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.

A Biblical Promise to Us?

Lech Lecha

Gen. 12:1 -17:27

Précis: This parasha, “get you up” or “go yourself” (lech lecha) begins with “the call” of Abram to leave his home and depart for a new land. At God’s command, Abram and Sarai journey to Canaan. When famine strikes, they travel to Egypt, where Sarai is taken into Pharaoh’s harem after Abram calls her his “sister,” but she escapes without harm. They then leave Egypt, with Abram now a rich man. To avoid family squabbles, Abram separates himself from his nephew Lot (who moves to Sodom), but Abram is forced to rescue Lot and reach a negotiated settlement with the locals. God promises him an heir. Because Sarai is barren, she offers Abram her servant (Hagar), and Hagar gives birth to a son, Ishmael. Abram is then promised a son through Sarai, to be his true heir. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham, and Sarai’s to Sarah, in recognition of the new Covenant with God, which is then symbolized by Abraham’s circumcision.

Gen. 12:6-7 “Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the terebinths of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘I will give this land to your offspring.’”

             We read this week of the appearance of Abram (to be renamed Abraham), the Biblical progenitor of the Jewish People. We also observe in this parasha, in the verse cited above, God’s promise that Abram and his descendants would inherit the Land.

            Literalists will suggest that this provides a Biblical basis and justification for the modern State of Israel, a realization of God’s promise to the Jewish People. Indeed, parts of the Zionist Movement (particularly the Religious Zionists who believed that their assistance in the creation of a Jewish State would hasten the arrival of the Messiah), have made exactly that claim. Zionists of almost all stripes take note of the devotion to the Land by the Jewish People and its prayer for a new state during the centuries of the Exile.

            As noted by Hillel Ben Sasson (JTS, 11/11/16), one is tempted to adopt such an understanding, given the apparently miraculous re-establishment of a Jewish State 1,800 years after its destruction. But adopting such a view, he argues, while tempting, is also dangerous. It is dangerous in part because it can be a source of hubris which can cause forgetfulness: Israel came into being not only through the valiant Zionists who “built up” the Land, but also through the United Nations, which recognized the right of Israel to exist as a free and independent member of the family of nations.

            We can nevertheless connect the modern State with its Biblical predecessor on another level, and that is to be found in Abram’s life. As a newly arrived immigrant to Canaan, he travels as a nomad (and not as a landlord). He takes care to avoid quarrels with his new neighbors. Abram obtains land through purchase only after generous dealings with the local inhabitants. He demonstrates through his own actions (in his quarrel with God over the fate of Sodom) that he is a man of justice. Sasson argues that God’s promise of the Land as an inheritance was conditional: Abram was required to demonstrate a high moral character.

            When we read God’s promise of the Land to Abram and his successors as conditional, we should recognize that the modern State of Israel is also bound by the character traits of its founder, or as Sasson suggests, “independence, sovereignty, and power are a political and moral test, not a possession inherently belonging to the Jewish people.” We, the Jewish People of the galut, are tied to the Land of Israel, and are obligated to help Israel succeed in this test of character.