Successfully Aging

Chayye Sarah

Gen. 23:1-25:18

Précis: The parasha begins with the counting the days of the life of Sarah (chayye Sarah) and with her death. It continues with a detailed description of the purchase of the cave of Machpela by Abraham for a family burial site. Abraham orders his servant to go to Abraham’s ancestral home to obtain a wife for Isaac, and after a series of fulfilled signs, the servant finds Rebecca. Rebecca returns with the servant; she and Isaac meet, fall in love at first sight, and become man and wife. The parasha ends with the death of Abraham, and his burial by Isaac and Ishmael in the family plot.

Gen. 25:28-9 “Abraham breathed his last, dying at a ripe age, old and content; he was gathered to his kin. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpela…”

             Erica Brown has written (Weekly Jewish Wisdom, 11/13/14) about the theme of mortality in this week’s reading. Sarah dies at the beginning, and Abraham dies at the end. She notes that the text often includes Abraham’s age at different junctures of his life (when he leaves for Canaan, when Ishmael is born, when Isaac is born, and at his death here at 175). This must have some significance.

            Abraham, she suggests, is a model of aging spiritually, with great faith in the future, putting into place a plan of succession for his ideals. One Midrash suggests that the Hebrew word used to describe Abraham as “old” (zakein) is an acronym for zeh kanah kokhman: this one has acquired wisdom, and it suggests that Abraham was the first person in history to grow wiser as he grew older (Gen. Rabbah 59:6).

            Abraham shows us the ability to age successfully; it is incumbent on all of us to continue to live our lives to the fullest, and not retreat. We might not start new families at an age passed 100 like Abraham, but we can be open to new ideas and new experiences for as long as we live. By living in the world, by remaining engaged, we offer others the opportunity to gain from our experience and abilities. 

A Story We Never Really Understand

Vayera

Gen. 18:1-22:24         

Précis: God “appeared” (vayera) to Abraham in the form of three travelers to whom Abraham shows hospitality. They promise the birth of Isaac, overheard by Sarah (who laughs). God reveals His plans for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham argues for its salvation for the sake of any innocents who might dwell there. The scene shifts to Sodom where Lot lives, and he and his family are rescued first from an unruly mob and then from the destruction of the city itself. Lot’s wife glances back and turns into the pillar of salt. His daughters, fearing that they are the last females alive, make Lot drunk and engage in sexual relations with him, later giving birth to founders of the tribes of Moab and Ammon (traditional adversaries of the Israelites).

Back with Abraham, Sarah conceives and gives birth to Isaac. She becomes unhappy with the continued presence of Ishmael and prevails upon Abraham to expel Ishmael and Hagar from the household, which he does (after being promised by God that Ishmael, too, will be the father of a great nation). Thereafter, the story continues with the attempted sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham, called “the Akedah” (the Binding of Isaac).

Gen. 22 1-12 “Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you’…. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven... ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God....’”

The Akedah, or "Binding of Isaac", is a unique episode in our Biblical text, and it remains unconnected (and unreferenced) elsewhere in the Bible. There is little rabbinic commentary in the Mishnaic period (other than to be cited as a proof-text against human sacrifice), but in the Talmudic period, this story seems to have kindled the imagination of the scholars. Some suggest that the story is a prime example of the concept of Jewish martyrdom (Kiddush Ha-Shem). Others Sages saw this an example of God’s mercy (and included it as the reading for Rosh Hashanah on that basis).

            Many have found the entire story deeply puzzling, if not outright challenging on a theological level. Why does Isaac fail to return with his father? Some suggest (as reported by Ibn Ezra) that Isaac was actually slain, failed to go with his father back home, but was subsequently resurrected from the dead. Ibn Ezra himself, however, rejects this opinion as contrary to the text. Other medieval scholars supported this view, perhaps to show that Jesus’ resurrection was not unique.

            Yet other commentators question what God intended in the story: did He intend that Isaac be sacrificed? Why did He need to “test” Abraham? Didn’t God know what would happen? According to Maimonides (Guide for the Perplexed, 3. 24) the words “God tested Abraham” means that He made the example of Abraham to serve as a lesson to others. Nachmanides insists that God knew what the outcome would be, but from Abraham's perspective, the “test” was real. This raises, of course, the entire issue of the concept of free will vs. God’s omniscience.

            In all probability, we’ll return to a detailed examination of the Akedah next Rosh Hashanah. Meantime, we can all express our own wonder at how this story has been examined, reexamined, and expounded upon, but yet never seems to be fully resolved. Sort of like life I guess.