The story of the akedah, the binding of Isaac, is the portion from the Bible which is read during the Yom Kippur morning service. Here we present some Aggadic COMMENTARY on this Bible passage.
The Aggada includes stories, dialogues, homilies, proverbs, fables, and riddles which are scattered throughout the Palestinian and the Babylonian Talmud, and other sources as well. Our present selection has been taken from the Bialik-Ravnitzky edition of the Aggada, the great modern Hebrew collection that appeared in six volumes from 1908 onwards. It is the sixth such selection from this work to have appeared in our pages; the translation into English is by Jacob Neusner.
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Even if God had asked our Father Abraham for the apple of his eye, he would have given it to Him, and not only the apple of his eye, but his life.
And it came to pass after these things that God did prove Abraham . . . (Gen. 22:1). What were these things? R. Johanan in the name of R. Yosi b. Zimra said: After the words of Satan. As it is said, And the boy grew up and was weaned (Gen. 21:8). Satan said to the Holy One, blessed be He: “Lord of the Universe, this old man, at one hundred years, has been granted the grace of a son. Amidst all his feastings, he failed to set aside for an offering to you a single fowl or pigeon.” God said to Satan: “All that he has done is for his son, yet were I to say to him, Sacrifice your son unto me, he would forthwith offer him.” Satan answered: “Prove him!” . . .
And God said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac . . . (Gen. 22:2). Thy son. Abraham said to Him, “I have two sons” (Isaac and Ishmael). Thine only son. “This is the only son of his mother, and that of his mother.” Whom thou lovest. He said to Him, “Lord of the Universe, are there boundaries in the womb? I love them both!” Isaac. And why all this? So that Abraham might not be puzzled concerning the command.
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Satan, disguised as an old man, met Abraham on the way. He said to him: “Where are you going?” Abraham answered, “To pray.”
Satan said, “He who goes to pray, does he usually bear fire in his hand and twigs on his shoulder?”
He answered, “Perhaps we shall tarry a day or two, and we shall slaughter and cook and eat.”
“Old man, was I not there when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to you, ‘Take now thy son’? You fool! A son—given to you at the age of one hundred years—are you going to slaughter him?”
He answered, “Even so, I shall do it.”
“And if he tries you more than this, will you endure?”
“Even more, I shall endure it.”
“Tomorrow He will say to you, ‘Thou art a shedder of blood! Thou hast shed the blood of thy son!’”
“Even so, I shall do it.”
And since Satan could not prevail, he turned aside and took the disguise of a youth, and walked on the right of Isaac and said to him:
“Where are you going?”
“To study Torah.”
“While you are yet alive, or after your death?”
“And is there a man who will study after death?”
“O miserable son of a miserable mother! How many fasts did your mother fast and how many prayers did she pray until she bore you! And this old man has lost his mind, and is going to slaughter you!”
Isaac said to him, “Even so, I shall not deny the will of my Creator or the command of my father.”
“If so, all the fine clothes your mother has made will go to Ishmael. . . . If the rest does not disturb you, let at least this thing move you!”
Isaac said to his father, “Father, see what this man says to me.”
Satan saw that they paid no heed to him, and he went and caused a great river to flow before them. Forthwith Abraham went into the water, until the water reached to his knees. When he came to the middle of the river, the water was up to his shoulders.
At that moment Abraham raised his eyes to Heaven and he said, “Lord of the Universe, Thou hast chosen me and revealed Thyself to me and said to me, I am unique and thou art unique, and by your hand My Name will be made known in My world; and Thou hast said, Offer Isaac thy son to Me for a burnt-offering. And I did not keep him back, and behold, I am engaged in doing Thy will, and even now. The flood overwhelmeth me (Ps. 69:2). If I or Isaac should stumble, who will establish Thy word, and by whom will Thy Name be proclaimed One?”
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “By thy life, by thy hand, will My Name be proclaimed One in the world.” Forthwith He rebuked the river, and it dried up, and they crossed on dry land.
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And Isaac said, Behold the pre and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? (Gen. 22:7). At that moment a great fright and trembling seized Isaac, for he saw nothing in Abraham’s hand for the sacrifice; he understood what it was, and he said, “Where is the lamb for the offering?”
Abraham said to him: “The Holy One, blessed be He, has chosen you.”
Isaac answered: “If He has chosen me, behold my soul is in His hand; but I am filled with pain for my mother.”
And even so. So they went both of them together (Gen. 22:7), one to bind and one to be bound, one to slaughter and the other to be slaughtered.
And they came to the place (Gen. 22:9). The two of them brought the stones, the two of them brought the fire, the two of them brought the wood. Abraham was like one who prepares the marriage of his son, and Isaac like one who builds his own wedding canopy.
Isaac said to Abraham: “Father, be quick and do the will of thy Creator, and burn me well, and my ashes shall go to my mother to comfort her. But all the time that my mother looks on it, she will say. This is my son, slaughtered by his father.’ Father, what will you do in your old age?”
He said to him, “My son, we know that our death is near at hand. He who was merciful to me until now will comfort us until the day of our death.”
When he came to sacrifice him, Isaac said: “Father, bind me by my hands and my feet, for the soul is strong to live. And when I see the fire, perhaps I shall tremble and the sacrifice will be spoiled. I entreat, bind me well, that there be no blemish in me.” And Abraham . . . bound Isaac his son (Gen. 22:9). Isaac said to Abraham, “Father, do not tell my mother while she is standing by a well or on a roof, lest she throw herself forward and die.”
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And [he] laid him on the altar (Gen. 22:9). The eyes of Abraham looked into the eyes of Isaac, and the eyes of Isaac looked up to Heaven, and tears ran down Abraham’s cheeks until his whole body was bent over in weeping. He raised the knife to slaughter Isaac, and Satan came and pushed his arm, so that the knife dropped from his hand. When he put out his hand to pick it up, he began to weep bitterly and sighed a great sigh. He looked up and raised his voice and said, I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come? (Ps. 121:1). At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed himself above the angels, opening up the firmament. Isaac raised his eyes and saw the heavenly chambers and he trembled and gasped. In the firmament rows upon rows of ministering angels stood lamenting and weeping, and they said to one another: “See, an only son slaughters and an only son is slaughtered. Lord of the Universe, what will come of Thine oath, So shall Thy seed be?”
Forthwith the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Michael, “Why are you standing there? Don’t let him do it!”
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of Heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham” (Gen 22:11). Two times, like one who cries out in pain.
“What are you doing?”
Abraham turned his face to him.
The angel said to him: “What are you doing? Lay not thy hand upon the lad” (Gen. 22:12).
Abraham said to him: “Who art thou?”
“I am an angel.”
“When the Holy One, blessed be He, told me to offer my son, He spoke to me Himself, therefore now if He wants, He himself will speak to me.” Suddenly the Holy One, blessed be He, broke open the firmament and the thick darkness, and said to him: By Myself have I sworn (Gen. 22:16).
Abraham said to Him: “Thou hast sworn, and I too have sworn that I shall not descend from this altar until I have said all that I must.”
He said to him: “Speak!”
Abraham said to Him: “Did you not thus say to me, Count the stars. . . . So shall thy seed be?” (Gen. 15:5).
“Yes.”
“From whom?”
“From Isaac.”
“Did you not say to me: And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth? (Gen. 13:16).
“Yes.”
“From whom?”
“From Isaac.”
“Just so could I have answered You and said to You: Yesterday You said to me: For in Isaac shall seed be called to thee (Gen. 21:12). Now You say to me: Offer him there for a burnt-offering (Gen. 22:2). I overcame my evil impulse, and I did not answer Thee.
“So, when the children of Isaac shall sin and be led astray, let the binding of Isaac be remembered for them, and consider it as if his dust were gathered on this altar, and be filled with mercy for them and forgive them and redeem them from their sorrows.”
And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “You have spoken yours and I shall speak mine: The children of Isaac are destined to sin before me, and I shall judge them on Rosh Hashanah, but if they seek that I forgive them, I shall remember for their sake the binding of Isaac: let them blast on the horn of this.”
“What horn?”
“Turn around,” and forthwith, And Abraham lifted up his eyes and behold, a ram (Gen. 22:13).
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