Great Jewish Thinkers: Medieval

(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).

קח נא TAKE NOW — The word נא is used as a request: God said to him, “I beg of you, stand firm for me in this trial, so that people may not say that the previous trials were no real tests” (Sanhedrin 89b). את בנך THY SON — Abraham said to God, “I have two sons”. “He answered him, “Thine only son”. Abraham said, “This one is the only son of his mother and the other is the only son of his mother”. God then said, “the one whom thou lovest”. Abraham replied, “I love both of them”. Whereupon God said “even Isaac”. Why did He not disclose this to him at the very first? So as not to confuse him suddenly lest his mind become distracted and bewildered and in his confused state he would involuntarily consent, when there would have been no merit in his sacrifice, and so that he might more highly value God’s command and that God might reward him for the increasing sacrifice demanded by obedience to each and every expression used here (Genesis Rabbah 55:7).

וישכם AND HE ROSE EARLY — He was alert to fulfil the command (Pesachim 4a) (2) ויחבוש AND HE SADDLED [HIS ASS]—He himself: he did not order one of his servants to do so, for love disregards the rule imposed on one by his exalted position in life. (Genesis Rabbah 55:8)

אברהם אברהם ABRAHAM, ABRAHAM — The repetition of his name is an expression of affection (Genesis Rabbah 56:7).

God said one thing, I heard two. (Psalms 62:12). One text brings forth multiple meanings (Sanhedrin 34a). And in the end of things a text does not leave its context and meaning (pshuto umashmao), and even though the prophets spoke their words as a parable (dugma), it is necessary to explain the parable according to its nature and order, just as the texts are ordered one after the other. And I have seen for this book many aggadic interpretations. There are those who explain all this book in one midrash, and there are those scattered among various midrashim, and there are those that interpret individual texts and to not fit the language of the text and the order of the texts. And I said in my heart that to seize the meaning of the text to set the explanations in order, and I will make each midrash of our sages fit in its proper place.

And I say that King Solomon saw with the holy spirit that in the future the children of Israel will be exiled, exile after exile, destruction after destruction, and will mourn in this exile over their earlier honour and will remember the earlier love that they were a treasure above all other people (Exodus 19.5). They will say: I will go and I will return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now (Hosea 2.9) And they will remember his kindness, and their betrayal that they betrayed (Lev. 26.40), and the goodness that He promised to give in the end of days.

And this book is based, by the holy spirit, in the metaphor of a woman bound in living widowhood (2 Sam. 20.3), longing for her husband, leaning on her beloved, remembering the love of her youth for him and admitting her sins. Her beloved is also suffering with her in her pain (Isaiah 63.9), and remembers the love of her youth and the beauty of her beauty, and the rightness of her deeds, that with them he was connected with her in a powerful love, so that she might know that he is not causing her suffering from his heart (Eicha 3.33) and her exile is not exile (Isaiah 50.1), for she is still his wife and he her husband (Hosea 2.4) and he will return to her.

(1) It is mandatory to love and fear this Glorified and Awe-inspiring God, for it is said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God" (Deut. 6,5); and as it is said: "The Lord thy God thou shalt fear." (Ibid. 6, 13).

(2) But how may one discover the way to love and fear Him? When man will reflect concerning His works, and His great and wonderful creatures,¹But he must make thorough study. C. and will behold through them His wonderful, matchless and infinite wisdom, he will spontaneously be filled with love, praise and exaltation and become possessed of a great longing to know the Great Name, even as David said: "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God," (Ps. 42,2); and when he will think of all these matters,²Sifre, Deut. 6.5; Shabbat, 30–31. G. he will be taken aback in a moment and stricken with awe, and realize that he is an infinitesimal creature, humble and dark, standing with an insignificant and slight knowledge in the presence of the All Wise, as David said: "For when I see Thy heavens, the wonderful works of Thy fingers, of what use is man that Thou mayest remember him?" (Ibid. 8,4). And, in harmony with these matters, I elucidate great, general principles of the works of the Lord of the universe, so that they might serve as an opening for one who understands by which to love the Name, as some sages said on the subject of love: "Out of it thou wilt recognize the One who spoke, and the universe was called into existence."

(16) 16. Al Khazari: Now I understand the difference between Elōhim and Adonāi, and I see how far the God of Abraham is different from that of Aristotle. Man yearns for Adonāi as a matter of love, taste, and conviction; whilst attachment to Elōhim is the result of speculation. A feeling of the former kind invites its votaries to give their life for His sake, and to prefer death to His absence. Speculation, however, makes veneration only a necessity as long as it entails no harm, but bears no pain for its sake. I would, therefore, excuse Aristotle for thinking lightly about the observation of the law, since he doubts whether God has any cognizance of it.

(17) 17. The Rabbi: Abraham bore his burden honestly, viz. the life in Ur Kasdim, emigration, circumcision, the removal of Ishmael, and the distress of the sacrifice of Isaac, because his share of the Divine Influence had come to him through love, but not through speculation. He observed that not the smallest detail could escape God, that he was quickly rewarded for his piety and guided on the right path to such an extent that he did everything in the order dictated by God.