(1) אחר הדברים האלה AFTER THESE THINGS [or, WORDS] —Some of our Rabbis say (Sanhedrin 89b) that it means after the words of Satan who denounced Abraham saying, “Of all the banquets which Abraham prepared not a single bullock nor a single ram did he bring as a sacrifice to You ’. God replied to him, “Does he do anything at all except for his son’s sake? Yet if I were to bid him, “Sacrifice him to Me’’, he would not refuse’’. Others say that it means “after the words of Ishmael” who boasted to Isaac that he had been circumcised when he was thirteen years old without resisting. Isaac replied to him, “You think to intimidate me by mentioning the loss of one part of the body! If the Holy One, blessed be He, were to tell me, “Sacrifice yourself to Me” I would not refuse” (Sanhedrin 89b). (2) הנני HERE AM I — Such is the answer of the pious: it is an expression of humility and readiness (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 22).
(ח) אָמַר רַבִּי אַחָא הִתְחִיל אַבְרָהָם תָּמֵהַּ, אֵין הַדְּבָרִים הַלָּלוּ אֶלָּא דְבָרִים שֶׁל תֵּמַהּ, אֶתְמוֹל אָמַרְתָּ (בראשית כא, יב): כִּי בְיִצְחָק יִקָּרֵא לְךָ זָרַע, חָזַרְתָּ וְאָמַרְתָּ (בראשית כב, ב): קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ, וְעַכְשָׁיו אַתְּ אָמַר לִי (בראשית כב, יב): אַל תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֶל הַנַּעַר, אֶתְמְהָא. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אַבְרָהָם (תהלים פט, לה): לֹא אֲחַלֵּל בְּרִיתִי וּמוֹצָא שְׂפָתַי לֹא אֲשַׁנֶּה. כְּשֶׁאָמַרְתִּי לְךָ קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ, לֹא אָמַרְתִּי שְׁחָטֵהוּ, אֶלָּא וְהַעֲלֵהוּ, לְשֵׁם חִבָּה אָמַרְתִּי לָךְ, אֲסִקְתֵּיהּ וְקִיַּמְתָּ דְּבָרַי, וְעַתָּה אַחֲתִינֵיהּ.
(8) Rabbi Aḥa said: Abraham began to express his astonishment, [saying to God]: ‘These events are nothing short of bewildering. Yesterday (Some time ago) You said: “For it is through Isaac that will be called your descendants” (Genesis 21:12), then You said: “Take you your son […and offer him up]” (Genesis 22:2), and now You say to me: “Do not extend your hand against the lad”? This is bewildering.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: ‘“I will not violate My covenant, nor alter the utterance of My lips” (Psalms 89:35) – when I said to you: “Take you your son,” I did not say: “Slaughter him,” but rather, “take him up.” I said this to you in affection. You have taken him up and fulfilled My words, now take him down.’
(ח) יראה לו השה כְּלוֹמַר יִרְאֶה וְיִבְחַר לוֹ הַשֶּׂה וְאִם אֵין שֶׂה, לעולה בני! וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהֵבִין יִצְחָק, שֶׁהוּא הוֹלֵך לְהִשָּׁחֵט,
(8) יראה לו השה — this means as much as: He will look out for and choose a lamb for Himself, and if there will be no lamb for a burnt offering, then, בני MY SON will be the offering. Although Isaac then understood that he was travelling on to be slain, yet.
The Akedah by Alizah Shenhar
The loudspeaker screamed
“Take your only one
the one you love.”
And the altar is destroyed.
Wood of the burnt offering is scattered.
The youths roll balls of love
On the grass of their youth.
Their tongues are hot.
The knife is shining in the wadi
In the light of the moon
Of mid-border.
The white angel, the one
Who always cries
“Please don’t lay a hand”
is on leave.’’
Aliza Shenhar (Hebrew: עליזה שנהר) is a professor, author and was President of Emek Yezreel College who served as Israel's ambassador to Russia (1994–1997) and deputy mayor of Haifa. (Wikipedia)
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Abraham Had Three Sons by Yehuda Amichai
Three sons had Abraham, not just two.
Three sons had Abraham: Yishma-El, Yitzhak and Yivkeh.
First came Yishma-El, “God will hear.”
Next came Yitzhak, “he will laugh,”
And the last was Yivkeh. “he will cry.”
No one has ever heard of Yivkeh, for he was the youngest,
The son that Father loved best.
The son who was offered up on Mount Moriah.
Yishma-El was saved by his mother, Hagar,
Yitzhak was saved by the angel.
But Yivkeh no one saved.
When he was just a little boy, his father
Would call him tenderly, Yivkeh.
Yivkeleh, my sweet little Yivkie.
But he sacrificed him all the same.
The Torah says the ram, but it was Yivkeh.
Yishma-El never heard from God again,
Yitzhak never laughed again.
Sarah laughed only once, then laughed no more.
Three sons had Abraham.
Yishma, “will hear,” Yitzhak, “will laugh,” Yivkeh “will cry”
Yishma-El, Yitzhak-El, Yivkeh-El
God will hear, God will laugh, God will cry.
Yehuda Amichai (Hebrew: יהודה עמיחי; born Ludwig Pfeuffer 3 May 1924 – 22 September 2000) was an Israeli poet and author, one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew in modern times.
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"Isaac" by Amir Gilboa
At dawn, the sun strolled in the forest
together with me and father, and my
right hand was in his left.
Like lightning a knife flashed among
the trees. And I am so afraid of my
eyes' terror, faced by blood on the
leaves.
It is I who am being slaughtered, my
son, and already my blood is on the
leaves. And father's voice was
smothered and his face was pale.
And I wanted to scream, writing not
to believe, and tearing open my eyes.
And I woke up.
And my right hand was drained of
blood.
Amir Gilboa (Hebrew: אמיר גלבע) (born 25 September 1917 – died 2 September 1984) was an Israeli poet. Gilboa was awarded the Israel Prize for literature in 1982.
The Real Hero of the Sacrifice of Isaac by Yehuda Amichai
The Real Hero of the Sacrifice of Isaac
The real hero of the sacrifice was the ram
Who had no idea about the conspiracy of the others.
He apparently volunteered to die in place of Isaac.
I want to sing a memorial song about the ram.
His curly wool and human eyes,
The horns, so calm in his living head.
When he was slaughtered they made shofars of them,
To sound the blast of their war
Or the blast of their coarse joy.
I want to remember the last picture
Like a beautiful photo in an exquisite fashion magazine:
The tanned, spoiled youngster all spiffed up,
And beside him the angel, clad in a long silk gown
For a formal reception.
Both with hollow eyes
Observe to hollow places
And behind them, as a colored background, the ram
Grasping the thicket before the slaughter.
The angel went home
Isaac went home
And Abraham and God left much earlier
But the real hero of the sacrifice
Is the ram.