YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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READING MIDRASH
By Rav Ezra Bick

Shiur #16: Akeida (1)

	Not surprisingly, the story of the akeida, Avraham's binding of Yitzchak on the altar, attracted one of the longer sections in the midrash. There are many different topics discussed by the midrash in this context, and we shall not exhaust them all, not by a long shot. This week, we shall approach just one of those topics.

A. "Nisayon"

"And it was, after those things, that God tested ("nisa") Avraham…."
It is written, "You have given they who fear You a ************ (Psalms 60).
One test ("nisayon") after another, and one elevation after another, in order to test them in the world - in order to elevate them in the world, like the mast ("nes") of a ship. And why all this? For "koshet," in order that the attribute of justice be enhanced in the world. 
For if a man should say to you: He enriches whom He pleases, impoverishes whom He wishes, and makes king whom He wishes, just as He made Avraham a king when He wanted to and made him rich when He wanted to;
You can answer him: Can you do that which Avraham our father did? 
And he will say to you: What did he do?
And you will say to him: For Avraham was one hundred years old when (Yitzchak) was born; and after all that anguish he was told: Take you son, your only son, and he did not hesitate.
This is "You have given those who fear You a mast to rise above." (55,1)

	The midrash associates the word "nisa," properly translated as "tested," with the noun "nes," which means a mast, a high pole, visible afar in all directions. God, by virtue of the story of the akeida, made Avraham into a mast, which publicizes an important point about God's justice. A superficial view of the world leads one to argue that God is capricious in His providence. Avraham's great accomplishment in the trial of the akeida is the rebuttal - whatever special favor Avraham received was merited by his unique dedication to the will of God.

	The important point here, I think, is not the particular lesson the midrash derives from this story, but the basic idea that Avraham's trail in the akeida is not to provide information about Avraham to God, nor to have some particular effect on Avraham's personality, but to serve as a spiritual lesson for the rest of the world. Avraham's travails are for the sake of the spiritual welfare of mankind, for his life is a lesson and therefore God takes special pains to ensure that his deeds be so unusual that they be instantly publicized - visible to the world like the tall mast of a ship on the horizon. In other words, the reason for the akeida is not inherent in Avraham's own life; that is, it is not necessary that Avraham perform such a heroic deed in order to genuinely deserve the rewards he receives and the favor he finds in God's eyes. Justice itself has no complaints about Avraham. But part of being "one who fears God" is serving the sanctification of His name in the world, and hence a precondition is that one's life and deeds be "visible." For this it is necessary that they be unusual, breathtaking and amazing in the eyes of the onlookers, and hence the very extremeness of the akeida, its apparent unfairness and superhuman demands, is a necessary component of its goal, the PUBLICIZING of the fear of God in the world.

	The akeida is, in terms of the narrative of the Torah, just about the last event in the life of Avraham. Interestingly enough, the very first event in the Torah's narration of the life of Avraham is also connected by the midrash to God's desire to publicize the righteousness of Avraham.

And God said to Avraham (Take yourself from your land…)."
R. Berachya began: "Your oils are good for fragrance, your name is poured forth like oil" (Shir Hashirim 1,3).
R. Berachya said: For Avraham was like a sealed vial of myrrh oil lying in the corner, whose fragrance does not carry; but when it is moved about, its fragrance carries. So too did God say to our father Avraham: Move yourself from place to place, and your name shall be made great in the world. (39,2)

	This instance of this motive for God's command to Avraham is less striking than the akeida, simply because the act required of Avraham is less striking and less unusual. Besides, we have been conditioned to think of many other reasons why God commanded Avraham to leave Charan and go to the land we know to be the Land of Israel, not least of which that the Land of Israel is a blessing for Avraham. Nevertheless, the basic point is the same. This particular midrash views the voyage as a "tiltul," a trouble for Avraham, whose main purpose is to expose him to others by having his "hidden" qualities come to the fore.

	These two stories are linked by more than this midrash. Both are phrased by the command of God to go - "lekh lekha." The midrash at the beginning of Lekh Lekha notices this:

R. Levi said: "Lekh Lekha" is written two times, and we do not know which is more precious, the first or the second. From what is written (in the akeida, the second "lekh lekha") "to the land of Moria," we see that the second is more precious than the first. (39,9)

There is one noticeable difference between the original voyage of Avraham and the akeida, and that is that in the first case, God "sweetens" the pot, as it were, by promising Avraham to reward him, by making him a great nation, etc., which is exactly what is missing in the akeida, where God is asking Avraham to basically forfeit precisely those rewards promised him at the beginning of Lekh Lekha. Given the idea suggested by the last midrash I quoted, that Avraham's career is framed by the two instances of "lekh lekha," and that the second, where he is sent to Mount Moria (which is Jerusalem) rather than to the indefinite "land that I shall show you," is greater than the first, we might well understand that while Avraham at the beginning of his career still needs to be promised some kind of reward, at the end he demonstrates his total dedication by obeying without any sort of guarantee at all. In both cases Avraham is "going," travelling, which as we have seen means that he is visible and therefore publicizing for the world the justice of God, but in the second the ultimate goal, of showing how dedication to the will of God is the merit of Man, is that much greater.

B. Words

	A different midrash takes a radically different approach to the root cause of the akeida.

"And it came about after those things ("devarim" - translated by the midrash as words)…."
After the thoughts and words ("hirhurei devarim") that were there. Who was thinking?
Avraham was thinking and he said: I was happy and I made others happy; yet I did not put aside for God a single bull nor a single ram. God said to him: Even if I were to tell you to sacrifice your son to Me you would not hold back

According to R. Eliezer, it was the angels who said: This Avraham was happy and made others happy; yet he did not put aside for God neither a single bull nor a single ram. God said to them: Even if I were to tell him to sacrifice his son to Me, he would not hold back.

(Another opinion) Yitzchak and Yishmael were debating between themselves. One said: I am more beloved than you, for I was circumcised at the age of thirteen. The other said: I am more beloved than you, for I was circumcised at only eight days. Yishmael said to him: I am more beloved, for I was old enough to protest; yet I did not. At that moment Yitzchak said: If only God would come to me and ask that I cut off one of my limbs, I would do it. Immediately, "And God tested Avraham…." (55,4)

	All three midrashim see the akeida as a reaction to words, but the three explanations of which words draw very different pictures.

	The first midrash states that the words were Avraham's. Here the midrash is careful to write "hirhurei devarim," thoughts, rather than spoken words. I think that the midrash is referring to something even less explicit than mental words, rather, musings, misgivings, uncertainties, and doubts. Avraham is suffering from a subconscious anxiety. The greatest possible thing has happened, he has had a son, at the age of one hundred, who is the fulfillment of the dream of redemption of the entire world. God has shown him unimaginable favor. Avraham is plagued by doubts as to whether he is fulfilling his obligations to God. (See shiur #2 in this series, where we first discussed Avraham's anxiety concerning his spiritual status). The akeida is God's response, a measure to prove to Avraham himself that his dedication to God knows no limits. The test provides a sort of answer to doubt, though not for God, but for Avraham, and not really knowledge but reassurance, the sort of inner knowledge that only experience and not information provides. Avraham is being tested in order that he learn to know himself, as God already knows him.

	The second midrash places the identical question of Avraham from the first midrash into the mouths of the angels. This is not a technical switch of protagonist, for what is in the heart of Avraham a psychological expression of part humility and part insecurity is, in the mouths of the angels an objective complaint. As we shall see in a later shiur on the akeida, the collective voice of the angels is used by the Sages to express an objective logical argument to God. The angels expect, quite logically, that if Avraham is celebrating the birth of Yitzchak, part of the expression of that celebration should be in offering the appropriate sacrifice to God. God rejects this argument, but nonetheless shows why it is absurd. Avraham does not have to prove his devotion to God, for it is quite clear that he is ready to do so. For someone such as Avraham, whose heart is totally dedicated, an outward show of commitment, an actual sacrifice, is unnecessary. This, however, is only known to God, and, apparently, the demands of objective justice must be met with objective proof. Hence the necessity of the akeida. This story, accordingly, demonstrates both that God is ultimately only interested in the true inner commitment of Avraham, while at the same time admitting that in this physical world of creation, objective deeds are the only means of measuring justice.

	The third midrash takes a completely different approach. The akeida is not addressed to Avraham at all, but to Yitzchak. Yitzchak and Yishmael are having an argument, debating who has a greater dedication to God. Historically, based on the objective deeds standard of the previous midrash, Yishmael has the better case, since he has willingly undergone circumcision as an adult, while Yitzchak was circumcised as an infant. Yitzchak declares his willingness to forfeit any limb in his body - or, perhaps we should read the midrash as Yitzchak expressing his desire that God indeed demand of him such a sacrifice. The response is that God demands his life.

	How are we to understand this midrash? Is it a warning not to "tempt fate?" There is such an idea in the Talmud. 

R. Yehuda said in the name of Rav: A man should never bring a "nisayon" upon himself, for David King of Israel brought a nisayon upon himself and failed. 
He said: Master of the universe, why do they say "God of Avraham, God of Yitzchak, God of Yaacov," but they do not say "God of David?" 
God answered: They were tested by me, and you were not. 
He said to Him: Master of the Universe, test me and try me.
He said: I will test you, and I will do something extra for you, for I did not inform them (that it was a test) but you I am telling that I will test you sexually.
Immediately, "At the evening, and David rose from his bed, and he walked on the roof of the royal house, and he saw a woman washing above the roof…." (San. 107a).

	Accordingly, the akeida is a sort of punishment, or at least a demonstration of the negative consequences of spiritual pride. But perhaps we should understand the midrash as describing the opposite, a reward? Yitzchak asked for the opportunity to show his dedication to God, and God responded and granted his request. This surely is a possible interpretation of this midrash. It would be based on the idea that the opportunity to do a mitzva is itself the reward for the righteous individual, who seeks to have such opportunities and does not want to have the "reward" of the peaceful, uneventful, and consequently unchallenging life. 

	This explanation, though, does not take into account the strange conversation between Yishmael and Yitzchak, which seems to place Yitzchak's wish in the context of a competition and not merely spiritual yearnings. I would like to suggest a third possibility, one based on the explanation of one of the few medieval commentators who places the focus of the akeida, like our midrash, on Yitzchak rather than Avraham. The Abrabanel explains that the akeida was a maturing experience for Yitzchak, who was, without impugning his righteousness, the spoiled only child of doting parents who had protected him from the hard spiritual struggles which had characterized their own lives. In order to assume the role of forefather and add his essential element to the foundation of Israel, Yitzchak had to pass through the portals of death, which would wrenchingly temper his nature and forge a personality of steel and profundity. I would suggest that this explains our midrash. The conversation between Yitzchak and Yishmael reveals a basic immaturity, arguing over who is greater based on who has suffered more. The midrash is, I would suggest, offering a parody of a serious spiritual self-examination. God's answer is to send Yitzchak to the experience he craved, not as a reward, and not as a punishment, but as an education, not only in the dangers of initiating temptation, but as an experience that directly faces the childishness of Yitzchak's righteousness. After the akeida, Yitzchak will never again measure himself by how much he has offered to cut off from his body, but rather, in the manner that the Abrabanel has suggested, with a deep experiential understanding of suffering and redemption.

	This really was a puzzling midrash, and I am sure that there are more possibilities. What do you think? As usual, I will discuss any reader's answers, if any, in a mailing next week while waiting for the next shiur, in two weeks. Write to:
Midrash@etzion.org.il

Next shiur: more akeida
55,5-6; 56,8