Musar zu Bereschit 22:2

This particular act of הכנסת אורחים on the part of our patriarch Abraham involved three profound truths, and during the meal Abraham and Sarah were already alerted to the eventual עקדת יצחק, binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah. When Rashi in Genesis 22,2 mentions three different reasons why the Mountain is called Mount Moriah, these three names reflect the three truths revealed to Abraham during that meal. Rashi personally equates Moriah with Jerusalem, quoting Chronicles II 3,1 as his source. Bereshit Rabbah 55,7 describes the name as indicating the site whence הוראה, (moral) instruction to Israel originates. This is also the site from which reverence for. G–d emanates. Onkelos sees in the name a reference to the incense-offering which contains מור, דרור and other spices.

The fourth quality: The pious man’s love for all the good things in the world is considered as nothing by him when compared to his love of God, blessed be He. Behold, the Creator, blessed be He, said to our father, Abraham, peace be upon him, (ibid., 22:2), “Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac.” And He said “whom thou lovest” in order to show men that Abraham rejected and abandoned him whom he loved exceedingly because of his love of the Creator, blessed be He.

The midrash tells us, for example, that this is what happened to Avraham because he did not invite any poor people to the feast that he made upon Yitzchok’s weaning. Commenting on the verse, “And after these matters” (Bereishis 22:1), the midrash explains that it was in response to the Satan’s indictment that the Holy One Blessed is He subsequently commanded Avraham, “Take, now, your son, your only one, Yitzchok … and offer him there for a burnt offering” (Bereishis 22:2).

Our third approach to the meal Abraham offered the angels is that this meal is to be considered an allusion to the meal in the distant future that G–d will serve to the righteous, and that the message Abraham received during that meal was that it would be Isaac through whom such eventual idyllic circumstances would become possible at a time when G–d's original plan for the universe would be realized. We have stated that Isaac's holiness was due to his being the first human to be circumcised on the eighth day as prescribed by the Torah. At that time his body would become as holy as possible. When G–d asked Abraham to offer such a human being as a total offering, Abraham rejoiced. Isaac also rejoiced seeing he had been found worthy to become a total offering to G–d during his lifetime, a privilege which had not been granted to any other righteous human being until after death, at which time their souls would be "sacrificed" on a celestial altar by the archangel Michael; we have mentioned this previously.