The Akeda is a troubling story. It shows Abraham in a light we have never seen him in before. Two chapters before the Binding of Isaac, in Chapter 18, verse 23 God is ready to destroy all of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, but Abraham says: Teespeh tzadik im rasha?, Will you sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? Abraham appeals to God saying “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” God first agrees to spare Sodom and Gomorra if Abraham can find fifty righteous people among the citizens. Abraham proceeds to bargain that number down to ten.
Abraham is willing to “face-off” with God in order to save strangers, but just a few short chapters later, he is not willing to go to bat for his own son, Isaac. God tells him to take his son, “whom you love” and sacrifice. No quarrels, no, “well maybe I can find you the tastiest ram in all the land.” Abe’s answer, “let me sharpen my knife. It seems as if Abraham should be put on trial rather than being put into the Amidah.
In his book The Genesis of Justice, Alan Dershowitz presents this theory, asserting that in contemporary times, Abraham would be put on trial for attempted murder. In the text, we get a vivid description of the events as they unfold. Abraham has set up the altar, bound his son, placed the wood on top and is just about to plunge the knife into the throat of Isaac when he is stopped by an Angel. Divine intervention stops him from killing his son.
It is as if a police officer or an bystander held his hand back. As Dershowitz so eloquently puts it: “Abrahams mens rea, his state of mind, and his actus reas, his actions are essentially the same as they would have been had he actually killed his son. Dershowitz points to the modern day legal precedent, the law of attempts which states that if a person changes his mind without the intervention of an outside force, he is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and is Not Guilty of attempted murder. In the Akeda story, the text tells us that an angel, an outside force, had to come down and stop Abraham from slaying his son.
This interpretation of the Binding of Isaac certainly makes us all a little squeamish, but it deserves to be looked at. Maybe Abraham did not really pass the test that God put to him. Maybe Abraham’s level of devotion to Adonai blinded him from following the moral path and refusing to sacrifice his beloved son.
In support of this theory, some modern commentators as well as Dershowitz tell us that the Binding of Isaac is the last time that God speaks to Moses. Dershowitz also points out that in a subtle but perhaps crucial omission, in verses 12 and 16 of chapter 22, the words “whom thou lovest” are no longer mentioned in regard to the description of Isaac. After Abraham is stopped from sacrificing his son, Isaac is only referred to as “thine only son.” Dershowitz posits that perhaps the angel could not believe that a father who was willing to sacrifice his own son can be said to love him.
At this point in my life, I view the Akeda story as one in which Abraham ultimately did fail the test of God. He was unable to live up to the moral code of our people. However, it may be too harsh to claim that Abraham did not really love his son. Instead, maybe Abraham just made a mistake of “biblical” proportions. He was blinded by his faith in God.
It seems we are dealing with two very different Abraham’s, multiple personalities perhaps. One Abraham who haggles with God in an attempt to save a city of strangers, and the other Abraham who willingly brings his son to a mountain to sacrifice him.
Are we not like Abraham at times? One day we are the epitome of a moral person. We act to bring more justice, kindness and peace to the world. We treat everyone we encounter with the utmost respect. We honor father and mother, we perform acts of love and kindness upon every turn, we attend the house of study, we welcome every stranger we encounter, we visit all of the sick person we know and even some we do not, we rejoice with brides and grooms across the entire state of Ohio, we console all those in need of consoling, we pray with total sincerity and of course we make peace wherever there is strife. And don’t forget we also study the entire Torah in one day because as you know, the study of Torah is equal to them all because it leads them all. In short, we have a day that Elijah the prophet himself would be jealous of, morally perfect.
And the very next day we hardly can recognize ourselves in the mirror. We are epitome, it seems, of immorality. In truth, most days are a mixture of both, usually with morality beating immorality by a considerable margin. Every day we must struggle to increase the good and we must avoid sacrificing morality on the altar of blind faith and rash decisions.
We too will sometimes fail this moral test. We will let down our family, our community and God. However, the road of repentance will always be open, and the arms of forgiveness never closed. We are like Abraham: imperfect, human, but always striving to do what is right. We cannot go the road alone. Just as Abraham was helped to see the alternative to sacrificing his beloved son in the ram caught in the thicket, we must help each other see the many alternatives in our lives, together creating a more moral, loving and peaceful community.
Ken Yihi Ratzon