Remember how the first Jew bound all succeeding generations of Jews in a covenant of self-sacrifice to You. Every morning, we preface our prayers by reading the Torah’s account of the akeidah, and then say: “Master of the Universe! Just as Abraham our father suppressed his compassion for his only son to do Your will with a whole heart, so may Your compassion suppress Your wrath against us, and may Your mercy prevail over Your attributes of strict justice.”Īnd on Rosh Hashanah, when the world trembles in judgment before G‑d, we evoke the binding of Isaac by sounding the horn of a ram (reminiscent of the ram which replaced Isaac as an offering), as if to say: If we have no other merit, remember Abraham’s deed. This particular question- what is it that sets apart the akeidah from the countless other instances of human martyrdom and self-sacrifice?-is raised by almost all the commentaries and expounders of the Torah.įor the binding of Isaac has come to represent the ultimate in the Jew’s devotion to G‑d. Rabbi Schneur Zalman concluded: “Do you think this was mere talk? Each of them was describing the degree of self-sacrifice he himself had attained in his service of the Almighty.” When G‑d commanded him, ‘Do not touch the child, and do nothing to him,’ Abraham was overjoyed-not because his only child would not die, but because he was being given the opportunity to carry out another command of G‑d.”
I think that Abraham’s uniqueness lies in his reaction upon finding out that it was all a test. Said the third: “I, too, would carry out G‑d’s will with joy. Abraham’s greatness lay in that he went to the akeidah with a heart full of joy over the opportunity to fulfill G‑d’s will.” Said the second one: “If G‑d told me to sacrifice my only son, I too would waste not a moment to carry out His command. Abraham’s greatness lay in that he arose early in the morning to immediately fulfill the divine command.” “If G‑d had revealed Himself to me and commanded me to sacrifice my only son, would I not obey?”Īnswering his own question, he said: “If G‑d told me to sacrifice my only son, I would delay my doing so for a while, to keep him with me for a few days. “What was so special about the test of the akeidah (binding of Isaac)?” the first one asked. One winter night, as I lay on a bench in the study hall, I overheard a conversation between three of the oven-stokers. There was a group of chassidim who, having failed to merit to learn directly from our master, wanted to at least serve his pupils: to bring them water to wash their hands upon waking, to sweep the floors of the study hall, to heat the ovens during the winter months, and so on. In Mezeritch, it was extremely difficult to be accepted as a disciple of our master, Rabbi DovBer. The founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, once related:
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