And they said to him: "Where is your wife,

Sarah?"

And he said: "Here she is in the tent."

(Bereishit 18:9)

And they said to him: [Heb. eylav]. There are dots over the letters alef

yod vav in the word eylav. And we learned: Rabbi Simeon

the son of Eleazar says: "Wherever the [undotted] letters are more than

the dotted ones, you must expound on the [undotted] letters, etc." And

here, the dotted letters are more than the [undotted] letters, and you must

expound on the dotted [letters]. [The meaning is that] they also asked Sarah, "Where

is Abraham?" (Bereishit

Rabbah 48:15) We learn that a person should ask in his lodging place of

the husband about the wife, and of the wife about the husband (Bava Metzia 87a). In

Bava Metzia (ad

loc.) it is said: The ministering angels knew where our mother Sarah

was, but [they asked in order] to make known that she was modest, in order to

endear her to her husband. Said Rabbi Joseph the son of Hanina: In order to

send her a cup of blessing (i.e., the cup of wine upon which the Grace after

Meals is recited).

(Rashi ad loc, based on Judaica Press translation)

And they said

to him: "Where is, etc. This means that their news was meant for

Sarah, and they wanted to show Abraham that they had come to give the news to

Sarah and not to him. That is why they asked, Where is your wife Sarah?

– That we have come to give her the news, and Abraham replied, Here she is

in the tent in order to hear what they would tell her.

(Or HaHayyim ad loc)

Childhood and Adolescent Experiences Shape Our Lives

Hillel and Yohanan Flusser

in honor of Hillel's Bar Mitzvah,

which is celebrated this Shabbat

and dedicated to the memory of Grandfather David

Flusser z"l,

who died 10 years ago.

God

commands Abraham to perform two acts which are contrary to divine morality; He

asks Abraham to offer up his two sons. God is also the one who sends the angel

in order to save the two boys from death and to guarantee their futures. Only

God has the authority to command man to do something that seems to transgress

the rules of morality, and only God has the power to save people from death. As

human beings we are commanded to fear God and love Him; however, we are also

commanded to love and understand our fellow human beings as well. In order to

understand the Other we must try to imaginatively step into his shoes. Thus we

must also try to understand what the heroes of our parasha – the parents

Abraham and Hagar, and the sons Isaac and Ishmael – are going through.

The

story of the Akedah (the Binding of Isaac) and that of Ishmael's expulsion,

parallel each other in many ways. Uri Simon views the story of Ishmael's expulsion

as an Akedah of Ishmael.¹ Both Akedahs involve sons of Abraham

undergoing traumatic incidents in which their father finds himself about to

part from them forever.

In

the powerful and affecting story of the Akedah of Isaac it is unclear whether

the only son will indeed die or whether he will be saved in some miraculous

fashion; Ishmael's story involves an apparently certain death. It does not

matter who asks Abraham to act – be it God or Sarah, Abraham responds with

absolute obedience in both stories. In Ishmael's story we read, And Abraham arose early in the morning, and he took bread

her shoulder, and the child, and he sent her away; and she went and wandered

(Bereishit 21:14); in Isaac's story we

find a quite similar account: And Abraham arose early in the morning, and he

and he split wood for a burnt offering, and he arose and went (Bereishit 22:3). It is important to note that

the Torah emphasizes how great the sacrifices are that are required of Abraham.

Regarding Ishmael, he is told, Be not displeased concerning

the lad and concerning your handmaid, and his special love for Isaac

is mentioned in the story of the Akedah: Please take your son, your only one, whom you love

(22:2).

In

one story, the reader feels as if he is watching a suspense or horror film

whose ending is obvious – unless something surprising happens, as in fact

occurs. During the reading of the Akedah on Rosh HaShanah, our father and

grandfather David Flusser would became emotionally engaged as if he were

accompanying Abraham every step along his way. There are no expressions of

despair in the story of the Akedah, but Hagar has clearly despaired when she

throws young Ishmael under a bush and sits away at some distance, saying, "Let me not see the child's death." And she sat

from afar, and she raised her voice and wept (21:16). The ending of

the Akedah horror-film seems inevitable when we read, And Abraham stretched

forth his hand and took the knife, to slaughter his son. As in any

good movie, salvation arrives unexpectedly, both stories end with "the

Lord's salvation in the blink of an eye." Both involve angelic

intercession: and an angel of God called to Hagar

God has heard the lad's voice in the place where he is…" (21:17) and in very

similar language at the Akedah:

And an angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and

said, "Abraham! Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

the lad… (22:11-12).

Sometimes

we, as human beings, are deeply distressed and are blocked from seeing our

surroundings – they become a cul-de-sac for us. These two stories relay

the message that we can discover solutions precisely in very difficult and

apparently insoluble situations. God opens our eyes and reveals salvation. Abraham

and Hagar were parents in severe distress and suddenly they became capable of

discovering their salvation and the solution to their difficulties. In Ishmael

and Hagar's story we read: And God opened her eyes,

gave the lad to drink (21:19),

and regarding Abraham we find: And Abraham lifted up

a burnt offering instead of his son (22:13). The well and the ram had been

there from the start, but given their severe distress, Abraham and Hagar could

not see beyond their own troubles.

Our

wonderful haftara is linked to the parasha by the themes of the announcement of

an expected birth received by the mothers and by their expressions of their

disbelief in those promises. An additional link between the texts is especially

relevant to the Shabbat of a Bar Mitzvah. The stories of the young Isaac and

Ishmael connect up powerfully with the stories of the youths mentioned in the

haftara; they all undergo traumas and must contend with difficult life stories.

Isaac and Ishmael each live through a complicated situation involving a risk of

death; their traumas will accompany them for the rest of their lives. In the

haftara we meet other youths. First there are the two sons of the wife of one

of "Sons of the prophets" – they are almost sold into slavery to pay

their mother's debt. Scripture mentions their mother's distress and anxiety. All

she has left to do is to cry out. Her distress is familiar to us today from

various places in the world, not all of them far away. This anxiety will

undoubtedly accompany her children into their future lives. The fifth child

discussed this Shabbat is the son of the Shunamite woman; he dies in her arms,

leaving her helpless. Again the unexpected takes place and Elisha revives the

boy. Thus, all five youths undergo events that will mark them and their parents

for ever. Gehazi – Elisha's helper – is the only youth we hear of who does not

suffer a trauma. However, according to the midrash his life is not easy either.

It is said that he and his sons were the four lepers who sat in the gate of Shomron

and he is included in the short list of people who will have no part of the

World to Come, because he caused many to sin. Thus, in our parasha and haftara

we encounter six boys, each of whom bears a complicated life-story which will

accompany him until the end of his days.

Let

us conclude as we began – with Ishmael. We might expect that with Abraham's

death the first-born Ishmael would be consumed with uncontrollable anger

against Isaac, his father's favorite. However, when Abraham dies, not only are

we told nothing of Ishmael's rage; on the contrary, the two brothers bury their

father together: And he was buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael in the cave of Machpela (22:9). Uriel Simon writes: "The unexpected cooperation of

the two brothers in their father's burial demonstrates that the expelled

brother was free of bitterness and jealousy and the favored brother was free of

self-righteousness and snobbery." Simon claims that the two brothers

realized that that which had driven them apart had brought them together. The

two Akedahs forced upon Abraham by God had become a blessing from heaven for

the two sons.

May

the sons of Abraham learn today from the behavior of Ishmael and Isaac and find

their way to renewed cooperation in love of humanity and of their shared God.

[1] See issue 4 of Shabbat Shalom.

Yohanan Flusser is an educator. He is presently engaged in setting up Merkaz

Hey'anut for the families of people with special needs.

The Binding of Isaac – an Alternative Viewpoint

Meir Reuven Zelebsky

It came to pass when Isaac was old, and his eyes were too

dim to see (Bereishit 27:1).

Rashi

comments: "When Isaac was bound on the altar, and

his father was about to slaughter him, the heavens opened, and the ministering

angels saw and wept, and their tears fell upon Isaac’s eyes. As a result,

his eyes became dim (Judaica Press

translation).

Kierkegaard

wrote:

It

was a quiet evening when Abraham rode out alone, and he rode to Mount Moriah;

he threw himself upon his face, he prayed God to forgive him his sin, that he

had been willing to offer Isaac, that the father had forgotten his duty toward

the son. Often he rode his lonely way, but he found no rest. He could not

comprehend that it was a sin to be willing to offer to God the best thing he

possessed, that for which he would many times have given his life; and if it

was a sin, if he had not loved Isaac as he did, then he could not understand

that it might be forgiven. For what sin could be more dreadful? (Fear and Trembling, Lowrie translation, http://www.mv.helsinki.fi/home/tkannist/E-texts/Kierkegaard/fear.htm)

And

years later Isaac may have written the following:

Father,

ever since we walked together to Mount

Moriah, ever since you

bound me up on the altar, I have been unable to speak with you. Even beforehand

I did not always understand you, but you could walk with me and tell me about

the Great God Who is unlike the gods of the Amorites and Canaanites, Who does

not demand human sacrifice. You called Him the God of justice and

righteousness.

For

many days you would walk through the fields and hills in contemplation while I

walked alone around the tents, with Eliezer watching over me. He would go

wherever I went. Those were good times for me; everyone called me Yis'hak,

s'hak lekha Yitzhak [laugh/play, O Isaac] – they called me by such a

funny name!

I

still remember the terrible day when you woke me in the silent morning and said

to me, "Come Isaac." Your hair was wild and your eyes red. "What

happened, father? Where are we going?" "We will go to raise up a

sacrifice to the Lord," you answered. And I immediately jumped up and

said, "Evening is coming and God will want our burnt-offering." You

hugged me but your eyes, father, they were somewhere else. Already at that

moment I understood that today was not like yesterday. Something had happened,

but I did not know what.

We

were walking along the goat trails through the hills of Amorites and Jebusites;

sometimes the sun burned us and sometimes it hid behind clouds. You walked

ahead as if you were searching for something; your eyes – they were somewhere

and I ran after you. "Father!" "What is it Isaac? Give me your hand."

And you held me strong with your warm hand but your eyes gazed into the

distance. We walked for an entire day until we found a spot under a big tree in

a pasture; we sat under it and ate our fill. "Father?" "Yes

Isaac, my son." "When shall we arrive, and where are we going?"

"Soon Isaac, now rest." And I fell asleep instantly, for I was tired.

I began to dream and in my dream I saw you, father, you took a knife and drew

near me, and I screamed: "No father, no! Father, father… " "Isaac,

what happened that woke you up?" "I had a bad dream." "Go

to sleep, Isaac, there is nothing bad here. Sleep, Isaac." And you sang me

the song I loved when I was young until I fell asleep again.

In

the morning we continued our journey, walking half the day in silence. I had

premonitions of trouble, but you attended to your own thoughts. Evening was

near and the sun grew weak. A tall and brightly lit mountain appeared between

the clouds; you said – "This is the place." Again we walked, stopping

to rest when we reached the foot of the mountain. I said, "Father"

and you answered, "Yes Isaac, my son." "Where is the lamb for

the burnt offering?" And you looked at me, your eyes pained and loving, and

you said to me: "You are the lamb for the offering, Isaac. God has chosen

you."

I

remained silent, father. It was easier for me, knowing what you wanted to do,

but then at that moment my heart fell. We walked until we reached the peak. The

light was strong. I looked at you. Your motions were measured and calm. You

prepared an altar from stones you found there; you collected wood and tied me

to it. "Isaac," you said and looked into my eyes. In some strange way

you looked at me but your eyes were elsewhere. Suddenly drops fell, heavy and

warm as drops of the first rain. You raised up your hand and I closed my eyes

and suddenly thunder and lightning filled the sky. Your hand fell with the

knife still in it, and a cloudburst extinguished the flame. You opened the

knots that bound me and sat off to the side, weeping. Your loud crying was

heartbreaking. "What is it father, what?" And I heard no answer. I

rested a hand on your head but you were no longer my father; it was another man

I was seeing. You rejoined the boys and I was off on my way. From that day on

we never spoke again.

Now

have I am an adult; I have married a wife and grown old. You are no more, but I

want to ask you: "Why did you not answer your God of justice and

righteousness, the God Who revealed Himself to you? Why didn't you answer Him

as you told me you had regarding Sodom?

Where is your righteousness: did you hold Isaac to be wicked? What would Sarah

say and what would your descendant say?

I

know you were sorry, father. I saw it in your eyes, and I forgive you, father. I

know you driven by your fear of God and I know that you loved me even as you

bound my body. Your heart was with me but you could do no other. But I would

have told God "No!" – even if I would be punished. For no one can

take away the son given you in your old age; no one, neither man nor God.

Meir Zelebsky, a computer programmer, is involved in

writing and Jewish thought.

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