Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz
Akeidat Yitzchak (the Binding of Isaac) is considered by many to be Avraham’s tenth and ultimate test. But why was this test greater than all the others? After proving his absolute loyalty to Hashem through the previous nine tests, wouldn’t we expect him to obey a command heard directly from Hashem (God)?
Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds:
Not If, but How?
This is an excellent point. Of course, it was expected that Avraham would follow Hashem’s orders. However, the test was not merely to see if he would follow Hashem’s command, but how he would react to it and how he would fulfill it. Would it be with bitterness and resentment, or with love and excitement? To sacrifice his only son – and his entire destiny – and to do so wholeheartedly, was indeed a daunting test.
The Challenges
To understand the depth of Avraham’s test, consider the intellectual and emotional challenges he must have faced in receiving the command to sacrifice Yitzchak. Avraham spent his entire life spreading Hashem’s truths and values to the world, including the fact that Hashem despises and forbids human sacrifices. Yet suddenly, he is told to commit the very act he presented as the epitome of evil. Surely, we would expect at least a question, if not a complaint.
Furthermore, Hashem had promised Avraham a son who would succeed him, and explicitly told him that it was through Yitzchak that his descendants will be established. Now it seemed as if Hashem was contradicting Himself and going back on His word!
And on an emotional level, Yitzchak was Avraham’s beloved son, miraculously born to him at the age of 100. It is only natural that it be incredibly difficult and painful for Avraham to sacrifice him for Hashem. Certainly, we would expect such an act would to be carried out with a heavy heart and deep reluctance.
He Embraced the Challenge with Zeal!
Yet despite all these challenges, Avraham did not complain, question, or react with bitterness. On the contrary, he acted with zeal, excitement and alacrity. The pasuk (Bereishit 22:3) tells us that Avraham rose early in the morning to fulfill Hashem’s command, establishing the paradigm for the Jewish people to fulfill mitzvot with zerizut (alacrity) and as promptly as possible. Avraham even saddled his donkey himself, without giving the job to one of his servants, out of his love and eagerness to do Hashem’s will.
Rock-Solid Faith
What enabled Avraham to respond with such love and zerizut was his rock-solid belief in Hashem’s wisdom and kindness. He knew that Hashem’s knowledge far exceeded his own, and was able to put aside his own reasoning, fully trusting Hashem’s judgment. Moreover, he knew that “Kol d’avid Rachmana l’tav – everything the Merciful One does is for the good,” and that in the long-run it must certainly be for Avraham and Yitzchok’s benefit. This is what makes Akeidat Yitzchak the ultimate and greatest test, a test of Avraham’s profound faith in Hashem and love for Him!
Akeidat Yitzchak: A Test of Total Subjugation
Akeidat Yitzchak was not simply a test to see if Avraham would follow Hashem’s command; it was a test of his total subjugation to the will of Hashem. Was Avraham a person who had personal feelings and interests while also serving Hashem, or was he capable of totally negating his personal feelings and emotions, and subjugating his entire being to the will of Hashem? And as we say in Mussaf on Rosh Hashanah, Avraham “kavash rachamav la’asot retzoncha beleivav shaleim – he suppressed his feelings of compassion to do the will of Hashem with a complete heart.” Indeed, Avraham passed this ultimate test with flying colors, showing clearly that he had nothing in his heart but feelings of love and fear of Hashem!
In short: The test of Akeidat Yitzchak was to see if Avraham would accept Hashem’s command with love and faith, and without questions, regardless of how emotionally painful and contradictory it may have seemed.
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