Sarah and the Sacrifice of Isaac by Rivkah Lubitch

Those matters, the matters with Sarah. And God tested Sarah.

And the angel said to her: Take your son, your only one, whom you have loved, Isaac, and take him to the land of Moriah, and offer him up (Gen 22:2).

And Sarah said: No. Because a mother does not slaughter her child.

And early in the morning, Sarah awoke, stunned to see that neither Isaac nor Abraham was there. She lifted her arms to God in heaven and said: Master of the Universe, I know that one who slaughters his son in the name of God will in the end be left without a son or God. Forgive Abraham, who was mistaken about this. Please remember that it did not occur to a mother to offer her son up to God, and save the boy from him.

At the moment Abraham stretched out his hand to the knife to slay his son (Gen 22:10). And the angel of God called out to him and said: Do not lay your hand on the oby, and do not do anything to him, for now I know that you are God-fearing (Gen 22:12), even though you did not withhold your son. And this is why it was said whatever Sarah tell you, heed her voice (Gene 21:12) and as a result for in Isaac your seed will have a name (Gen 21:12).

Dvarim: matters, words, discussions

As Sarah sees it, people attribute cruel instincts to God in order to justify their own terrible behavior, which in fact contradicts the true will of God. According to this theological stance, God furnished us with parental responsibility and with a love for our children, which also serve as the basis for God's relationship with His believers... For a father to sacrifice his son is religiously problematic because it destroys the relationships within a family and the connection with God.

Stirrings By Bilha Kritzer Ariha (part I)

Don't read his two "lads," ne'arav, but rather ne'urav, his awakenings--for two voices stirred in him.

One voice saying, "Here I am."

And another voice saying, "And what about Isaac? Will he too say, 'Here I am'? And Sarah, will she say it as well? If You seek to test me, then test away, but don't lay a hand on the boy!"

And the first voice says, again, "Here I am."

And the second voice says, "Here I am, for generations. That all Israel should learn from my deed. And if I sacrifice the boy, Israel will sacrifice their children in all the generations to come. Sacrifice to Moloch, to rebe.liousness, to war, to stubborn-headedness."

And the first voice says, again, "Here I am."

And the two of them walked together (Gen 22:18).

Something else: Don't read and Abraham saddled (va-ya-chavosh) his donkey (chamoro) but rather he overcame (va-yikhvoch) his mercies (rachamav).

For Abraham was holding back his tears as he went, but they broke through from his eyes and ascended all the way to The Master of the Universe, and said before Him "look at Your servant Abraham, see his lowliness before You, see that he isn't begging for mercy for himself and his son, like he did for Sodom, because of his trust in You. Please, revoke Your decree."

Employing a familiar midrashic technique, Kritzer Ariha substitutes one Hebrew letter for another, Chet for Kaf--both of which sound the same--thereby changing the verb to mean "restrain" or "overcome." Deploying yet another midrashic technique, she flips the letters in chamoro ("his donkey") so the word instead reads rachamav (his mercies). The dry descriptions of saddling the donkey becomes a description of the drama unfolding within Abraham...

Stirrings by Bilha Kritzer Ariha (part II)

And the angels on high gathered together group by group. These saying, "he'll slaughter," and those saying, "he won't slaughter."

These saying, "test him" and those saying, "have mercy on him."

And he bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar above the wood (Gen 22:9). And the voices of the angels on high grew stronger, and Abraham's tears burned, and seraphs and holy creatures rose aloft in great tumult, and the ministering angels fapped their wings.

And only one of the lesser angels got up and departed from the Heavenly Throne and called out "Abraham! Abraham!... Do not raise your hand against the boy."

Some say, of this it is written, He confirms the word of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His angels (Isa 44:26).

And some say, of this it was written, For He commands His angels to you, that they watch over you in all your pathways (Ps. 91:11).

The midrash in Genesis Rabbah (56:8) describes how the angels gather "group by group" and cry out in panic and despair at hte prospect of the imminent slaughter. Kritzer Ariha invokes this image, but... she suggests that the angers were not a united front but divided into two opposing camps...

...description of this angel's departure from the heavenly throne implies that this angel is part of the divine rather than a separate entity... the confusions they (the angels) create are depicted as a sort of internal confusion within God. The verb used for "depart" (poresh), which refers to separating oneself from a crowd, heightens how unusual this act is.