NARRATIVE
God had given Isaac to Sarah and Abraham in their old age (Genesis
21:1-3). When
Isaac was weaned Abraham made a great feast (21:8).
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 89b) says that after the feast, Satan (described
below)
spoke evil of Abraham to God, saying that although God had given a child
to him
and Sarah in their old age, Abraham had failed to sacrifice to God even
one
turtle dove or pigeon at the feast. He accused Abraham of honoring his son
but
not the God who gave him the son. God answers Satan, saying that Abraham
would
sacrifice his son, Isaac, for God’s sake, if God asked him to do so.
Then God “tempted” Abraham, telling him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice.
R’
Simeon ben Abba taught that God entreated Abraham to make the sacrifice of
Isaac, as a king would entreat a great warrior to uphold his name and
crown in
battle. But God made the request indirectly, using circumlocution, so that
Abraham would not be overwhelmed by the shocking nature of what he was
being
asked to do.
While Abraham is on his way to Moriah, following God’s instructions, he is
approached by Satan (i.e., his “adversary” and “accuser,” which has no
independent power but derives from God--that is, he encounters his own
yetzer
hara [Baba Batra 16a]). Satan wants to know if Abraham will be “grieved”
by
talking with him. Satan reminds Abraham that while he (Abraham) has taught
and
strengthened many other people, he himself is now feeling faint from the
trial
of sacrificing Isaac.
Abraham answers, “I am ready to be tested--heart and mind” (Psalm
26:2)--in my
trust of God. (Emphasis added.)
Satan retorts, “Shouldn’t your awe of God [i.e., your ability to hold the
idea
of God in your mind--S.R. Hirsch] give you confidence [in your
trust]?--but
instead you’re about to sacrifice your son.”
Abraham answers, “When did God ever take an innocent life?”
Seeing that Satan is not listening, Abraham adds that he has secret
knowledge
from God that Isaac is not to be sacrificed.
COMMENTARY
Rashi (on Genesis 22:2) teaches that when God says Abraham would sacrifice
Isaac
if God asked him to, we should read this as Abraham would offer to
sacrifice
Isaac--because God knows that Abraham trusts completely that his God
reviles
human sacrifice.
God asks rather than commands Abraham to offer up Isaac: God makes the
request
using the expression na, “I pray thee,” and God asks that the sacrifice be
made
in the future. The request was to offer Isaac up after Abraham reached the
mountain; it was not a demand to sacrifice him at that moment.
How do we understand why and how God is “tempting” Abraham? It would seem
that,
in telling Abraham a “lie,” that is, implying that He will yet ask for the
sacrifice of Isaac, God is testing Abraham to see whether he can
discriminate
between offering Isaac and actually sacrificing him--the first is pleasing
to
God, the second is abhorrent. Abraham was being tempted to believe the
evil
thought that his God would desire actual human sacrifice.
On the way to Moriah, Abraham’s evil inclination clamors for attention. He
is
taunting himself with the question of whether he can face his own fear
about the
ultimate outcome of his journey, that is, whether God will eventually
require
him to sacrifice Isaac. When his evil inclination says that he should be
confident and that he is not, Abraham affirms his faith by stating that
his God
does not demand the sacrifice of innocents. Having quieted his evil
inclination,
he reminds himself further that his intimate knowledge of God--his deepest
connection with the focal point of his worship--assures him that Isaac is
not to
be a “burnt offering.” He answers himself with the brave declaration that
he is
ready to be “tested.”
How far would Abraham have gone if the angel of God had not intervened?
Some say
he would have slain his son. But that hardly seems a plausible surmise,
considering the confidence he had that his God would never demand human
sacrifice.
So he was confronted with a crucial question: Was the voice of this god
the same
as his One God--and how could he be sure one way or the other?
The simple answer, of course, would be “no”--this could not be the voice
of the
One God, since his God abhorred human sacrifice.
But suppose Abraham decided to consider the question “as if” the voice was
that
of his One God: What would he--or any one of us--be likely to imagine it
would
mean that this God, who abhorred sacrifice, would ask that he offer to
sacrifice
his son?--not command, but ask. One conclusion would be that it was a
test; God
was tempting Abraham to do what was forbidden, to test his faith.
Now what might Abraham imagine that God would require of him to pass or
fail the
test? If, on the one hand, he was in fear and reluctant to offer up his
son,
that would seemingly indicate a failure of his faith in the One God,
because it
would indicate a fear that his son was actually going to be taken. If, on
the
other hand, he had absolute faith in his God, and a conviction that no
other god
or gods had any power over him, might he not go to the very moment of
taking his
son’s life, confident that his God would not require the ultimate act? And
wouldn’t he also be confident that if such an abomination were asked of
him, it
would not be his God who would be making the request--and thus he could
refuse
the request?
Rashi says that Abraham prophesied to the youths with him that both he and
Yitzhak would return from the mountain. The Hebrew word he used was
n’shuvah,
“we will come back” to you (Genesis 22:5). Because of Abraham’s faith in
God,
his implicit trust that the seal of God is truth, Abraham would not listen
to
God when God told him a lie--in the voice of Satan, his own yetzer hara--even
for a good purpose. Despite momentary doubts, he refused steadfastly, from
beginning to end, to believe that God would ever require the actual
sacrifice of
Isaac.
It may have been a lesson to him about his own evil inclination, which no
longer
had to be listened to, even if it occasionally told the “truth” (for an
evil
purpose). As it says in Genesis Rabbah (22:6), “When Abraham arose and saw
how
really feeble he [i.e., the evil inclination] was, he began to crush him,
as it
is written, ‘And I will beat to pieces his adversaries before him’ (Psalm
89:24).”
We too are tested with the capacity to stifle the voice of our conscience,
our
good inclination, so that we can carry on a conversation with our evil
inclination, which is what Abraham was doing until he beat it to
pieces--which
we may also do.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. When and how do we experience our own evil inclination?
2. Are we listening to our evil inclination when we place our careers and
material success ahead of our commitment to our children’s and our own
spiritual
and religious well-being?
3. Do we ever lie to ourselves, saying “things aren’t so bad” or “nothing
is
really wrong,” and then fail to act with a kehilla to deal with the
conditions
that threaten our families and communities?
4. Does our evil inclination sound like Abraham’s, telling ourselves a bit
of
truth to further an evil course?
5. How, practically, can we avoid listening to our evil inclination?
© 2003 Moshe ben Asher
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