a job,” and my favorite “do you still keep halacha?” The answer to that last one, despite learning “kefira” in both of my majors, is yes. And I’ve actually learned some Torah in my classes, and since I took a class called “the Binding of Isaac” I figured today I’d talk about the binding of Isaac. As a disclaimer, I only got a B+ in the class, so this may be a B+ level d’var.
The text of the akeidah is very problematic, no matter how you interpret it. The very obvious question that every rabbi tries to answer is why did G-d ask Abraham to sacrifice his son?
The easiest answer comes in the Midrash Tanhuma:
Another interpretation: Now it came to pass after these things
And now the rabbis draw a comparison to 2 other well-known child-sacrifice stories in Tanach, the stories of Jephtath and Moab. [Insert selections from Judges 11 here. Go To:http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0711.htm] Some say that Jephtath didn’t actually kill his daughter, but she lived a life of chastity, and was never able to get married and have kids.
The king of Moab was fighting a battle against Israel. In the end, he was losing, so as a last-ditch effort to try and turn the tide of the war, he sacrificed his son:
(2 Kings, Ch 3) 26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through unto the king of Edom; but they could not. 27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there came great wrath upon Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
So in the Midrash, comparing these stories to the akeidah, it says:
Thus our masters have taught (Jer. 19:5) and they have built the high places to Baal, for burning their sons in the fire, burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind. I did not command Jephthath to sacrifice his daughter, and I did not tell the King of Moab to sacrifice his son. Moreover, it never entered My mind to tell Abraham to slaughter his son.
The p’shat of this text, however, would read otherwise. Although it’s true that G-d didn’t command Jephtath to sacrifice his daughter, or Moab to sacrifice his son, in this perek G-d pretty explicitly tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. The pasook says: ב וַיֹּאמֶר קַח-נָא אֶת-בִּנְךָ אֶת-יְחִידְךָ
אֲשֶׁר-אָהַבְתָּ, אֶת-יִצְחָק, וְלֶךְ-לְךָ, אֶל-אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם, לְעֹלָה, עַל אַחַד הֶהָרִים, אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ. 2 And G-d said: 'Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.'
Some Rabbis say that the akeidah was actually a test for Isaac. One Midrash says:
Isaac and Ishmael were engaged in a controversy. Ishmael said to him, "I am more beloved than you, since I was circumcised at the age of thirteen, but you were circumcised as a baby and could not refuse." Isaac retorted, "All that you gave to the Holy One, blessed be He, was three drops of blood. But behold, I am now 37 years old, yet if God desired of me that I be slaughtered, I would not refuse." The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "This is the moment!"
Isaac went willingly to be slaughtered, and even asked his dad to bind him, to make sure that he didn’t move and make the sacrifice unkosher. By doing this, Isaac gained merit, which we, as his descendants, can all use when we approach G-d and ask for blessing or forgiveness.
Another way the Rabbis have interpreted the text is that this ordeal was a test for Abraham. One Midrash superimposes the story of Job on the akeidah. G-d states how great His servant Abraham is, and Ha Satan questions how far his faith will go. G-d says that Abraham would sacrifice his own son for Him. And thus, we have the akeidah.
But this, too is problematic. Why would G-d be bragging about Abraham if he knew this would happen? Why must he prove anything to Ha Satan?
Maybe the test isn’t so any Heavenly force will know Abraham’s righteousness, but so Abraham will know of his rightousness. Let’s take a look at that with…another Midrash! [Are you sick of Midrashim yet?]
The Lord trieth the righteous… (Ps. 11:5). R Jonathan said: A potter does not examine defective vessels, because he cannot give them a single blow without breaking them. What does he examine? Only the sound vessels, for he will not break them with many blows. Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, tests not the wicked but the righteous, as it says, The Lord trieth the righteous. R Yose bar R. Chanina said: When a flax worker knows that his flax is of good quality, the more he beats it the more it improves and the more it glistens; but if it is of inferior quality, he cannot give it one knock without it splitting. Similarly, The Lord does not test the wicked, but only the righteous. R. Eleazar said: When a man possesses two cows, one strong and the other feeble, upon which does he put the yoke? Surely upon the strong one. Similarly, G-d tests none but the righteous. (Midrash Rabbah)
So G-d only tests those that he knows are righteous, and by testing these people, they become stronger.
I don’t know about all of you, but I certainly can’t call myself righteous. I’m sure we’ve all messed up at some point in our lives. However, we’re all trying in our own way to serve Hashem, and He knows that. And I think He tests us.
But why do we need to be stronger? Wouldn’t it be better to be weak and happy? Is this really what is best for us? Maybe these are the questions of the unfaithful, those of us who stop trusting G-d after enough bad things happen to them.
Several people have told me that “everything happens for a reason, no matter how bad it is, and even if you can’t see the purpose behind it, know that there is one.” Sometimes it’s hard to believe that’s true, that G-d loves us, and everything He is doing for us is for our own good. Our yeitzer hara comes in, and we become skeptical, and wonder why we’re going through everything hard in life, and is G-d really just, and does G-d really love everyone like it says in Tanach?
But the key is to have faith, even when it’s really hard to do so, and to keep the mitzvot, even when you see no point in keeping them anymore. Abraham was said to be a paragon of faith. Thus, this story is included in the Torah in order to teach us that if we don’t lose faith in G-d, He will help us through even our hardest ordeals, because they are all tests that He has given us. To give up would be the easy way, but to overcome challenges is what G-d wants of us, and this is how we grow. Indeed, this is how we live.
