Parshas Vayeira contains one of the most
important events in our history, Akeidas Yitzchak. Hashem commanded Avraham to
bring his son, Yitzchak, as a korban (but not kill him) in what remains the
most far-reaching show of dedication to Hashem in the history of the Jewish
People. Every year on Rosh Hashanah, Hashem takes into account the Akeidah and
decides to continue to support the Jewish People.
The Akeidah was the last of the ten
nisyonos, loosely translated as ‘tests’, with which Hashem tested Avraham’s
faith. As part of his explanation to the nisyonos, the Netziv in his commentary
on Torah, Emek Davar, discusses the place of the Akeidah in Avraham’s
life mission.
The story begins, “וַיְהִ֗י
אַחַר֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה וְהָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים נִסָּ֖ה אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר
אֵלָ֔יו אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי” “And it happened
after these things that God tested Avraham and said to him, ‘Avraham,’ and he
replied, ‘Here I am.” (Bereishis 22:1). The Netziv asks, why does the pasuk
mention that the Akeidah occurred “after these things;” it can’t be in
reference to the event recorded right before the Akeidah, because all the recorded
events preceding this story happened decades beforehand!
A nisayon is not given to a person in
order that they should pass or fail, it is an opportunity given to us by Hashem
to take latent spirituality and turn it into an active part of our personality.
Even if we can’t achieve the level presented to us at the time of the nisayon,
we don’t lose any amount of spirituality; we simply don’t achieve that new
level. Furthermore, Hashem will certainly give us an opportunity later on to achieve.
The Akeidah was the last nisayon given to
Avraham; it was the culmination of a lifetime of working on himself until he
reached the pinnacle level presented to him. With each previous nisayon, Hashem
promised Avraham more and more. First, He promised him Eretz Yisrael, then He promised
him tremendous and numerous progeny, the He made him “אַבְרָהָם”, the “father of many nations”, among other things. And now, this
is the final piece. With the Akeidah, Avraham achieved what he needed to as the
ancestor of the Jewish People, and from then on, his job was done. In fact,
after the story of the Akeidah, Hashem didn’t speak to Avraham again for the
rest of his life! Therefore, the pasuk says, “אַחַר֙
הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה”, in reference to the
other nine nisyonos that Avraham achieved, to emphasize that the Akeidah was
the apex of the entire process of the nisyonos.
This explanation answers another
question about the Akeidah. It can be argued that Yitzchak put in just as much
dedication as Avraham. So how come the pasuk only considers this a nisayon for
Avraham and not Yitzchak? According to how we’ve explained, it makes sense.
Yitzchak was not responsible for the Jewish People the same way Avraham was, so
this opportunity was not designed for him. Therefore, he was not given credit
for it in the same manner Avraham was (though he was certainly received reward).
This is not the first time we have
discussed the Akeidah, and every time we uncover a new angle which illuminates
the path of our forefathers. As we discussed last week, the stories found in
Bereishis about our ancestors show us where we come from and what they did to
insure that we would be placed in the best position for us to succeed.
Shabbat Shalom!
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