{"id":37549,"date":"2018-08-12T15:21:56","date_gmt":"2018-08-12T12:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=37549"},"modified":"2022-03-06T15:18:35","modified_gmt":"2022-03-06T13:18:35","slug":"what-if-isaac-had-died-on-mount-moriah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-if-isaac-had-died-on-mount-moriah\/","title":{"rendered":"What If Isaac Had Died on Mount Moriah?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[418,375,363,436],"acf":{"old_id":"37549","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37200,"related_cahpter":"22","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The narrative of the Akedah challenges the entire image of God as the giver and guardian of his own moral system","content":"

The Binding of Isaac appears as the most elevated yet terrible moment in the entire narrative of Genesis. We like to consider the rather happy ending with the ram miraculously appearing at the critical moment. Both Judaism and Christianity have read the story as an example of trust, obedience and faith. Abraham fully surrenders to God. And God maintains his moral laws saving Abraham to commit murder. This is the mainstream explanation that makes the story have some common sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the story does not always seem to read well in the light of morality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the centuries, commentators have struggled, more or less openly, with the precise details of the <\/span>Akedah<\/span><\/i>. Generally creative or literalist solutions have been offered\u2014with the same exact moralist ending. Religion, per se, relies upon this. <\/span><\/p>\n

Very few commentators were able to imagine the unimaginable: Isaac died on Mount Moriah. Yet, this is precisely the case of two aggadic commentaries from the early medieval period: <\/span>Yalkut Shimoni<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>Lekach Tov<\/span><\/em>. In both cases, the commentators saw the death of Isaac and his subsequent resurrection. The <\/span>Yalkut<\/span><\/em> even connects the <\/span>Akedah<\/span><\/em> with the story of Cain and Abel.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Abraham is allowed to kill his son, the ethical God dies. It is hardly conceivable that these medieval rabbis sought this unintended consequence. Rather, they stressed the godly power of resurrection of the dead, with Isaac being resurrected. However, the entire religious meaning of the <\/span>Akedah<\/span><\/em> lies in the fact that God stopped Abraham at the fatal moment\u2014and thus morality was saved. With Isaac\u2019s effective death, we can no longer have faith. Morality vanishes because God does not always enforce it. If the link with Cain and Abel is highlighted, the <\/span>Akedah<\/span><\/em> becomes even more disturbing, with Abraham being a Cain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Judaism and Christianity have chosen an interpretation of the story that makes moral sense, and leaves faith untouched. Even with these precautions, the narrative of the Akedah <\/em>challenges the entire image of God as the giver and guardian of his own moral system. In front of this, the man of faith cannot avoid being terrified by God’s arbitrariness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Mosaic on the floor of Beth Alpha depicting the Akedah, 6th C. 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