It was suggested to me that I think about writing a new sermon that relates to the storm. I had a few strings of ideas but none that I was able to push through to something I liked. I'll be using this, which I wrote last week before the storm for my homiletics class, at services today.
Last week, I mentioned the beginning to the story of the
binding of Isaac – or the Akidah – and used Rashi’s commentary on “Your son,
your only one, that you love, Isaac,” as some proof that Abraham also loves his
son, Ishmael, who is the only one of his mother, just as Isaac is the only son
of his mother. But what good is this father’s love if he is so willing to
slaughter is favored child? This is a difficult story to contend with, for how
can our first patriarch be so cold and thoughtlessly obedient that he was
willing to sacrifice his own son, and what kind of G-d do we pray to that would
ask this of such a faithful servant? Has not Abraham already proved his worth,
by moving when and where G-d commands, by trying to do his best to keep peace
in his home, between his own household and that of his nephew Lot, between his
wife and her servant, between his sons? And when it comes to blind obedience,
Abraham has already shown he will not always cow down; he bargained with G-d to
allow him to find enough righteous people to warrant saving Sodom and Gemorrah.
Abraham manages to get G-d to agree to spare the whole city if he can find
enough righteous souls, and haggles G-d down from 50 righteous people to 10. Of
course, it turns out there were not enough righteous to save any but Lot and
his family, but still, that Abraham was willing to try to save this town of
wicked strangers makes his willingness to sacrifice his own son all the more
disconcerting.
Being that it is so disconcerting, there is much Midrash
on this to try to ease our discomfort with this story. My favorite was one I learned
from my childhood rabbi, Doug Segal. I distinctly remember that one Rosh
HaShana he told us a story he had made up himself of G-d asking Sarah first to
sacrifice Isaac and she would not. She argues that G-d promised her this child,
G-d promised her and Abraham that through this child would their descendants
become as many as the number of stars in the sky. Basically, Sarah knew that
G-d couldn’t possibly want Isaac dead, or those promises could not have been
made, and she called G-d’s bluff.
Rashi points out these inconsistencies in G-d’s word, but
rather than use them to show that Abraham knew it was a test all along and was
secure in knowing he would not really have to finish the job, Rashi uses it to
explain Abraham’s confusion and hurt over the matter. In fact, many of Rashi’s comments
on this parasha suggest that Abraham was easily confused. Why didn’t G-d tell
Abraham at first to slaughter Isaac, but went through this back and forth with
him about which son? So as to break the news in steps, to be gentler about
asking Abraham to kill his son, lest his mind become disoriented and addled. And
why did they travel for three days before G-d pointed out the right mountain to
up on? If G-d were to point out the first mountain they came to, it would
“bewilder and confuse Abraham unexpectedly, and addle his mind,” but if G-d
were to wait more than three days, Abraham would have time to change his mind
about the whole thing. And once the angel appears to stop Abraham, Abraham
expresses confusion that G-d should promise him one day that Isaac will be the
line from which many descendants will come, and then tell him to kill Isaac the
next. After the ram appears, and the angel has already told Abraham that G-d
does not want Abraham to harm his son, according to Rashi, as Abraham performs
each piece of the sacrificial ritual, Abraham calls to G-d, “May it be your
will that this should be as if it were my son.” We already learned it is not
G-d’s will for this to be as if it were Isaac!
There are many who say that this was a test of Abraham’s
faith and ever-present loyalty to G-d, and he passed. What if this was a test
of Abraham’s sanity and ability to continue to be a strong leader and he
failed? What if G-d really expected Abraham to call his bluff, as Sarah did,
and sent the angel and the ram at the last minute, because G-d realized that
Abraham might go through with it?
I think that too many people in the world today have difficulty
remembering to open up their ears and hearts to G-d’s voice and will. I wish
for you all to have some deep connection to G-d and that you feel that the
things you do with your life are the direct will of G-d for you. But if you
should ever hear a voice telling you to kill for G-d, please don’t. This of
course, sounds exaggerated, but extend it to your general conscience. Probably
none of you in this room have ever or will ever feel a great sincere urge to
kill, but maybe to hurt, and possibly even to hurt yourselves. Even if it feels
like it’s coming from so deep inside you it must be from G-d, do not do it. We
can learn from this parsha that it is never really G-d’s will that we cause
ourselves or our loved ones pain. And there may not always be a ram to stop you
in time.
At least not one that readily appears. As we go on with
our lives, we will all have to continue to struggle with this story. As Jews,
it is a part of our regular yearly Torah reading for Parashat Vayeira, and the
traditional reading for Rosh HaShana. As you continue to contend with this
story on your own terms, and as you grow and face your own challenges and have
to make decisions about sacrifices of your own, may you all find your own rams,
your own alternatives to causing harm, and may G-d grant you all peace. Amen.
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