Chasidut su Genesi 22:17

Another way of looking at our verse is that of the ‎‎Ari’zal, who sees in the words ‎כי ביצחק‎ in Genesis 21,12 a ‎reference to the “feminine” side of Yitzchok in the diagram of the ‎‎10 emanations, i.e. the earthly element, seeing that the angel had ‎said to Avraham (Genesis 18,10) ‎והנה בן לשרה אשתך‎, “and here ‎your wife Sarah will have a son.” [The angel emphasized Sarah as ‎predominant in Yitzchok’s birth, not his father Avraham. Ed.] ‎However, subsequently he would receive a soul contributed by ‎Avraham, Avraham representing the masculine element of the ‎chart of the emanations. This point is made by the Torah here ‎repeating what otherwise would be assumed, that Avraham begot ‎Yitzchok. The Ari’zal’s comment also coincides with the ‎meaning of Bereshit Rabbah 58,5 in which the Midrash, ‎referring to Genesis 23,3 where Avraham is reported as “arriving” ‎in order to bury Sarah, asks: “where did Avraham arrive from? ‎Where had he been previously?” One of the answers given by the ‎Midrash is that Avraham came from Mount Moriah. The ‎‎Midrash adds that Sarah died as a result of the anguish she ‎experienced when told that Yitzchok had been slaughtered. She ‎had found this incompatible with G’d’s promise to Avraham that ‎ברך אברכך והרבה ארבה את זרעך‎, “I will continuously bless you and ‎greatly multiply your descendants” which G’d had said to ‎Avraham in Genesis 22,17.‎
At this point the author attributes to this Midrash a ‎third answer to the question whence Avraham came to arrange ‎Sarah’s funeral. I have not found this in any of my editions, ‎although this is the answer that would tie in with our verse ‎above. The Midrash supposedly views as Avraham “coming” ‎i.e. contributing the soul to Yitzchok as alluded to in the words ‎‎(Genesis 21,12) ‎כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע‎.‎

It seems quite clear from several places that the Rambam had possession of a clear tradition of the mysteries of the Torah. Another example is the following. He wrote in the Guide in chapter 45 of the second section, that the eleventh level of prophecy involves, “seeing an angel speaking to one in a vision, as experienced by Avraham Avinu during the binding of Yitzhak. In my opinion this is the highest of the degrees of the prophets – with the exception if Moshe Rabeynu - whose states are attested by the prophetic books, provided he has, as reason demands, his rational faculties fully developed.” In this the Rambam is saying that the level of prophecy experienced by Avraham is the highest degree of prophecy. It follows that the prophecy (of Avraham) recorded in the Torah is of the highest degree known to mankind, save that of Moshe himself, who possessed the absolute highest prophetic perceptions ever. This is what is meant when God describes Moshe by saying (Bamidbar, 12:8), “I will speak to him mouth to mouth,” which attests to the fitness and worthiness of Moshe’s soul. The Mishnah Torah further explains the difference between the prophecy of Moshe and all other prophets.¹¹³See Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah (7:6), which spells out the difference between Moshe and other prophets. According to the Rambam, the difference lay in the degree to which the imaginative faculty played a role. When other prophets experienced God speaking to them, they did so through the power of the imagination. Moshe, however, had a direct, intellectual perception of the Divine, without the intermediary of the imaginative faculty, as the verse implies: “And God spoke to Moshe face to face…” (Shemot 33:11) When studying the passages of the Torah concerning prophecy, it is understood that the highest level of prophecy is that which is emanates from the supreme source of prophecy. This is in line with the following passage in the Zohar (Idrat Nasso, 130a), “We have leaned that the name of Atika (the Ancient Holy One)¹¹⁴Atika is one of the highest of the Divine Partsufim (modes of God’s governance) representing absolute and total compassion, beyond the distinctions of good and evil. is hidden above all the rest. It is nowhere explained in the Torah save one place. This is in God’s promise to Avraham (Bereshit, 22:17), where the Lord says, ‘I swear on Myself, saith the Lord.’ Myself is Atika, meaning Ze’ir Anpin¹¹⁵Ze’ir Anpin is the lower more accessible of the Divine Partsufim. It is a level where God’s concealment is broken only through the performance of Mitsvot, prayer, and ethical behavior. swore on Atika.” This is explained in the Beit Yaakov (haKollel, parshat Vayeira, sec. 57).