Isaac is the missing child through most of the Abraham narrative. He, the child of Sarah, is the longed for heir. Ishmael may have dulled Abraham’s sense of longing, but probably intensified Sarah’s feelings. Isaac’s arrival in the household throws the place into turmoil and brings the feud between the mothers to a breaking point.
View a video summary of this class below:
His Name: (Chapter 17:15-21)
Isaac is not mentioned by name until after Abraham has had his name changed. He is born a year after the circumcision ceremony. Let’s focus on the name:
When is the name announced?
We saw last week that having your name announced before your birth is a privilege reserved for few. The giving of a name makes the child a reality long before they exist.
What does Yitzchak mean? Why did God choose this name for him?
The root צחק (tz, ch, k) in Hebrew has to do with laughter. The name itself is in the future tense. Who will laugh? Why?
Notice that Isaac is the only one of the patriarchs whose name is not changed during their life time. But then we shall also remember that he is the only one who received his name from God before his birth. His parents, his environment, the circumstances of his birth have no (human) input as to the name that is given to him.
Sarah’s Waiting:
Sarah’s painful longing through all the early chapters of the narrative is probably best understood by her spoken joy at the birth in 21:6-7 and the poetic description of the birth in 21:1-5.
Reading 21:1-7:
Who is the focus of God’s attention around the birth of Isaac?
How does Abraham see Isaac at the start?
Why is the circumcision at 8 days stressed here?
And a point to notice: Abraham does not have a party of Isaac at his Brit Milah (at 8 days). What might be the reason?
The Akeda (The Binding of Isaac) – Chapter 22
This is one of the most loaded stories of Tanakh, and impossible not to have a reaction to. While we could spend a great deal of time on it, we will focus on Isaac’s part in this event.
Abraham takes Isaac and walks with him for three days. In part II we will study some material about those days, but for now I want you to ask yourselves:
What is Isaac, who did not hear God’s command, think that they are doing?
(And if you want to, spend some time wondering what Sarah thought that they were doing….)
The only conversation between Abraham and Isaac is recorded here. Read 22:6-8 carefully.
Notice the frame that the Torah creates around this text: וילכו שניהם יחדו “and the two of them walked together.” This intimate bubble matches the content.
How does Abraham speak to Isaac (or should I say “his son”)?
As we have seen before, the titles given to a person are significant in understanding how he is viewed in the story. Pay attention to how Isaac is both addressed and written about.
What does Isaac ask his father? What does he omit?
Compare the list of equipment in v. 6 with Isaac’s question in v. 7. What did you discover?
How should we understand this omission? What affect does this have on your understanding of Isaac in the rest of the story?
Do you feel that the opening framing phrase of “and the two of them walked together” is identical in meaning to its use as the closing?
Where is Isaac at the end of the story?
As the story comes to a close, Abraham returns to Be’er Sheva. Where is Isaac?
His Marriage:
We will study this in greater depth in the next session when we look at the role of Abraham’s trusted servant. In the mean time try:
Compare Ishmael’s marriage with that of Isaac. Who arranges it? Why that person? Why might it not work that way for Isaac? Is this a designated role for a specific parent? (If you compare with Esau or with Jacob’s sons, it would seem that the parents are not arranging the marriages at all!)
Isaac Part II – Some Other Views:
Rashi Gen 22:4
Midrash Tanhuma (Warsaw) Vayera 22
(י) קְדָמוֹ הַשָּׂטָן בַּדֶּרֶךְ וְנִדְמֶה לוֹ כִּדְמוּת זָקֵן. אָמַר לוֹ: לְאָן אַתָּה הוֹלֵךְ? אָמַר לוֹ: לְהִתְפַּלֵּל. אָמַר לוֹ: וּמִי שֶׁהוֹלֵךְ לְהִתְפַּלֵּל? לָמָּה אֵשׁ וּמַאֲכֶלֶת בְּיָדוֹ וְעֵצִים עַל כְּתֵפוֹ? אָמַר לוֹ: שֶׁמָּא נִשְׁהֶא יוֹם אוֹ יוֹמַיִם וְנִשְׁחַט וְנֹאפֶה וְנֹאכַל. אָמַר לוֹ: זָקֵן, לֹא שָׁם הָיִיתִי כְּשֶׁאָמַר לְךָ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ, וְזָקֵן כְּמוֹתְךָ יֵלֵךְ וִיאַבֵּד בֵּן שֶׁנִּתַּן לוֹ לְמֵאָה שָׁנָה. לֹא שָׁמַעְתָּ הַמָּשָׁל, מַה שֶּׁהָיָה בְיָדוֹ אִבְּדוֹ וּמְבַקֵשׁ מֵאֲחֵרִים. וְאִם תֹּאמַר יִהְיֶה לְךָ בֵּן אַחֵר, תִּשְׁמַע מִן הַמַּשְׂטִין וּתְאַבֵּד נְשָׁמָה שֶׁתִּתְחַיֵּב עָלֶיהָ בַּדִּין. אָמַר לוֹ: לֹא מַשְׂטִין הָיָה אֶלָּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִתְבָּרַךְ הָיָה, לֹא אֶשְׁמַע מִמְּךָ.
(10) Satan appeared before him on the road in the guise of an old man and asked: “Whither are you going?” Abraham replied: “To pray.” “And why,” Satan retorted, “does one going to pray carry fire and a knife in his hands, and wood on his shoulders?” “We may tarry there for several days,” said Abraham, “and slaughter an animal and cook it.” The old man (Satan) responded: “That is not so; I was present when the Holy One, blessed be He, ordered you to take your son. Why should an old man, who begets a son at the age of a hundred, destroy him? Have you not heard the parable of the man who destroyed his own possessions and then was forced to beg from others? If you believe that you will have another son, you are listening to the words of a seducer. And furthermore, if you destroy a soul, you will be held legally accountable for it.” Abraham answered: “It was not a seducer, but the Holy One, blessed be He, who told me what I must do, and I shall not listen to you.”
(יא) הָלַךְ מֵעָלָיו וְנִדְמָה לְבָחוּר וְעָמַד עַל יְמִינוֹ שֶׁל יִצְחָק. אָמַר לוֹ: לְאָן אַתָּה הוֹלֵךְ? אָמַר לוֹ: לִלְמֹד תּוֹרָה. אָמַר לוֹ: בְּחַיֶּיךָ אוֹ בְּמִיתָתְךָ. אָמַר לוֹ: וְכִי יֵשׁ אָדָם שֶׁיִּלְמֹד אַחַר מִיתָה? אָמַר לוֹ: עָלוּב בַּר עֲלוּבָה, כַּמָּה תַעֲנִיּוֹת נִתְעַנֵּית אִמְּךָ עַד שֶׁלֹּא נוֹלַדְתָּ, וְהַזָּקֵן הַזֶּה הִשְׁתַּטָּה וְהוּא הוֹלֵךְ לְשָׁחֳטֶךָ. אָמַר: אַף עַל פִּי כֵן לֹא אֶעֱבֹר עַל דַּעַת יוֹצְרִי וְעַל צִוּוּי אָבִי.
חָזַר וְאָמַר לְאָבִיו: אָבִי, רְאֵה מָה אוֹמֵר לִי זֶה. אָמַר לוֹ: אַל תַּשְׁגִּיחַ עָלָיו, שֶׁאֵינוֹ בָּא אֶלָּא לְיָעֵף לָנוּ.
(11) Satan departed from him and appeared at Isaac’s right hand in the guise of a youth. He inquired: “Where are you going?” “To study the law,” Isaac replied. “Alive or dead?” he retorted. “Is it possible for a man to learn the law after he is dead?” Isaac queried. He said to him: “Oh, unfortunate son of an unhappy mother, many days your mother fasted before your birth, and now this demented old man is about to sacrifice you.” Isaac replied: “Even so, I will not disregard the will of my Creator, nor the command of my father.”
He turned to his father and said: “Father, do you hear what this man has told me?” He replied: “Pay no heed to him, he has come only to torment us.”
He left him and put on the image of a young man and stood to the right of Yitzhak. He said to him: Where are you going? He said: To learn Torah. He said: Alive or dead?
He said: Is there such a person that can learn after he is dead? He said: You wretched son of a wretched (woman)! How many sufferings did your mother suffer until you were born?! And this old man has lost his mind and he is going to slaughter you. He said: Even so, I will not go against the mind of my creator and the command of my father.
He turned and said to his father: Father, look what this one is telling me. He told him: Do not pay attention to him. He has come merely to wear us down.
What is the Midrash trying to answer with this story?
What gap in the text is it coming to fill?
What is the Midrash telling us, hidden under the veneer of a simple story?
How is Rashi’s commentary, above, connected to this Midrash? (Rashi was familiar with Midrash Tanhuma.)
A Bit of Jewish Censorship
(ו) ויקח אברהם [את עצי העולה וישם על יצחק בנו]. למה היה יצחק דומה למי שהיה יוצא לישרף ועציו על כתפיו.
(6) (Gen. 22:6:) THEN ABRAHAM TOOK [THE WOOD FOR THE BURNT OFFERING AND SET IT UPON HIS SON ISAAC]. To whom was Isaac comparable? To one who (after being condemned to death) was going out to be burned with his wood on his shoulders. 170Cf. Gen. R. 56:3.
Bereshit Rabbah (Theodore-Albeck) 56
(ג) וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָהָם אֶת עֲצֵי הָעֹלָה וישם על יצחק בנו (בראשית כב, ו), כָּזֶה שֶׁהוּא טוֹעֵן צְלוּבוֹ בִּכְתֵפוֹ
Abraham took the wood for the offering-up and placed them upon Yitzhak his son like one who loads his cross on his shoulder.
Midrash Bereshit Rabbah is a Tanaitic midrash, from the period around the Mishna (early centuries CE). Midrash Tanhuma is later, about 5th-6th century.
What might we learn from comparing the texts in this critical edition of Bereshit Rabbah (it is missing in the regular version) and Tanhuma?
An Arab shepherd is searching for his goat on Mount Zion
An Arab shepherd is searching for his goat on Mount Zion
And on the opposite hill I am searching for my little son.
An Arab shepherd and a Jewish father
In their temporary failure.
The voices of the two of us met above
The Sultan’s Pool in the valley in the middle.
The two of us want that the boy or the goat
will not get caught in the process
Of the “Had Gadya” machine.
Afterward we found them among the bushes,
And our voices came back to us
Laughing and crying inside.
Searching for a goat or for a child
Has always been
The beginning of a new religion in these mountains.
Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000)
רועה ערבי מחפש גדי / יהודה עמיחי
רועה ערבי מחפש גדי בהר ציון,
ובהר ממול אני מחפש את בני הקטן.
רועה ערבי ואב יהודי
בכשלונם הזמני.
קולות שנינו נפגשים מעל
לבריכת השולטן בעמק באמצע.
שנינו רוצים שלא יכנסו
הבן והגדי לתוך תהליך
המכונה הנוראה של חד גדיא.
אחר כך מצאנו אותם בין השיחים,
וקולותינו חזרו אלינו ובכו וצחקו בפנים.
החיפושים אחר גדי או אחר בן
היו תמיד
התחלת דת חדשה בהרים האלה.
יהודה עמיחי