רָא֤וּ אִיִּים֙ וְיִירָ֔אוּ קְצ֥וֹת הָאָ֖רֶץ יֶחֱרָ֑דוּ קָרְב֖וּ וַיֶּאֱתָיֽוּן׃
Les îles le voient et prennent peur, les confins de la terre tremblent. On se rapproche, on accourt.
Rabbeinu Bahya
Avraham’s love for G’d, the king of Kings, included all the levels we have just described. We know from 21,33 that he publicly proclaimed the greatness of G’d. He did so because the other people of his generation attributed the order in the universe to horoscopes, etc. (Maimonides Hilchot Avodah Zara 1,2). Avraham guided people along the path of true religion and monotheism. We are told in Job 5,8 saying exactly this, i.e. ואל אלוקים אשים דברתי, “I aim my words as proving that G’d is the cause of events.” The speaker, Eliphaz, makes the point that fate is not blind but that an all-seeing G’d guides it. He does not assign your fate to the stars, leaving it all to them.
Avraham had also demonstrated the second level of love for G’d by the manner in which he entertained guests lavishly at great cost to himself, all in order to proclaim G’d’s greatness. Our sages (Midrash Tehillim 110) illustrate this when they said that Avraham’s tent had an entrance in all four directions. Any guest who entered by one door would leave by another so as to avoid feeling embarrassed by other travelers who would see him. We find support for this in 21,33: “he planted an orchard at Be’er Sheva;” we had already explained that this referred to Avraham providing food, shelter and escort for his visitors. Not only would he welcome guests but he would actually run after them to make sure they did not pass him by; He did this even while still suffering from the after-effects of the circumcision (18,2).
He had demonstrated the third and highest level of love for G’d when he laid down his life and preferred to be burned in Nimrod’s furnace rather than desist from preaching the greatness of his Creator. This is why G’d called him (Isaiah 41,5) אברהם אוהבי, “Avraham who loves Me.”
In the matter of his binding Yitzchak in preparation for slaughtering him as an offering to G’d, Avraham demonstrated his love for G’d in a manner which is quite beyond comparison to any of the three levels we have mentioned. This was a level which goes way beyond martyrdom. Had Avraham even possessed 100 bodies, it would have been appropriate that he sacrifice all of them for the sake of his son Yitzchak. What he did here bears no resemblance to anything he had ever done before. This “test” was totally different from any previous tests which Avraham had passed with flying colors. Our imagination is quite inadequate to properly grasp the enormity of what was demanded of him and how he complied.
Avraham had longed to have a son such as Yitzchak for many decades. When Yitzchak was finally born, his love for him grew from year to year, and the certainty that such a miracle would not be repeated and that he would not have another if anything were to happen to Yitzchak must have crossed his mind many times. When he was suddenly commanded to kill Yitzchak with his own hands, we can hardly imagine how he must have felt on a journey of three days towards the unnamed site of the sacrifice, and how his reason must have assailed his feelings of reverence for G’d which alone could prompt him to go through with such an act. Avraham realised that in spite of all his love for Yitzchak, his love for G’d must take precedence in a situation where the two loves could not be reconciled. Had G’d told Avraham to slaughter Yitzchak immediately, without giving him three days during which he had to reflect on what he had been asked to do, the command would have been far easier to comply with. On the other hand, seeing that G’d gave Avraham three days to think about the enormity of what he had been asked to do made the decision to go through with it one that could not be attributed to a momentary spiritual high, to a spontaneous act, but it was an act which had been carefully considered and which reflected Avraham’s deep-seated feelings of overriding reverence for G’d. This is what the sages in Bereshit Rabbah 55,5 must have had in mind when they said: “why was Avraham to offer Yitzchak only on the third day and not on the first day of his journey? Answer: in order not to give the gentile nations an opportunity to claim that he had been emotionally disturbed, that G’d’s command had overwhelmed him so much that he went and slaughtered his son. This is why he performed this task with his own hands as a demonstration of both his love and reverence for G’d.” The element of reverence referred to has nothing to do with the fear of being punished for non-compliance, and the love demonstrated had nothing to do with any compensation he hoped to receive from G’d in return for displaying this degree of love for His Creator. Any act dictated by love which looks forward to some kind of reward be it only at the back of the person’s mind performing the deed, is not truly an act of love. There are people who drink a bitter-tasting medicine because they hope that in the end the beneficial results will compensate them for the galling experience.
Avraham had also demonstrated the second level of love for G’d by the manner in which he entertained guests lavishly at great cost to himself, all in order to proclaim G’d’s greatness. Our sages (Midrash Tehillim 110) illustrate this when they said that Avraham’s tent had an entrance in all four directions. Any guest who entered by one door would leave by another so as to avoid feeling embarrassed by other travelers who would see him. We find support for this in 21,33: “he planted an orchard at Be’er Sheva;” we had already explained that this referred to Avraham providing food, shelter and escort for his visitors. Not only would he welcome guests but he would actually run after them to make sure they did not pass him by; He did this even while still suffering from the after-effects of the circumcision (18,2).
He had demonstrated the third and highest level of love for G’d when he laid down his life and preferred to be burned in Nimrod’s furnace rather than desist from preaching the greatness of his Creator. This is why G’d called him (Isaiah 41,5) אברהם אוהבי, “Avraham who loves Me.”
In the matter of his binding Yitzchak in preparation for slaughtering him as an offering to G’d, Avraham demonstrated his love for G’d in a manner which is quite beyond comparison to any of the three levels we have mentioned. This was a level which goes way beyond martyrdom. Had Avraham even possessed 100 bodies, it would have been appropriate that he sacrifice all of them for the sake of his son Yitzchak. What he did here bears no resemblance to anything he had ever done before. This “test” was totally different from any previous tests which Avraham had passed with flying colors. Our imagination is quite inadequate to properly grasp the enormity of what was demanded of him and how he complied.
Avraham had longed to have a son such as Yitzchak for many decades. When Yitzchak was finally born, his love for him grew from year to year, and the certainty that such a miracle would not be repeated and that he would not have another if anything were to happen to Yitzchak must have crossed his mind many times. When he was suddenly commanded to kill Yitzchak with his own hands, we can hardly imagine how he must have felt on a journey of three days towards the unnamed site of the sacrifice, and how his reason must have assailed his feelings of reverence for G’d which alone could prompt him to go through with such an act. Avraham realised that in spite of all his love for Yitzchak, his love for G’d must take precedence in a situation where the two loves could not be reconciled. Had G’d told Avraham to slaughter Yitzchak immediately, without giving him three days during which he had to reflect on what he had been asked to do, the command would have been far easier to comply with. On the other hand, seeing that G’d gave Avraham three days to think about the enormity of what he had been asked to do made the decision to go through with it one that could not be attributed to a momentary spiritual high, to a spontaneous act, but it was an act which had been carefully considered and which reflected Avraham’s deep-seated feelings of overriding reverence for G’d. This is what the sages in Bereshit Rabbah 55,5 must have had in mind when they said: “why was Avraham to offer Yitzchak only on the third day and not on the first day of his journey? Answer: in order not to give the gentile nations an opportunity to claim that he had been emotionally disturbed, that G’d’s command had overwhelmed him so much that he went and slaughtered his son. This is why he performed this task with his own hands as a demonstration of both his love and reverence for G’d.” The element of reverence referred to has nothing to do with the fear of being punished for non-compliance, and the love demonstrated had nothing to do with any compensation he hoped to receive from G’d in return for displaying this degree of love for His Creator. Any act dictated by love which looks forward to some kind of reward be it only at the back of the person’s mind performing the deed, is not truly an act of love. There are people who drink a bitter-tasting medicine because they hope that in the end the beneficial results will compensate them for the galling experience.