In the akeda, Avraham was asked not only to sacrifice his beloved son but also to sacrifice his future and his destiny. How did he confront this challenge, and what can we learn from it?
This week we will concentrate on Avraham’s religious commitment and devotion. Of course, the most obvious example is the akeida, in which Avraham, in a profound act of faith, is asked to sacrifice not only his son, but his moral teachings as well. I prefer, however, a less obvious and probably less known example.
Avraham's argument with God regarding the possibility of sparing Sedom is difficult to understand, as is the absence of the mention of Lot from the discussion. What was Avraham trying to accomplish, and did he succeed in the end?
The episode of Lot's rescue from Sedom raises many interesting questions: Why does Rashi connect this event to Pesach? Why did Lot's daughters think the world was destroyed? And where did they get that fateful bottle of wine?
What is the implication of the fact that Avraham was "chosen" by God? In this shiur, we will explore how this chosen-ness affected how God related to Avraham's pleas for justice, as opposed to the pleas of Iyov.
In this shiur, we will examine the unique approach of the Rashbam to the Akeida and attempt to explain how it fits into the plain sense of the verses, and we will offer our own explanation that reconciles his view with that of most of the commentators.
