A Rebel Without a Cause

In Jewish thought, there is a strong bond that connects the pioneers with those who complete the task. The pioneers were the Patriarchs and we, the generation that will bring the Redemption, are the ones who make all the efforts of the past bear fruit.

Question from Diverse Perspectives

Of all the biblical stories that have elicited sharp reactions from many, the story of the Akeidah, where G-d asks Abraham to slaughter his son Isaac, stands out.

It is interesting to compare the question raised by many a non-Jewish and secular source about this narrative with the question that is raised by Jewish sources:

The non-Jewish reaction is: how G-d could have asked Abraham to perform such a cruel act.

Jewish commentators, on the other hand, express the very opposite question: what was so heroic about Abraham’s act considering the fact that thousands of Jews have given their lives for G-d, without ever hearing G-d speak to them directly.

Before we attempt to answer this question, let us first analyze the difference in perspective that these two approaches reflect.

From the Jewish perspective, one cannot ask how could G-d ask of Abraham to perform an act of human sacrifice. To ask this question is to presuppose that G-d’s actions are subject to human approval. How could we demand that G-d’s actions or commands conform to our human sensibilities?

It was Only a Test

The reason we abhor human sacrifice is not because we have reached the logical conclusion that it is wrong. On the contrary, the reason we believe that human sacrifice is wrong and reprehensible is because G-d has told us so. The very first indication that G-d did not approve of human sacrifice can be found in the story of the Akedah. The Torah makes it clear that G-d was only testing Abraham and never intended to have him actually carry out this act. Moreover, the Torah, in subsequent books, states explicitly that human sacrifice is evil.

If one were to base their abhorrence for human sacrifice on human sensibilities, then one is admitting that it is subject to the vagaries of human based morals. Ethics and morality then becomes situational and subject to change with the changing winds of a given society.

Once G-d told us that human sacrifice is absolutely evil; no society can change that. Moreover, it then becomes ingrained in us that it is absolutely abominable.

Perhaps, one of the ancillary lessons from the Akeidah is that morality is absolute. Whereas Abraham may have thought that can change, he leaned that it is indeed absolute and no one can come in the name of G-d and claim that are exceptions to the rule.

The question that does remain is the one from the Jewish perspective as to why Abraham is given so much credit for passing this test. Haven’t countless others given their lives rather than accepting another religion?

Acted with Alacrity

There are several classical answers to this question. One school of thought reads more into the way Abraham carried out this command of G-d. Rather than act begrudgingly, Abraham left early in the morning and acted with great dispatch and alacrity Opened the Channelin getting to his destination.

This display of enthusiasm was indeed unique because it was a sign of his utter devotion to G-d.

Change of Nature

A second school of thought notes that Abraham’s sacrifice was unique in that Abraham was the epitome of kindness. No one else was imbued with kindness comparable to Abraham.

To ask of him to sacrifice his beloved son, was the most radical departure from his obsession with love and kindness. No others were asked to go totally against their nature to the opposite extreme.

Sacrificing his Ideals

A third school takes this a step further. Abraham’s entire life was devoted towards the goal of uprooting idolatry and human sacrifice. And now, Abraham was being asked to throw away his entire life’s spiritual achievement and value system.

All other martyrs died for their cause; here Abraham was allowing his son to die which would do irreversible damage to his cause. All of this he was prepared to do because he perceived it to be G-d’s will.

Opened the Channel

And yet a fourth school of thought considers Abraham’s test to be unique because he was the one to initiate the process of self-sacrifice. Once the channels have been opened by the pioneer, everyone who follows is endowed with the potential to accomplish the same.

Abraham, the first to break ground in the area of self-sacrifice, deserved full credit and recognition for it.

We will Complete the Task

Our forebears, beginning with Abraham, have paved the way for us to do what has to be done to bring about the final redemption. And while we realize that we cannot compare to our ancestors’ devotion and piety, we believe that it is we that will usher in the final redemption. This is so because they have paved the way and opened the channels for us to do that which is necessary to complete the task of bringing Moshiach.

In a way our generation’s contribution is as unique as that of Abraham in light of the maxim from the Kabbalistic work, Sefer Yetzirah that “the end is wedged in the beginning.” This means that there is a special relationship the initiation of a process has with the completion of that process.

While Abraham and all the other Patriarchs were the ones to open the way, and “all beginnings are difficult,” we have the unique distinction of completing the task, without which the entire process would have been for naught.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayeira by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.