Published: Saturday, December 06, 2008
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Visitor Comments: 24
About the Author
Rabbi Mordechai Becher
Rabbi Mordechai Becher, originally from Australia, is a Senior Lecturer for the Gateways Organization. He was a Senior Lecturer at Ohr Somayach, Neve Yerushalayim and Darchei Binah in Jerusalem for 15 years, was a chaplain in the Israel Defence Forces and taught in a number of Rabbinic training programs. Rabbi Becher is the co-author of After the Return, and has answered thousands of questions on the Ask-the-Rabbi website. His latest book, Gateway to Judaism, was recently published by Shaar Press. Rabbi Becher received his ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. He has lectured for the UJA, Jewish Federations, the Zionist Organization of America, Hillel and is on the speakers bureau of the Israeli Consulate in New York. He has taught in Canada, the United States, England, Israel, South Africa, Australia and Russia. He resides with his wife and 6 children in Passaic, NJ.
_(english).jpg "Kislev: Uniting the Colors of the Rainbow")
(24) Dvorah , February 7, 2009
A Test or The hint of a Law
I many times wonder if the binding of Issac had anything to do with Avraham "faith" so to to speak. In a world where the sacrifice of the child, especially one of the leader was seen as a ultimate way to please a god, was God using this situation to see if Avraham saw pleasing God the same as what he saw when he was young in the land he came from...and after all he could return for Ishmael or wait for another Issac to come along. Was HaShem using this to show that He was not like the other gods, "stop and think Avraham...am I trying to get you to think with this request and arque it out with Me, than just getting up and going ahead with it...is there more to this than just doing without thinking, doing without communicating, doing without understanding." I think in the end of it all HaShem was saying, not human sacrifice Avraham, animal sacrifice, "since you are moving along and at the point of doing what pagans do, let me jump in here fast, not a human,,,,,,a animal,,,here's a goat". And Torah does go on to distinquish sacrifice into animal and produce...so we unlike the pre-world of Avraham today abhor the very thought of human sacrifice, one that clearly sets us apart from many religions of today..HaShem does not require human blood on any altar for any purpose.
(23) Mike , December 18, 2008
Thank you
Thank you for your insight into this. This was one passage I struggled with and your perspective helped me.
(22) Alex Collins , December 17, 2008
Thank you for this commentry on an incident that is difficult to explain other than from the standpoint of faith. Abraham trusted God through much of his life and now in his old age he has a son of through whom God's promises would be fulfilled. Could it be that Isaac had taken first place in the affections of Abraham rather than God? I believe the test of offering up Isaac that Abraham was called upon to undertake showed that his commitment was first and foremost to God who had miraculously given him Isaac. Also, given Abraham's experience of God is it not possible that Abraham believed that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead?
(21) Dvirah , December 14, 2008
When G-d Speaks...
There is always a first time. So if G-d speaks to you, with all due respect to Mr. Russel, take a deep breath and count to 20 before deciding you're insane. And above all, LISTEN.
(20) Rabbi Isaiah Koenigsberg , December 10, 2008
Rite on! As Harav Hershel Shachter told me some decades ago, the mitzvah of gratitude is the cornerstone of Judaism: Winess the First of the Ten Commandments. Judaism is first and foremost an expression *or* man''s gratitude to G-d rather than a study of the Secrets of nature *or* of the
Deity: G-d did not say "I am the Lord your G-d who created heaven and earth, "but rather He said "I am the Lord your G-d who took you out of the Land of Egypt." It was precisely gratitude that enabled the Jewish People to respond to G-d with the clarion call "Na''aseh v''nishma" -- we will do and we will understand. Otherwise, such a response would be the height of folly.
To my mind, the Akedah was not a means of enabling G-d to ascertain the depth of Avraham''s belief and trust in Him. That clearly was unnecessary. The Akedah was a means to enable Avraham and Yitzhak to truly appreciate the depth of their own commitment to G-d: Avraham, who personifies loving
kindness, was requested to to sacrifice his own beloved son, and Yitzhak, who persononifies gevurah (strength --- the strength to conquer one''s own natural inclinations) was requested to conquer man''s greatest natural inclination --- self-preservation.
Moreover, the Akedah teaches us, who live in the Twenty-first Century, a
most profound lesson. As Nachmanides points out, it was G-d Himself who requested the sacrifice of Isaac, but it was lesser entity who undid G-d''s original order and saved Isaac. This teaches us humans that when it comes to hurting *or* injuring other human beings, we must be "dead sure", 100 per cent sure, that this what G-d requires of us, but when it comes to saving others, we need not such 100 per cent confidence.