Avraham vs. Iyov

 

 

            The story of the Akeida opens with the words, "And it came to pass after these things" (Bereishit 22:1). Rashi (based on the Gemara in Sanhedrin 89b) proposes two explanations:

 

 

            The two conversations that Rashi reports as having preceded the Akeida are not recorded in Scripture. The disagreement between the two views of Chazal cited by Rashi relates to the question of whether the hero of the Akeida was Avraham or Yitzchak. An argument can be made for both options, and this disagreement is found also in various piyyutim and midrashim. Since in my opinion the biblical passage points to Avraham as the hero, I will focus on the first opinion cited by Rashi, which deals with the conversation between God and Satan.

 

            From where did the Sages derive this conversation between God and Satan? Why was Avraham denounced for not having sacrificed a bullock or a ram at any of the banquets that he had prepared? The answer to these questions is found at the beginning of the book of Iyov:

 

 

The Satan who denounced Iyov is the same Satan who denounced Avraham according to Chazal.

 

Chazal also took the accusation regarding Avraham's failure to offer sacrifices at his banquets from what is reported earlier about Iyov:

 

 

Iyov offered sacrifices as an inseparable part of his feast days, and this is what Satan expected Avraham to do at his banquets.

 

Chazal dealt at length with the comparison between Avraham and Iyov, especially in light of the first words of Elifaz the Temanite:

 

 

Chazal compared this verse to the beginning of the account of the Akeida: "And God tried (nisa) Avraham" (Bereishit 22:1). The Midrash says as follows:

 

 

            All three opinions in the Midrash relate to one central idea: loneliness. If Avraham would offer Yitzchak as a sacrifice, his relationship with his wife Sara, with his friends and with all the people who recognize the novelty of his teachings would collapse. Iyov complains about such loneliness the entire length of his book:

 

 

The midrashim of Chazal teach that Avraham and Iyov were close in time and place:

 

 

"The land of Utz" has not been unequivocally identified, but there are those who locate it very close to Charan. If this identification is correct, it turns out that Iyov and Avraham lived in the same generation and in close proximity. It is possible that the two of them were candidates for establishing God's people from their descendants. In the end, Avraham was chosen, and Iyov was rejected.

 

Why did God choose Avraham? As stated, Avraham and Iyov were threatened by loneliness, but Avraham was ready to accept that loneliness, and not heed Satan. Avraham uttered only a single word at the Akeida: "Hineni, Here am I." He accepted everything that happened in submission and in silence. As opposed to Avraham, Iyov had much to say, and even cast accusations against God. He broke. It is true that in the concluding verses in Iyov it is stated:

 

 

But was Iyov actually a righteous man? In the Gemara one opinion states:

 

 

In the verse cited above, there is no hint to the notion that Iyov was headed for Gehinom. Why then were Chazal so severe in their judgment, banishing him from the World-to-Come? It would appear that Iyov made peace with God, but did not merit to reach the level of Avraham. Avraham was chosen to establish the nation of God, and thus merited the World-to-Come, eternal life. Iyov remained righteous and pious, but closed up within himself, without laying the foundations for a people of God.

 

 

            The comparison between Avraham and Iyov raises another question. Earlier in our parasha we encountered Avraham's seemingly brazen words to God regarding the fate of the cities of Sedom and Amora. How is it possible that Avraham formulated his words in such a decisive manner? Avraham was required to teach his children "the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice" (Bereishit 18:19), and therefore he had to understand God's way, identify with it, and even judge it. Nevertheless, as much as we appreciate the need to examine the manner in which God governs His world so that we can educate our children in its light, it is hard to ignore the danger in such an examination. For it is but a step away from the path taken by Iyov, who momentarily lost his innocent faith in the justice of God's judgment and asserted: “It is all one; therefore I say: He destroys the innocent and the wicked” (Iyov 9:22). Elifaz too accuses him of this:

 

 

Who can guarantee a person that he will know how to distinguish between examining the truth of God's judgments for the purpose of teaching his children, as Avraham did in connection with Sedom, and examining the truth of His judgments because of doubts and uncertainties whether God is indeed a righteous judge, as did Iyov? Who can guarantee Avraham that the personal example that he provided his descendants when he cast accusations at Heaven will be a favorable example, and not, God forbid, open the door to the path taken by Iyov in the time of his afflictions, a path that was defined by Chazal (Bava Batra 16a) as blasphemy?

 

It seems to me that the Akeida comes to answer this question. In addition to the test of his readiness for self-sacrifice, Avraham faced another test, which may not have been any easier than the first: a test of his faith in a God of righteousness and justice. For Avraham could have asked:  What will that God who sentenced Sedom to destruction for the cry of one girl answer regarding the cry of an old woman whose only child was taken from her to be slaughtered on Mount Moriya? Does the God of justice have an answer to this question? Is a God who made multiple covenants with Avraham, and promised the land to his seed, and now comes and rips it all to shreds with that awful command: "And offer him there for a burnt-offering" – is He the God of justice?

 

For three full days, God gives Avraham the opportunity to contemplate these difficult questions as he makes his way to the Akeida. But over the course of all three days Avraham says only one word to his Creator: Hineni, here I am. In the four hundred and eighty verses in the book of Iyov this word does not appear even once. Those three days of silence and acceptance of God's judgment during which Avraham headed to Mount Moriya, dispel any fear that the way that he was teaching the world's inhabitants was one of "blasphemy," as Iyov did. That single world of Avraham when he received the command – Hineni – establishes a tall barrier between Iyov, who examined God's ways of justice and judgment based on doubt about their existence, and Avraham, who lovingly accepted God's command with innocent faith and without any possibility of finding an answer to his questions about God's way.

 

Avraham behaves, then, in what appear to be two contradictory manners. In the story of Sedom, he strongly expresses his opinion about God's justice, he argues with Him, and does not move from there until his demand for justice is accepted. On the other hand, in the story of the Akeida, he accepts his incomprehensible sentence, which seems to be unjust. He accepts it in silence, without question, with innocent faith.

 

It is possible that this difference in Avraham's approach to God's judgment stems from his educational role. In the story of Sedom, Avraham expresses his opinion, for his involvement in what is happening is only so that he may command his children and his household after him. But when God commands him to offer Yitzchak as a sacrifice and to send Yishmael away, he understands that in fact he will not have any sons to instruct and educate. If so, it appears that God has some profound plan that he cannot understand, and here is the place for naive faith, faith that is not accompanied by any explanation or even a trace of logic.

 

In both missions, learning God's way and maintaining his innocent faith in Him, Avraham passes with honor.

 

 

As was explained earlier, the comparison between Avraham and Iyov is what led Chazal to their midrash about Satan denouncing Avraham. In other midrashim we find that Satan accompanied Avraham during the Akeida, or to be more precise, during the three days that he advanced toward the Akeida:

 

 

 

The struggle with Satan may be connected to the “young men” who set out with Avraham on the journey. We mentioned earlier the midrash that describes how Satan warned Avraham of the loneliness he would suffer were he to slaughter Yitzchak. Perhaps these warnings were sounded by his young men,[2] which in the end brought Avraham to cast them off with the blunt words: "Sit you here with the ass." Only Yitzchak and Avraham, who continued on their way despite their questions, merited seeing the cloud rest on the mountain and ascending Mount Moriya.

 

The Gemara in Rosh Hashana deals with the order of blowing the shofar:

 

 

Rabbi Yitzchak explains that even though the main shofar blasts are "the blasts sounded while standing up," the blasts adjacent to the blessings of the Amida prayer (according to some, during the silent Amida prayer, and according to others, during the prayer leader's repetition of the Amida), they are preceded by "the blasts sounded while seated," before the Mussaf prayer, in order to confuse Satan. It may be suggested that the period before the Mussaf prayer, the time of the blasts sounded while seated, corresponds to the three days of struggle with Satan. The shofar blasts come to confuse him, to persuade Avraham and those who hear the blasts of the righteousness of God's path.

 

Only after we overcome Satan can we ascend Mount Moriya and recite the Mussaf service. Then, Rabbi Abbahu says, the shofar corresponds to the ram of Yitzchak, the ram that informed Avraham that Yitzchak merited the attribute of mercy, and that he would descend from the altar alive and well.

 

 

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